Bad Foot Tank

I'm posting late today because we had an incident last night with Tank. He slipped and tore his nail at the base. To say it was painful would be an understatement. 

He bled buckets all over the floor. I finally calmed him down enough to put pressure on the bleeder and stop the geyser.

I checked on him throughout the night to make sure he wasn't developing an infection or swelling. 

As he was dozing, I got a better look at the tear and managed to snip the fur around his toe so I could see it more clearly.

It was bad. The poor baby had torn his nail at the base, right where nail meets foot.

I called the vet's office as soon as they were open and got an early appointment. But here's where I had to make some hard decisions.

Tank reacts violently to anesthetic. It was obvious he'd have to be sedated to cut this nail because of the location of the tear. Topical numbing agents wouldn't deaden the raw nerve, and injecting him with a topical anesthetic would only cause him more pain with all the needle pricks he'd have to endure.

My choice: Either let the vet take the nail off without anesthetic. Painful but quick.  Or take the chance with anesthetic and hope he doesn't succumb to three days of nausea.

I opted for no anesthetic. I swear to you, I felt his pain as clearly as it had been my own. We taped his muzzle shut to prevent him from biting anyone and three of us hung on to him.

The vet was fast, thank goodness. He cut the nail cleanly, but it took all three of us to keep him still while the vet dressed the wound and bandaged him. As soon as they put him back on the floor I took that tape off his muzzle. 

Tank was very upset so I tried to make it up to him. We headed straight to Sonic and I got him a double meat cheeseburger and some water. I'm not sure if he's forgiven me yet, but he did enjoy that hamburger.

He's snoozing now. I'm keeping Nana away from him for now so he can rest comfortably.

Hugs and good wishes to Tank are gratefully accepted. The poor boy could use them.