The Pig cracked her dew claw last week and it got infected. It's happened once before in the year and a half since we've had her, and this time I'm pretty sure it was because I let it get too long. But the vet has now advised that she should have them removed (well I think that's what she said, she mentioned clipping then cauterising?) under sedation. Has anyone else had this done? Do you think it's necessary?
Sounds as though your vet is going to try to stop the nail growing or just cut it very short so it takes a while to grow back. Complete removal/amputation of a dew claw on an adult dog is quite a major op. My eldest Lab had one of his amputated because it was growing at a queer angle and was constantly being ripped, he had a wound a good 5" long with 14 stitches. Your vet's solution may be the lesser of the two evils especially if you can keep the nails short if they grow back.
When Moo was young she did it a few times. We kept the nails shorter and that worked. She calmed down as she got older and she didn't hurt them so often.
Yes I think you are right, I think they'd take it down to the quick and cauterise it. I'm not sure whether they wanted to do that because the nail was damaged and would cause more problems if I didn't, or whether it would just be a preventative of future snags. I'd better call them and find out. gosh I don't think they meant remove the whole toe then! She has quite neat little dew-toes (thumbs?), it was just the claw that I stupidly left too long because I am a wimp with clipping them!
Yes depending on what the vet says hopefully that is what we will try to do - just keep them as short as possible. The last time she did it was a year and a half ago so it's not a frequent problem, hopefully it won't become frequent after this one!
Just as an update if anyone has a similar problem in the future, it turns out if the dog has split or torn the nail right down to the nail bed, as it grows back the split is likely just to keep splitting into the new growth and will continue bleeding and getting infected. So the best thing is to remove the nail completely and cauterise it under sedation. Then, the new growth should come back normally. The Pig had it done on Friday and if it is healing normally should have her bandage off on Monday. Then hopefully back to normal walks she went to Pig School this morning with a bag on her foot and the other dogs laughed at her
Poor girlie, hope she is feeling better soon. I bet she looked very stylish in her bag, the other dogs are simply jealous that she can pull that look off xx Thanks for the information Lara, very useful. xx
My deceased Lab did the same, the vet clipped off the broken claw and for the rest of his life it hardly grew again. Clipping and cauterising sounds a good idea, far better than completely removing the dew claw.
It is very common in the US for Breeders to remove the dew claws on Lab (and other gun dog) puppies when they are very young. The thought is they they are likely to get torn running in heavy brush. I think Cooper's might have been done a little later than usual, because I can see the lack of hair where they were removed. We got Cooper at 7 weeks, and there was no sign of the operation, so it must have been done quite a while before that.
Oh that would be great if it didn’t grow back! The vet said it definitely would, but fingers crossed. I am going to be very paranoid about her catching them from now on...
Gosh, do they remove the whole toe or just the claw? I’m guessing the whole thing. I think there are pros and cons, as apparently they use them for grip when cornering and braking and dogs without them showed slightly more stress and wear on other parts of the foot. But that might be way preferable to having them torn and infected every five minutes!
I think it depends on the dog as to whether it's a bonus or not. With some breeds and some individual dogs, the dew claw isn't held on by much and so they're more prone to being ripped. In my Labs, at least, they are a definite "toe" and are very useful. This is a pretty interesting video to show the difference they make trying to get out of an icy lake:
Ah that’s interesting. Yes the Pig’s is definitely a toe not just a little vestigial nubbin. I must admit to being slightly freaked out by those dogs that have double ones they look a bit reptilian...!
