Do Broken Nails Grow Back?

[Princess*Smudge]

Okay so just a question, not urgent or anything..

Smudge has two nails that have broken entirely off (one on each front paw) the first one happened before I got her, I hadn’t noticed until the first time I cut her nails when I contacted the old owner she said that one of Smudge’s previous owners kept her on a wire bottom cage and it must have happened then. The second one was a mishap that I was around for Smudge was doing a bunny 500 in her pen and somehow managed to catch her foot on the side of her litter box. I freaked of course when the nail came off in my hand and called the vet of course, they instructed me to stop the bleeding and keep it clean with a little diluted hydrogen peroxide and a Q-tip.

Anyways as I was clipping nails I noticed that neither have ever grown back into a full nail. They are both closed off and harnded with a small nail like bump which almost looks like a nail trying to grow back but it’s been months (over a year for the first one) and still no real nail is there. It doesn’t bother her at all, they are not sore to touch or anything. I keep her nails trimmed very very regularly because I’m terrified of them getting to long and curling back up into her paw (her one “thumb” nail has a tendancy of doing this so I have to especially watch that one) or her losing any more. The vet said (after the second one) that it looked to be healed up very nicely and she would be just fine. But I am just wondering will they ever grow back fully?

I’m sure I’m just over-worrying lol even the vet said she was okay, I was just curious if she will ever have normal nails again, or if this is a normal occurence? Thanks all, I don’t know what I’d do without you guys!

[Scarlet_Rose]

Sometimes the nails will not grow back after they have been pulled out, so it is normal.  This happens when there has been extensive damage done to the nail bed (or it was pulled out too).  It sounds like that may be the case here, and you just might want to trim the nails more often on Smudge since he has a history of nails getting pulled out.  The more often you trim, not only lessens the chance of catching a nail because it is shorter, it will also help shorten the quick so you can cut further back.  Do this even if you just trim a short sliver of nail and use an emery board to smooth out the cut to also help prevent snags on carpet.  I’ve done this with my Daffodil because she has a tendency to have sore hocks, and if the nails are long, it can cause it.  As it turns out, she has a genetic trait of thin fur on her hocks which is causing it but I still keep up with the trimming of her nails because it can exacerbate the sore hocks.  I hope this helps!

You are so welcome!  I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t talk to bunny people either.

Here some advice from Dana Krempels that suggests using betadine instead of diluted peroxide.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Rabbits-703/Rabbit-nail.htm

 

[Princess*Smudge]

Thanks so much Scarlet! I trim Smudge’s nails once or twice every week and a half or so (like you said just a tiny sliver off if thats all that is needed) do you think this is enough or can I trim more often? I like to keep them short to avoid any more nail injuries. I believe the second one might never grow back after learning about damaged nail beds. When it happened it actually the exposed the quick. I was just worried that there was something wrong with her nails like they weren’t strong enough or something. All the other ones seem good and strong when I trim them and file them. Thanks again for your help! Oh and thanks for the link too! I had no idea about the betadine (actually I didn’t even know what it was hehe) but I’ll be sure to get some now just to have on hand in case! Also… I questioned why the vet didn’t inform me of this… that’s something I’ll bring up at the next visit. Thanks again!

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