Toenail Torn Off

TorachiKatashi · Apr 30, 2011

Sigh. Today was the day I was going to try to start intros again, but so much for that.

It's my own stupid fault, I was cleaning and moving stuff around, and I pulled the top tray out a bit to adjust the tray liner, and as fast as that, Whiskers jumped up and tore Vin's toenail off. The middle toe on his right foot. I didn't even notice it at first. I put the boys in their carrier to keep them separated while I fixed everything back to make extra sure Whiskers couldn't get to them, and I noticed there was a drop of blood on Whiskers' head. When I went to check the boys, their little carrier was COVERED in blood. It took me a minute just to figure out where all the blood was coming from. I ran him upstairs and Mom helped me keep pressure on his foot with a cold cloth until it stopped bleeding. I couldn't even tell that the toenail was gone until I cleaned the blood away. He seems okay if a little in shock (it took him a few minutes before he started fighting to get out of my hands, he usually fights right away) and he didn't fight me while I was holding his foot, so I don't think he's in much pain.

I have Baytril here that Whiskers is taking for his URI, should I start giving Vin some to make sure it doesn't get infected? Or is that jumping the gun?

Apr 30, 2011

your not having any luck are you?

I'd say keep any eye on it, if it gets red or swollen, I'd start the Baytril

Joanne · Apr 30, 2011

Owie! One of my boys had his toenail bitten off when he was little. It bled on and off for a day or so, and then it healed up fine. I would not give any antibiotics at this point. Too much use of antibiotics can lead to drug resistance. Just make sure the cage stays really clean for a week and you should be fine. It is in a place where he can reach it and clean it himself so I'd just leave it alone, and check it daily to ensure that it's healing OK.

victoria · Apr 30, 2011

Toe injuries are pretty common and tend to bleed a lot. I would not give Batryl, it is unlikely to get infected and you may cause him to develop an immunity to it. If he starts to show signs of pain, try to get some Metacam from the vet. If he starts bleeding again, you can use cornstarch or flour to help stop the bleeding. It's quite possible he may be a bit lethargic tonight, these injuries tend to be painful and scary for rats because of the blood loss.

ETA: Joanne beat me

TorachiKatashi · Apr 30, 2011

@Renee

Apparently I'm not. >.<

Don't get me wrong, I love Whiskers to pieces. I just don't like him every once in a while.

My mom and I already discussed it prior to this and decided all things considered, the cons outweigh the pros on getting him neutered. Not only his age (as you know, we call him 18 months but he really could be 24 months or even older), but the fact that he came from such bad conditions and has lung issues even right now convince me that the high risk isn't worth it.

@Joanne & Victoria

Thanks. I'll check it before I go to bed and again in the morning, and Mom will keep checking it while I'm at work. I'm hoping he'll clean it up overnight so I can tell how red it is without the blood. He wouldn't sit still for me to clean it and I didn't want to make it start bleeding again.

Edit: Well, he can't be in too much pain. He's running around playing with Oskar and climbing the cage like a champ. Typical youngster. I used to be able to hop back like that, back in the day.

TorachiKatashi · May 1, 2011

Vin is doing well today. He's eating/drinking normally, taking treats, playing with his brother, all the normal stuff. His foot is looking good (other than the obvious missing nail), hasn't bled at all since we stopped it last night and it doesn't look swollen. Looks like he's keeping it really clean, so that's good. My camera is pretty crappy, but when Mom gets home I'll try to take a picture of it.

Funny enough, it was only a few days ago we were at the vet with Whiskers and the receptionist was telling us about how her ferret tore one of its toenails out.