#2513 poor Harley

 Last Thursday night/early Friday morning, after I picked T up from work, I climbed back into bed and snuggled up with the dogs, looking forward to getting back to sleep. As I was drifting off, I heard a persistent slurping noise. It was Harley, licking her right foot obsessivel . I shone the torch from my phone onto her foot to see what had her attention and noticed that the toenail on what would be the pinky toe of her right foot was cracked and split. It looked like she had two toenails. I gently touched it and she flinched, so I could tell she was in some pain.

I called the vet first thing on Friday morning, but they were unable to see her until noon on Wednesday (today). On Saturday morning I called to see if there were cancellations - there wasn’t. I called another vet but they were all booked. I called an emergency vet and was told that a split toenail didn’t qualify as an emergency. I did not call our vet on Monday: I did call on Tuesday, but no cancellations. I was worried because it looked terrible and seemed to be causing her discomfort. I could kind of see inside the toenail, to the tender part. That’s not right. She played and went for walks and acted normal, but when she settled down for the night, she would lick, lick, lick, that foot.

You may be wondering how the poor dog split her toenail. She might have snagged it on something. She might have been jumping and playing with Mac and cracked it on Mac’s tooth or on the concrete. Maybe she had a misstep on a walk. I don’t remember anything in particular that happened on Thursday and I don’t recall her licking the foot so persistently before that night, although MT says she was. 

Finally, it was Wednesday. T barricaded Mac in his room so Harley and I could go to the vet. Mac hates to be left behind. Our vet office is not allowing people to bring their pets in; they come out to the car to get the critters. I showed the tech Harley’s toenail and she told me that Harley would probably have to be sedated so the vet could cut it back. She said it would take about half an hour. Since I live just a couple of miles from the vet’s office, I just came home. The vet called me about 20 minutes later and told me that she had to cut the nail way back because the quick was exposed (ouch!).

When I picked Harley up from the vet, she was still a little “drunk” from the sedation. I had to pick her up to put her in the car. She just sat there, her eyes all blurry, her tongue slipping out the side of her mouth, her right paw wrapped in a bright pink bandage. 

Back at home, Mac was very curious about Harley’s paw and was extra curious about the cone of shame I had to put on Harley before I went back to work at the office. I actually gave Mac part of a sedative to keep her calm so she wouldn’t mess with Harley. I left work a little early because I was a bit concerned about the two of them. I didn’t need to worry. They were both mellow when I got home. I took Mac out for a walk - what a breeze to just walk the one! Harley can’t go out for walks for at least four days. 

Harley has a few meds to take: an antibiotic, a pain reliever, and the above-mentioned mild sedative. She does have a cone, but she hasn’t had it on since I’ve been home. I put a little baggie over the bandage when she has to go outside. She does not like the baggie on the foot. Mac is intrigued by it. 

I’m glad I get to work from home tomorrow so I can keep an eye on the doggos. T will be home on Friday, so he can watch them then. Mostly we want to be sure the toenail site doesn’t get infected. 

Harley is such a sweet girl. Her eyes look kind of sad and she has an overall vibe of“what the hell happened?” We’ll be sure to treat her extra tenderly while she recovers.