HELP! My dog somehow split one of her front toes wide open tonight!?

Question

About 30 min ago I was sitting out in my backyard as I watched our two dogs run around and play. They suddenly got very interested and excited about something on the otherside of our back fence. Its a wooden fence so I couldn't see what it was. As they were running back and forth along the fence, one of my dogs started screaming!

She ran back towards me holding her front paw up, not running on it. Since is was very dark outside, I let her come into the house and suddenly there was blood everywhere! I grab some paper towels and laid her down and held the towels on the bottom of her foot. Quite a bit of blood. She did not act like the pressure hurt but was trying to pull away. As the bleeding started to slow, I took a look at the bottom of her foot and one of her toes is ripped, almost in half. I cannot really tell how deep it is, but I can tell it is painful. Her foot was quite dirty from running around outside so I tried to clean it the best I could and put a little peroxide on it but I don't know if it really did any good. I have put a sterile pad on the wound and have wrapped her foot in gauze and taped it tightly to catch any blood. She is laying down now, still a little spooked.

I cannot take her to the vet tonight but is there anything I can do for her in the meantime? I am not really sure how severe it is but I want to do the right thing.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Get her too a vet ASAP! She could possibly end up loosing her toe (worse case scenario)

Answer 2

Sounds like you've taken care of it.  There is not much that can be done with toes and it is certainly not life threatening.  You could give baby aspirin to reduce swelling and relieve pain.  I would think by moving the toe you could tell if the bone is broken.  But do it gently.  Take her to the vet tomorrow.

Answer 3

YOUR OK..trust me. If its her puppy pad just wrap it up in a paper towl and tape it so she doesnt pull it off. Put an antibotic ointment on it also if you have it or take a cotton ball and put just a tad of peroxide on it to make sure it doesnt get infected. Just keep pressure so it stops bleeding. My husky cuts her paws alot running around on the farm and when she comes home bleeding i just do that. The next day she up and running again. She may limp a little for a day but that should go away. If it doesnt then you may want to call the vet and see what they recommend.

Answer 4

It seems like you done every thing right but give her 1 baby aspirin if she starts to hurt again and get her to the vet as soon as your vet opens tomorrow.

Answer 5

Why can't you take her to the vet? It would be best to find one that has emergency services.

All you can do is keep her rested and keep it covered to prevent infection.

DON'T put anything on it.

Answer 6

keep it cobered adn stay with her plus rest her paw on a pillow and keep an eye on it! get her to the vet as soon as possible

Answer 7

Check the yellow pages for an emergency 24 hour animal hospital.  You might even call your own vet; the after hours message might give you the number for an emergency vet.  If your dog is suffering, this is probably the best thing.

Answer 8

Is it the pad on her foot that is injured? if it is the pad it is very common for dogs to tear the pad and they usually do not need vet attention unless they are really bad. If it is actually the toe as you stated in your question, maybe you should take her in tomorrow to be checked, some deep cuts on dogs need sutures. Also, once you get the bleeding to stop you might want to remove a bandage as they can be more problematic than open wounds on dogs sometimes. If she steps in something it could trap bacteria and if she can get at it she will l**k it which seems to be dogs instinctive way of taking care of a wound.  

Answer 9

Take it to an emergency vet.  There should be one in your area.  That's what I would do.  Good luck.

Answer 10

Many cities have 24 hour animal hospitals, you ma y want to check to see if you have one near-by. Otherwise ,it sounds like you've done your best to keep it clean and covered. Hope the little guy is okay!