dewclaw injury

[hopesclan]

Hope has been licking her paw recently.  She also had an allergic reaction to a new shampoo and we still don't have her new food worked out.  Her skin has been flaky so we are trying different foods in the elimination diet--never was an issue before this even during allergy season.  So I figured that was the issue.  But this one foot she just wont stop licking and chewing till it bleeds.  So its been bandaged up and in a boot since yesterday.  I was noticing today that the dew claw seems to be split away from the pad.  Last night I didn't have the best view.  She walks and runs on it just fine and I don't remember any stumbles recently.  So we are going in to see the vet tomorrow.  Has anyone else had dewclaw injuries?  Did you end up amputating it?

[hopesclan]

Oh, and by the way.  I am making a conscious decision of not panicking about this.  I went to look up info online and come up with horror stories and said I can't do that.  I trust that my vet will know what to do and I am forcing myself not to over think it.  So any reassurance would be nice especially when it comes to dewclaw stories that turned out good, even if extracted.

[Kirsten]

Sure.  Cole tore the toenail (the horn part) off his dewclaw once.  I have no clue how he did it.  I just noticed him licking his paw and it was gone.  He didn't seem miserable and never complained.  I'd never have known there was a problem if he hadn't been licking it.  So I just bandaged it to keep it clean while the skin under the nail hardened up a bit.  The nail part grew back out just fine and it looks perfectly normal now.

[jihnken]

My first service dog tore part of her dew claw off once. I took her to the vet, they trimmed it up so that it would heal better and told me to keep it bandaged for a week to keep it clean and to keep her from chewing on it. She was fine as long as the bandage stayed dry. I think it was itchy when it got wet so I just changed it if the bandage got wet. She is fine now and the dew claw looks normal. 

[Spectrum]

Dewclaw injuries are rather common, and usually not severe.  Somehow I've been lucky enough to never actually have a dog that injured a dewclaw, though. In the couple years I've worked for the vet, I haven't seen any that have needed surgery - just bandaging at the most.  They usually heal very quickly

[hopesclan]

It's not the dewclaw itself.  it is the pad that is split between the claw and the leg.  I didn't notice it at first and thought she was digging at an obvious part of the pad.  Yeah, rationally I know its fixable.  I don't always live in the world of rational so I really appreciate it when people re-introduce me.  I'm using it as a practice run to try to cope with dog injuries without sending myself down the worst scenario spiral.  My vet is very patient.

[Kirsten]

Absolute worse-case scenario (and this is very unlikely) she has the dewclaw amputated.  This is a very common procedure.  On some breeds they routinely do it automatically even without an injury.  It would heal up like any cut and never bother her again.

Like the missing nails, it probably just needs good wound care (keep it clean and protected) and will heal up fine on its own.

Believe it or not, I actually had this happen to a pony.  Another pony went after her and kicked a chestnut (a horse version of a dewclaw) off her hind leg.  The vet tossed a few stitches in it and she never complained about it after that.  We took the stitches out a week later and she went on about her business unaware she only had three chestnuts.

[blkpanther0001]

never had any dew claw injuries but lots of toe  nail injuries with a pet dog I had he had very soft pads and nails and kept catching them on everything I got good at always having styptic powder on me at all times and bandaging material would just apply some wrap it up and he was good to go.

[hopesclan]

It turned out to be a nasty yeast infection on the inside of the dewclaw.  So she is on antibiotics (cross fingers and toes that she doesn't have an allergic reaction to because I don't want to throw away $70 worth of meds again) and cortisone and some medicated cream.

She is also styling a green e-collar (cone).  I had been bandaging the foot when it actually needs to breathe.  She was actually just fine with it, I think she thought it was another game of dress up.  But then she excitedly dug through her toys (hilarious to watch, defiantly had to problem solve when the chuck-it attacked her) and grabbed her favorite bone and then found out she can't actually hold the bone to chew it properly.  She tried and fussed and then laid her head down in defeat staring at the bone still in that dang cone.