Split dew claw- need advice and reassurance!

[Rikerkv6]

To preface this, my dog has already been to the vet. Twice in fact.

About a week ago, she split her dew claw playing in the dog park. It never bled, in fact I only notice because she was licking it so much.

It’s split about 3/4 of the way up but does not go all the way to the nail bed. A tiny bit of quick looks to be exposed. Since she was not limping or seeming to be in a ton of pain, I let it be for a day.

Monday she was still licking so I call vet. They were booked but since we agreed it didn’t seem to be an emergency, we would go Tuesday morning.

I’m really regretting taking her in :(. They tried to take the broken part of the nail off, but after 3 attempts under heavy sedation and numbing they couldn’t get it and decided to leave it on. She put some antibiotic powder on there, wrapped it up and said it would fall off on its own. She noted it was not infected at all. She told me to give her aspirin if she seemed uncomfortable.

Two doses of aspirin in she started throwing up and having diarrhea so we stopped that immediately. Took her back to vet, checked bandage and put her on Tramadol for pain instead. Much better- no more GI upset.

Today I unwrapped it, and damn toenail is still there. She does not limp on it (only when bandaged LOL) and seems like its uncomfortable but not in a ton of pain. She does keep trying to lick it, but can be put in a cone.

Would you a) leave it open b) wrap it again c) take her back to vet or d) other?

I’m worried it may catch on something if left open, but also want it to fall off ASAP! WWYD?

Thanks in advance!

[fish]

I’d research dew claws as much as possible to see if I could find out what the alternatives really are – e.g., do split dew claws really fall off on their own???-- and then, depending on what I found, decide whether I wanted to stick with this vet or switch to another.

FWIW, years ago I adopted a wonderful dog whose history of digestive problems (worms, etc.) resulted in painfully splitting toenails which, in turn, resulted in infected nail beds if not treated. Treatment amounted to cutting the nails back past the quick under general anesthesia and then hoping that the new nail would be healthier than the old and not split. I tried a few different vets out of desperation to fix this painful condition, and not one suggested that the split nails would fall off on their own, or that nails could be cut back without anesthesia. If dew claws are any different, I haven’t heard about it yet, but am eager to learn. None of my dogs with dew claws (including the one I adopted this April) have had problems with them (knock on wood). I did eventually get the perpetually splitting nails fixed by following the nth surgical cut back with the best nutritional support I could find. No more dog chow, etc., in this house ever after.

[csaper58]

My dog has done this three times in 12 yrs (this is why they remove dew claws on hunting dogs).
The nail will either grow out, or fall off, which ever Mother Nature thinks best.
The first time I took her to the vet, the 2nd and 3rd I put a child’s sock on my girl’s leg to keep her from licking and makin it worse, gave pain meds then just waited it out.
Your pup will be fine:) Sorry about all the medicine side affects you delt with.
If your dog is active/outdoor type, can vet remove dew claws at this age so it does not happen again?
P.S. I have used Super Glue and also Sally Hanson Nail Glue on my own broken nails. It really stings for a few seconds, but stops the nail from tearing into the quick

[TheOtherHorse]

I’m surprised they didn’t cut back the nail. If you don’t cut it back, the already split nail may continue to split further up as the dog runs/plays/etc, and IMO it is more painful to leave it than to cut it back past the split and be done with it.

[S1969]

I have a friend who had this happen to his golden 3x and on the 4th he had the remove them both. His biggest regret was that he didn’t do it the first time.

I agree that I would have expected them to essentially fully sedate my dog and give pain meds before attempting to cut the nail…just like if they were declawing a cat. Nails are painful!

I’ll be curious to see what others say; personally if I could swing it I might schedule both to be removed but I know some will say that is a controversial procedure and that dogs actually need/use them… (My dogs’ dewclaws were removed at 3 days so we don’t deal with this issue.)

[wendy]

This is pretty common- you need to cut off the broken nail. You can do it yourself if you want- do it fast because it will probably hurt, and expect some bleeding, so be ready with a styptic powder. However, it will hurt less/bleed less than leaving it there and having the dog catch it again and TEAR it off and possibly injure the actual toe.
I don’t even go to the vet for these events- hold dog, clip fast, stop the bleeding. It’s just a toe, so I don’t see the need for systemic painkillers.

Dogs use their dewclaws quite a bit more than most people realize, and removing them isn’t your best option- they actually contact the ground on sharp turns to provide stability, and they use them to hold things. Plus the removal process is very painful- it’s a double thumb amputation, nasty. The best thing to do is keep the dewclaw trimmed up short- I dremel mine back once a week.

[bits619]

Our golden mix just split her dewclaw, again… We gave her pain meds and left it and a day later it fell off. If it hadn’t fallen off that day we were going to take her into the vet to cut it. I probably could have done it myself, but there are some things I’d rather not have them associate with me, and a really painful nail event is one of them, since we have to clip nails regularly and I want it to be a pleasant experience for them. Might not matter with your dogs but mine seem to hold grudges about their nails!
I know it’s controversial, but given how many dogs we’ve had with dewclaw issues, if I were in the market for keeping another dog, I’d probably have them removed while they were under anesthesia for their spay/neuter, especially if they were the floppy, more detached kind. I’m not that comfortable with the idea of removing them without anesthesia… My weimaraner and poodle/schnauzer mix were docked and dewclaws removed but not sterilized when they came to us, and i feel a little bad for them! Plus the weimy’s dewclaw scars are horrible- almost an inch of missing hair on each spot. (Not sure if that’s something that could have been avoided if the dog had been knocked out for the procedure though.)

[S1969]

[QUOTE=bits619;7078477]
My weimaraner and poodle/schnauzer mix were docked and dewclaws removed but not sterilized when they came to us, and i feel a little bad for them! Plus the weimy’s dewclaw scars are horrible- almost an inch of missing hair on each spot. (Not sure if that’s something that could have been avoided if the dog had been knocked out for the procedure though.)[/QUOTE]

How old was he when he had them done? That’s very unusual, in my opinion. (All my dogs have been docked w/ dewclaws removed at about 3 days - no scars and no bald spots on any of them.)

As for using dew claws, I have seen the videos and sure, they do touch the ground sometimes when dogs are making sharp turns. However, it’s commonplace to remove them on hunting dogs because injuries to dewclaws are common and painful; and most don’t seem to perform poorly for lacking them.

So, it’s a tradeoff, to be sure. If I were to choose dewclaw removal, I’d definitely have them done as puppies. But I would not be against having them done to an older dog - under anesthesia with proper pain control - if I thought the dog might have recurring problems.

[Rikerkv6]

Thanks for all the replies so far! As I mentioned in my first post, they did try to remove the nail under sedation but after 3 unsuccessful attempts they decided to leave it be. They said they could put her under general anesthesia to do it but didn’t recommend that.

A friend suggested soaking in Epsom salts so I did that today. Much easier with my horse than dog!

She is 5, so I don’t think removal is a viable option. They are not the dangly type, she just runs a lot and is very active.

If it doesn’t fall off by Monday, I will take her back to vet again. Any other tips or tricks are appreciated!

[CGirl10]

My dog recently did the same and she ended up chewing the nail off herself. I kept a close eye on it though to watch for infection.

In the future, I would recommend keeping them short rather than removing the dew claws. Unless its done when they are a few days old I think it is way to painful. I had the back dews removed on my dog when she was under for her spay and it was a nightmare keeping her pain under control and dealing with wraps. She is almost 2 now and still will freak out if you start picking at her feet.

[bits619]

S1969, we got him from his original owner at 4 months old. He’s not the finest specimen of the breed but quite darling, and smarter than he looks. I don’t have a picture of the scars handy but they’re about the size of a thumbprint.
Here’s a pic of the bugger
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/466595_10102127122137030_772220201_o.jpg

[wendy]

Removing them as adults is horribly painful- of course they do it under general anesthesia, but then the dog wakes up and suffers the pain of a double amputation and goes through weeks to months of pain. Most commonly they are cut off 3-day-old puppies without any anesthesia, which is horribly painful as well, but apparently no one cares about newborn puppy pain- they often just chop the tails off then too without any anesthesia. If there is a big scar they might have cauterized the site to stop the bleeding.

Declaws are very functional, and have been shown to reduce the injury rate in dogs that have them- people don’t realize their dog has avoided N number of injuries due to having declaws and just notice the 2 times the dog injured the declaw. If your dog injured the declaw, obviously he is using it for some functional purpose. If you chop it off, maybe next time he’ll fall and blow out his CCL instead. I’d rather deal with declaw injures than major injuries.

[SquishTheBunny]

As a 5 year old, I;d request the vet to either give medetomidine or a propofol CRI and cut it right back. It DOES hurt, and it will bleed so I wouldnt recommend doing on your own (sometimes the clotting powder isnt enough and you will need to cauterize the nailbed). Then, to prevent infection a light bandage over it for a day or two.

It sounds like your vets just tried under a moderate sedation, if it wasnt easy to pull off something like propofol (quick acting anesthesia) or medetomidine (heavy sedation at higher doses) will be easier for everyone

Wendy - interested to know - how are hind leg dewclaws used for traction, when most dogs dont have them, and there is no bony/ligamental attachment? Id assume you are not thinking front leg declaws as you mentioned CCL injury. Just wondering as I assumed if they were funtional, more than the rare few dogs would have them?

Also, dogs “catch” these declaws on things (strings, sticks, blankets etc) so I wouldnt considering catching their declaws on objects as “functional”.

[S1969]

Some studies have shown that dewclaws are functional to some extent; but I am not convinced that the lack of dewclaws = injuries…since most hunting dogs have them removed at only a few days of age, and most hunting dogs probably don’t suffer CCL injuries. Then again, hunting/field dogs are also generally in very good condition, and therefore CCL injuries may be less likely.

For what it’s worth, and probably nothing to those against tail docking/dewclaw removal, but my breeder’s vet uses local anesthesia for both. Even for just newborn puppies.

[CrowneDragon]

My dog has split his dew claws by chewing on them before; just cracked them in half. When it happens I trim back any loose part and just leave them be. If he was continuing to fuss with them I’d put an E-collar on him. They never seem to bother him too much and are healed over enough to not be painful to touch within a couple of days.

[511]

If it is just the nail can’t it be patched with nail acrylic?
You may need to have the vet call in Kim the manicurist for the actual operation but it seems like something that can be patched until it grows out.

[pony_baloney]

Are you talking about front or hind dewclaws? My late dog had just one hind dew claw; it got caught up on everything, so while anesthetized for dental work, they removed it. It was a dangly one, and didn’t seem to be attached to anything solid. I don’t know why her other claw was missing.

She wasn’t crazy about having her nails cut so I would make a sanding block and file them off. The front dew claws seem to have an extra shell over it, like a cat’s claw. Sometimes this would come off revealing a thinner nail underneath. Could this be done to prevent splitting later on in dogs prone to that?

[SuckerForHorses]

Removing them as adults is horribly painful- of course they do it under general anesthesia, but then the dog wakes up and suffers the pain of a double amputation and goes through weeks to months of pain.

While my ACD was not an “adult” when he had his only 1 dewclaw removed, he was around a year old or just under, and he was fine with no apparent pain at all. They removed it when he was under for his neutering. Kept it wrapped for a few days, removed stitches, good to go.

[MsM]

Update? How is she doing?

[hondochica]

[QUOTE=fish;7078096]
. . . . … FWIW, years ago I adopted a wonderful dog whose history of digestive problems (worms, etc.) resulted in painfully splitting toenails . . . . I did eventually get the perpetually splitting nails fixed by following the nth surgical cut back with the best nutritional support I could find. [/QUOTE]

Greetings Fish;

I found your post while ‘googling’ “cracked toenails in dogs”. I’m hoping you can provide some help!

I recently, well . . . actually it’s been about 8 months now! wow! . . adopted a stray border collie mutt. He was absolutely emaciated (nearly) when I found him, with considerable digestive upset. To this day I’m still battling with finding a food that he ‘likes’ and settles with his system. To get to the point - he has developed his 3rd or 4th cracked toenail, though he hasn’t had this problem in 4-5 months. The current nail is cracked on the side all the way down the nail. I’m about to try super-gluing it together, then trimming back to quick. What nutritional support did you provide/change with your dog to help his nails? My Tucker also has a greasy coat/skin.

Appreciate any help you can offer! Thanks so much

Kelly
Tucker (new boy), Maggie (ol’ girl)
Chester (the brat cat)
so cal