injured nail

[Jaylin A]

Hi, yesterday while jumping to the top of my dresser my cat's old house collapsed. He was left scrambling to get up and he's on the heftier/lazy side so he was likely struggling before I could get to him. he was holding up his paw and flicking it, I noticed a lot of blood and 1 or 2 nails had gotten janked up. I stopped the bleeding and just cleaned it off with water as I was unsure what to use, the remaining hanging piece fell off sometime today. he hasn't been limping and is walking/jumping like normal, but he keeps grooming his nails. he only reacts by slowly pulling his paw away when I touch the affected area but he does that all the time. this one nail is still sticking out, is it normal or is it in a wrong place? it looks like most of the outer layer is gone and there is dried blood in it

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Sorry no one has responded to your post yet . It looks to me like the actual 'innards' of the claw is intact, but that he damaged the overall claw in general. I do not have experience with such a situation. Can you consult with your vet about any action you could take? I am going to guess it just needs to be monitored for any additional issues. I would certainly not let him outdoors for now, if he does indeed go outside normally.

If you are worried about a possible infection, you can try some chamomile tea. Any standard grocery store variety, which are usually German (you don't want English, nor any additives or flavorings). Brew one of the tea bags in water, cool the liquid, and apply it to that area with cotton balls or a soft cloth, multiple times a day. The tea has both soothing and healing agents, as well as anti-bacterial (and anti-fungal) properties. It is also safe for him to ingest.

Sometimes, a response from someone like me will elicit others to respond as well.

 

[Jaylin A]

Thank you so much, I didn't know about the chamomile tea and it's very helpful! He's indeed indoor and naps most of the time (we've been trying to get him more engaged and into playful activity lol). I wanted to see if anyone knew if the claw placement was normal after injuring a nail because it definitely looks out of place to me. We just got back from the vet the other day for another reason and it'd be another bill right after we just got him checked. So we're closely monitoring him before scheduling another appointment, and wiping the paw (especially after litter breaks)

 

[blumarine916]

This happened to my cat last year when she was freaking out over a stray intruding our home she climbed the metal grill on the windows in panic mode. There was blood here and there so I took her to the vet the next day. The vet found that the entire nail bed of one toe had come off. The good news is it will grow back with some care. I was given some topical cream but no other medication. It recovered in about 3 weeks.