Paging Hutash...Doggie question

[rconstan]

My pup has been incessantly licking his front right paw and upon closer inspection, his "thumb" nail is dangling by a minimal amount of tissue. He appears to have snagged it on something and basically pulled that nail out of its "nail bed." I wouldnt be surprised if his continued licking ended up pulling the thing right out of his paw. Just wondered if there is anything I should do. Do I need to get him to our vet? Obviously there is the concern of infection, but aside from that will a new nail grow in, does this need to be dealt with surgically. I have attached a few crappy cell phone photos for your reference, one showing the entire paw, the other zoomed in on the injured nail. I appreciate your input and help.

[hutash]

That orange ring looks like ringworm to me


You are right, those are shitty pictures. I can't tell much from the pictures, but typically if a dewclaw has been torn loose, and is just hanging by a thread, I just finish the job. If it is that loose, a quick tug with pair of needle pliers should do the trick. I use $100 stainless steel foreceps, but that is why I charge the big bucks and rape peoples credit cards. It might bleed a little, but usually nothing happens. The dog hardly notices it, and walks out the door just fine. I rarely wrap them unless it is really painful, or the dog just won't leave it alone, but once the loose nail is gone most dogs just ignore it. The art is knowing when it is loose enough to just tug off, something I have yet to prefect over the inner tubes. If any questions take him to your vet.

A new nail will regrow. I don't usually remove the whole nail unless it is a recurring problem. Some dogs are just good a snagging their dewclaw.

My battery is about dead, so I'll post this now. Abutments questions, shoot them to me in the AM.

Cheers

[::: :::]

ques for Hutash

Our senior dog, 9+yo aussie, has been panting more than usual (& decidedly more than the other fluffier 2yo aussie in the house), and it isn't the heat. We've taken notice of this over the last couple of weeks.

Yesterday morning, he collapsed after chasing his sister around the yard, back end first & was out of it for 15-20 secs. Then he recovered and was seemingly back to normal. The collapse part hasn't been the first time. It happened when he was 2 & another time about 2 yrs ago. No unintentional pee/poop episodes or seizure like behavior.

the two things together (panting & the collapse) made me take him to the vet.
after some blood work, he's got an "elevated BMP" at 1725
i just called a cardiologist to get in their schedule, but it will be a couple of weeks yet.

our vet was a bit cagey (purposefully) about where this is leading. she didn't want to have us freak without reason.

can you offer any insight into what this might mean?

[ETA] "elevated BMP" = "Cardiopet proBNP canine"

[::: :::]

Bump for evening viewing

[mcski]

I see a lengthy Ask Hutash thread/column emerging here

[iceman]

I see a lengthy Ask Hutash thread/column emerging here

That would make 27 of them. https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...rchid=16432097

[reckless toboggan]

That would make 27 of them. https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...rchid=16432097

Or 189 in dog threads.

[BeardMech]

You guys better start mailing him beer or your credit cards

[hutash]

The broken toe nail question was a lot easier to answer.

I don't use the bmp levels much, so can't comment too much, but it is just a screening test and you don't want to get too worked up about it. Kind of like a PSA in men, normal is good, elevated just means look closer. First question would be were x-rays taken? That is a quick easy thing for tour local vet to do. Normal dad's would make me feel a whole lot better. Is there a murmur, abnormal pulse, clear lung sounds, etc,? There are a lot of things your local vet can do to gather useful info before heading to the cardiologist. Ultimately an echocardiogram will be done if all the above suggest it. I assume all the rest of the blood work was normal?

If all.of the above is normal I am.in less of a rush to get a cardiology consult, but if they are then the echo will be very helpful and will ultimately help decide the best therapy.

If your vet hasn't done all of the above, it might be time to consider a new vet as it is all routine stuff we do frequently (aside from the echo.)

Hope that helps.

Feel free to PM.me specific questions, but I am in Austria at the moment. One of my exchange students' wedding, then heading to Chamonix for a week climbing, so responses might be delayed (or never if a serac falls on me.)

[::: :::]

thx for the reply -- have fun in Euroland!


our vet did listen to his breathing & his heart
i didn't authorize the xray yet, but it was proposed, as was the echocardiogram
i got the bloodwork done first as a process of elimination
the vet felt, even without the xray, like elevated proBNP merited the call to the cardiologist
I will ask again about the xray
the cardiologist will do an ultrasound which should offer more substantial info

i guess the big unknown for me at this point is possible outcomes:
meds for the rest of his life?
surgery?
reduced activities?
quality of life?

[hutash]

Probably
Possibly
Likely
Don't know yet

Impossible to tell at this point...may not be any problem at all, or a major disaster. If your vet didn't find any major problems on physical exam that is very encouraging. X-rays will tell a lot, but waiting and have g the cardiologist do them is an option since he/she may want to repeat them anyway, so no point in paying twice. You just have to wait a bit longer before finding out. Some heart problems are easy to treat and have a great out comes others are controlled with meds and give good quality of life, and others can be horrible. Unfortunately you will just have to wait for more information.

[PB]

We've had two dogs with elevated pro BNP. The first, after additional confirmation of congestive heart failure, went on vetmedin medication and the results were remarkable. In spite of suffering massive seizures once every month or so, his heart kept going for another 4+ years. It's very expensive, but depending on circumstances well worth it. The other, current dog, is less definitive in follow-up screenings, but we put him on vetmedin anyway, and his pro BNP immediately dropped. Still evaluating.

[::: :::]

thx hutash & pb
appreciate your thoughts in replying

[KQ]

Okay.. not a doggie question but I wasn't going to start a whole new thread. This is for a 1yo female tabby:

Last night my cat got startled and dashed under the bed. There is a heavy cardboard box under there with a metal object inside that I suspect she ran headlong into with some force. She came out crying very loudly and stumbling. She seemed disoriented like she didn't know what just happened to her. Her eyes seemed somewhat foggy and at one point her right front paw was momentarily limp. She was trembling, mostly on the right side. There was no dramatic circling, just stumbling. I picked her up and took her downstairs and set her down where she continued to move like a drunken sailor with a "who just hit me?" look on her face.

Then her siblings got all excited and dashed about causing her to take off up the stairs without a problem, moving just as fast as she ever has. After that I picked her up and held her for a bit (something she won't normally tolerate). Her eyes continued to be foggy and she looked around as if she was not sure what was going on but she settled down in my arms and rested. That was around 9:30pm. She later got down from my arms, interacted with her siblings and ate. I went to bed and she joined me.

Around 1am she crawled up on my stomach as she likes to do and started purring so I petted her for a while then suddenly, after I stroked her right side, she reached back towards my hand and began crying almost screaming. She was trembling (small vibration trembling) and pulling herself across the bed all the time making this awful sound that I've never heard a cat make. I tried to calm her by stroking her but she was nipping at me. She finally stopped after a minute or two (seemed like forever). Then she jumped down and hid under the bed. I checked on her and she seemed fine - eyes bright and she was quiet. Later she jumped back on the bed and stayed there for a short time before sitting up suddenly, letting out a small cry (similar to the other crying) and jumped back down to spend the rest of the night under the bed.

This morning she got up, groomed and ate and is sitting quietly. She seems normal but quiet. Any thoughts? She will let me touch her all over without any pain reaction. She has strength in all her limbs and reacts quickly to sounds. She just ran down the stairs in normal fashion. Wants to be petted and reacts appreciatively.

[hutash]

Tough diagnosis to make on the interwebs, but I suspect she got her bell ring and has a concussion. Sounds like she is recovering from it, and there's not much to do but watch and wait.

[KQ]

Tough diagnosis to make on the interwebs, but I suspect she got her bell ring and has a concussion. Sounds like she is recovering from it, and there's not much to do but watch and wait.

Thanks! She seems pretty much back to normal. Sometimes I think I see a wobble and think it's something but I suspect I'm focusing more than I used to so I'm seeing things.

[gnarbro365]

My 10.5 yo Chessie has had this weird high pitched cough/hack/gag thing going on. Kind of sounds like how I imagine a pterodactyl might. Rarely is it ever productive, but I have seen a bit of clear fluid come up with it occasionally. Always happens while he is resting or sleeping. I did notice some significant wheezing one day while retrieving, but that has not returned. It happens maybe once every other day or a bit less. Been going on for about 6 months.

He’s up to date on all vaccines and is other wise happy and healthy. It does not seem to bother him, but he compensates really well.

I’m guessing this is hard to diagnose over the internet, but I’m just looking for some advice I guess. Is it worth taking him to the vet to get a chest X-ray? His old vet did not seem terribly concerned by it when I took him in a few months ago.

Thanks for any words of wisdom.

[hutash]

Some quick run downs, good old fashion kennel cough (vax not perfect), laryngeal pareris (real common in old labs, haven't seen it as much in chessies, but I don't see nearly as many chessies as labs), heart or lung disease (always a consideration in a 10 year old), heartworm (if it is a concern in your region). Cough in an old dog deserves a bit of a look. X-rays arent a bad idea, blood work on a 10 year old is always a good idea. If I do a bit of a work up and don't fi d anything obvious I am more comfortable taking a wait and see attitude, But I want to rule out some easy things first.

[hutash]

We miss our chessie, and the land we've had over the years. Glad I dont have when living in the little apartment, but once we are back in the house My wife will.have a chessie bu the next day.

[gnarbro365]

Thanks so much. Rough accepting that he is an “old” dog. Got some mail from our vet before we moved about our “geriatric” dog. Oof. It’ll be hard to keep me from searching for chessie pups when he passes...

I will look into vets in the area for some blood work.