Dewclaws

[jennifert]

Duncan cut his dewclaw yesterday. It looks like he ripped the nail right off. It looks awful. All that is left is a white hard part. Gosh, it hurts me just to talk about it...Poor baby. I think he did it when he was climbing out of the water at the river He pulled himself up hard and his foot may have slipped on the stairs and his dew claw must have gotten caught. He wasn't limping or anything since he doesn't walk on it but it was bleeding and he cried when I tried to touch it.

He has a vet appt tonight at 5:20pm. I hope they can fix it with the least amount of pain and discomfort to him.....I had it wrapped when I left this am but when I stopped back 20 minutes later to pick up something, he had the bandage off and was licking it.....I had to leave him and hope he'll be ok until I get home.....

Poor Duncan. He's just like him mother, clumsy and impulsive....He just dives right into things and is always slipping and falling and tripping, just like me!

Many dogs have their dewclaws removed don't they? When they are puppies? I thought I heard that somewhere. I wonder if they will have to take his off?

Wish us luck tonight. I'll let everyone know tomorrow how it goes....

[ChrisAK]

You can get them removed or you can just keep them cleaned and let the nail grow back. It's just like pulling a nail off. They grow back.

If you get them removed, you have to deal with keeping the wound clean, and ensuring he doesn't take off the bandage.

A couple of options here.

Good luck.

[jennifert]

Well, Duncan and I went to the vet last night. She said he did indeed pull the whole nail off. But aside from clipping the hair around it back and cleaning it up, she left it alone. She wants me to soak it in lukewarm water 2x a day, no antibiotics unless it starts looking gooey and slimey. (YUCK!)

She did say that it must have hurt tremendously when he first did it. I keep his nails short so it was lucky it didn't pull the whole thing, pad and all off... Although I don't remember him ever stopping playing and running at all. He's such a boy, a hyper, overactive 2 year old boy!!!!

So he'll be fine. She said his dewclaw may be a little strange looking in the future but that's no big deal.

Hopefully Duncan and I can stay out of the vet's office for the next few months! We're there once a month at least!!

[DoggiesAreTheBest]

Jennifer, I must have missed your post yestrday. Ouch! It sounds like it was so painful on Duncan.

I'm glad that the vet was able to take care of it and hope he isn't in too much pain or discomfort. Be sure to soak it per the Vet's orders! Infections are no fun!

Give Duncan a hug and lots of kisses from me! I miss my furry Draker! He is with Andrew. I have to fur to love on right now!