# Trimmed Dog Nail Too Short



## deb

I am an awful person. Okay now I got that clear, here's the details:

We trimmed nails on all the dogs this afternoon. DH and I did 2 dogs together and I did our oldest dog's nails by myself. She will lay down and hold still while her nails are trimmed, but she is a real princess and makes very annoying hissy fit whine during the whole trimming process. Well, today I trimmed one nail too short and it started bleeding. I got the bleeding stopped after I put direct pressure on the nail for a couple of minutes. I did the rest of her nails and everything was fine. 

I had to do some errands, but DH was home so I didn't worry about the oldest dog. When I got home I didn't see anything amiss and started fixing our dinner. After we ate our dinner, we feed the dogs. DH took her outside for a bit and after he brought her inside the house, he took another dog outside. I realized she was licking her paw and then I saw the track of bloody footprints coming in from the door. I looked at the paw and saw the nail was bleeding again. DH said she had been walking on the melting snow so her foot may have gotten very wet.

DH & I washed her paw and applied direct pressure to the nail, but the bleeding wouldn't stop. I got an old stiptick pencil from the bathroom and held that against her nail until it stopped bleeding. We let it sit a minute then covered her foot with a non-stick pad using paper tape to hold it in place. I had ancient unused roll of animal wrap (co-flex?) and we used it to wrap up her foot & leg. 

Our princess dog wouldn't walk on the bandaged foot & leg and instead she held it at a 90Âº angle. I sat on the couch with her for about 45 minutes and then DH wanted to read in bed so we had her move in there.

I've been owned by dogs for 16 years, but I have never had a nail bleed for more than a minute. Can you give me some advice?

I am assuming that we should leave the bandage in place overnight and check it tomorrow morning. What should we be looking for when we inspect the nail? What would indicate that we should take her to the vet? 

Thanks in advance
Deb
in wi


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## TxGypsy

The stiptic should stop the bleeding. This is precisely what a vet would do for the same problem. Sometimes nails seem to bleed forever. I would check the foot again fairly often to make sure the bleeding has stopped. If the stiptic you have is in a stick form, you can make powder out of it and dab it onto the end of the nail and that is often more effective than the stick for dog nails. When I had a grooming shop I kept powdered stiptic on my worktop whenever I was doing nails, just in case.


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## SilverFlame819

Most people use flour or corn starch, if you don't have the quik-stop powder. You just take a pinch and press it up into the nail, and it will gum up and stop the bleeding until the blood coagulates... I've never tried flour, but did see corn starch recommended somewhere else before, and have used corn starch on my own dogs without any issues. I've *heard* that you can hold a flashlight up to a black-nailed dog to see where the quick is, but I've never tried it with my own black-nailed dog. My other dog's nails are my favorite. Every nail is black on one side and white on the other, so I can see the quick on every nail. Very weird but very helpful!


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## farmmom

I've also heard a wet tea bag will help stop bleeding or scratching the nail across a bar of soap.


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## deb

I think I cut it about 1/8" too short.

Has anyone heard of a dog getting an infected toe from a nail being cut too short? Is this something I need to worry about?

Thanks

Deb
in wi


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## Pink_Carnation

The vet was only moderately concerned when our dog broke his nail and it was bleeding. Her main concern with infection had to do with how high up he had cracked it. He made much more of a mess with it than a simple cut to short issue. The next time he mangled his nail it didn't go up as high and they were not concerned at all.


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## Wolf Flower

I have never heard of an infection from a quicked toenail, and believe me, it happens all the time. Even professional groomers (ie me) will sometimes clip a nail too short, and it bleeds, and we use styptic powder or silver nitrate sticks to stop the bleeding. In a pinch, you can use cornstarch. Sometimes, it's amazing how much blood will come from a quicked nail, but it looks a lot worse than it is. The bleeding has probably stopped by now, so go ahead and take the bandage off. You needn't worry about it too much, just don't let her get into any vigorous digging in the yard or tearing around the house.


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## Willowynd

I used to use cornstarch or flour in a pinch...it takes forever to stop the bleeding that way. I now use syptic pencils. Princess is reacting to the bandage more than likely  Why not take off the bandage and put on a sock if it makes you feel better to have it covered, but really it will be fine without it. I know how much they can bleed and then they track it around before you can grab the pencil. What I hate is if I nick one and it does not bleed right away...and I don't notice until the dog lies in it or it drips on the other leg while getting brushed.


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## Kwings

Yeah if I'm clipping nails then i always have a small container of flour near just in case.


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## deb

The princess rincess: has recovered from her awful pedicure and her serf is much relieved. No sign of infection and no more bleeding. rincess: did get used to wearing the bandage, but got hissy when I taped a plastic bag over her foot to keep the bandage dry & clean when I took her outside. 

We had a big thaw this week and the yard turned into a soupy muddy quagmire. I think the nail kept bleeding because each time the rincess: went outside her foot got soaking wet and then she started licking it. 

Thank you for your responses. Everything is great now. The rincess: would invite you to high tea with :benice:, but all we have is  :sob:

deb
in wi


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