Hi all,

I'm off to the vet in a few hours, we got the first free slot, but I thought
I'd see if anyone here has any advice on what we might expect there so we
can prepare if necessary, like by setting up a secluded box-bed for our cat
or anything.

A few days ago I noticed that our cat's middle back nail was apparently
damaged. There was blood around the nail in the fur, and it looked split. I
have lots of experience assisting at (non-kill) shelters in first aid and so
forth so I decided to keep an eye on it, and the next day it looked dry and
clean. It clearly wasn't bothering her. Well, today, it looks wet and
bloody, perhaps a bit pussy, but she's been licking it a lot (so now it
clearly IS bothering her) so it was hard to tell what-all substances had
saturated the hair. We wrapped her up in a towel and I tried to clip a bit
of the hair away for a better look, but that hurt her so there's clearly
some inflammation. So I just parted the hair and had a look. The nail is
hanging by a thread, the entire nail, and the end of her toe is exposed and
not pretty, although certainly not green or extremely red and swollen or
anything. We wanted to leave her alone as much as possible, so I didn't
probe to see if that was a bit of bone showing or just a slight infection. I
dribbled some dilute betadine on it, we let her go, and I called the vet. I
know when I should move to professional help! (Sure, I could probably clean
it out and take care of it if I had to, say by being alone in a remote cabin
with no vet access, but I thought it best to go with locals and experience
and all that good stuff).

So... I predict anything from a spray-on local, a snip and some ointment, to
sedation, minor surgery, and bandaging, with an Elizabethan collar. Can
anyone help me narrow down the likelihood while I fret until our
appointment?

Thanks,
Katrina