Poppy the Border Collie was excitedly running around the off-leash park with her ball when she suddenly yelped and held up her front left paw.

Her owner Andy tried to have a look, but Poppy was too sore to be cooperative. Agitated, Poppy continued to limp and frequently licked her paw.

Andy decided to take Poppy to the veterinary clinic for an assessment of her injury, where she greeted the vet Sara with a wagging tail. Andy warned Sara that Poppy seemed very sore, and said he was happy to hold her firmly for this part of the examination. Poppy was cooperative for her general physical examination, but then became very tense and tried to snap when Sara went to examine her left forelimb. Sara wasn’t able to perform a proper assessment but discussed with Andy the common causes of sudden foot pain, such as paw pad cuts, bee stings, or broken nails.

As Poppy was otherwise in good general health, the veterinarian Sara recommended to Andy that Poppy should undergo sedation to reduce her stress and facilitate any treatment required.

After Sara and the veterinary nurse gave Poppy a sedative injection, she relaxed and became sleepy. Sara was then able to thoroughly inspect Poppy’s paw and discover that poor Poppy had torn one of her claws near the nail base.

While still under sedation, Sara was able to administer some local anaesthetic medication to Poppy’s affected toe to numb the area. She then removed the broken nail portion, cleaned the area, and applied a light protective bandage to Poppy’s paw. Sara dispensed some anti-inflammatory pain relief medication to keep Poppy comfortable at home.

After a week or so of protective bandages (which had to be kept clean and dry), Poppy’s broken nail site was sufficiently healed, and comfortable once more.