HELP! possibly broken toe

[Blossom622]

okay, i'm new here and it's pretty bad that my first post is negative, but here it goes..

two weeks or so ago, i was cutting my oldest pig, Lucky's nails. Right as a squeezed the clippers down, she fidgeted, pushing more nail into the clipper than i intended to cut. About half her nail was cut off, and she ws bleeding a lot. I felt terrible for doing that to her, and brought her to the vets immediately to ensure she'd be alright. Initially i thought that i had ripped her whole nail off, but the vet cleaned her up and told me that i had just cut it way too short. Very good news, until my mom pointed out to me yesterday that her toe was HUGE! The injured nail was red and dirty looking, and her toe had swelled to about twice the size of the other toes on her foot, and my dad told me that she hadn't been running laps every morning like she usually does, although she still plays during floor time. I dipped her foot in peroxide, hoping that would do some good, but i'm not sure what exactly is wrong. Other than that, she's been acting perfectly normal--taking food from me, interacting with her cagemate, Baby, etc. Is it just a reaction ti the injured nail, or is something worse wrong, like a broken or highly infected toe? I'll bring her to the vet ASAP, but i need some insight on what else to do. thanks!

definitely take her to the vet. she might have an infection on that toe since her nail is so short, bacteria from the litter (even though i am quite sure her pen is very clean =0), she might back track into her pee spot or step on a piece of poo as she walks around her home) can seep into the opening. though she might still walk around just fine, it can go down hill from the swelling very quickly (infection can spread to her whole foot creating a "bumble foot", its really painfull and very stressfull on the piggie just to walk around on as they are being treated for it). next time you give her alittle trim on her nails and the nail bleeds alittle, you can dip the nail in alittle bit of cornstarch (it'll stop the bleeding and make a sort of temp bandaid until the nail heals). hope this helps =0).

[Marlania]

Incase you snip off too much again (hey, it happens to everyone), and you dont' have styptic power available, try using a dry bar of soap. Rub the nail across the bar so the soap sticks to it. It stops the bleeding pretty quickly. I'm not sure if scented soaps are okay to use, but I've had to do this before myself. A vet I used to work for told about this trick.

As for her toe, I also think it's an infection. It's so easy for piggies to walk around in their own mess and have an infection set it.

Hopefully it clears up. Good luck!
Marlania

[Blossom622]

We brought Lucky to the vet today, and it is an infection in her toe. Good thing it hasn't spread to other parts of her foot, and we've got this yummy medicine for her--it's cherry liquid and we have to give her it twice a day for two weeks. That should clear it up right away ! Thanks for the help/support/advice!!