Symmetrical Lupoid Onychodystrophy (SLO)

Symmetrical Lupoid Onychodystrophy (SLO) is a painful, immune-mediated disease in dogs where the immune system attacks the claw beds, causing rapid, multiple-nail loss (onychomadesis), brittle, misshapen regrowth, and secondary infections.  It’s often treated with fatty acids, Vitamin E, tetracycline/niacinamide, or immunosuppressants.
SLO is idiopathic, which means the cause is unknown, but it’s thought to be immune-mediated, with the dog’s own immune system attacking the growth area of the nail.  Some think it may be genetic.  Some dogs recover from it , which can take anything up to 6 months while others seem to have it for life. 

Key Symptoms and Diagnosis

• Symptoms: Initial signs often include splitting, breaking, and separation of nails from the nail bed, usually affecting multiple nails simultaneously, usually there isn’t an obvious cause for the break or inflammation, which usually happens over a short time period.  When the nails grow again they are brittle and misshapen, discoloured, and likely to split or break again. 
  Split and broken nails are very sensitive, so your dog will be in pain, may lick their feet, limp, be hesitant to walk and show signs of a secondary bacterial infection.

• Diagnosis: Considered a diagnosis of exclusion. Vets may perform cytology/culture (to rule out infection) or biopsy of the nail bed.

Treatment and Management

• Initial Treatment: Often includes pain medication and antibiotics to manage secondary infection.

• Long-Term Therapy: Treatment often involves a combination of high-dose essential fatty acids (Omega-3 and Omega-6), Vitamin E, and sometimes tetracycline or niacinamide for their immuno-modulating effects.
  For a 30kg dog giving them 3 x 1000mg Omega3 capsules twice daily on their food will help new nails to grow properly.  After about 3 months reduce the dose to 2 capsules twice daily for another month, then to 1 twice daily for a further month by which time 1 daily is ideal to maintain good health.  If the dose is reduced too quickly the nails will start to break again so put the dose back to what it was at the beginning for a month, then start reducing the dose as mentioned earlier until there is no further breakage.  The dose mentioned is for a 30kg dog so increase or decrease the initial dose according to the weight of the dog.

• Severe Cases: Immunosuppressive drugs like prednisone or cyclosporine may be necessary.

• Nail Care: Frequent, careful trimming of brittle, regrowing nails is usually necessary to prevent painful breakages.