Like Us
Follow @dogster
Google +1 Subscribe to our YouTube Channel Contact Us
Forums Home » Dog Health
GO!

Pixie broke half her dewclaw, it's hurting her... Help?

This forum is for dog lovers seeking everyday advice and suggestions on health-related issues. Remember, however, that advice on a public forum simply can't be a substitute for proper medical attention. Only your vet can say assuredly what is best for your dog.

  
Pixie Bell

Is that a ball? 		 
 
Barked: Mon Dec 3, '12 5:55pm PST 
Pixie went for a run today and in the process must have caught her dewclaw somewhere. It broke off her nail above the quick, and bled quite a bit. I debated at first whether I should clip the nail at the break, but it's very close to her pad and it's still attached, though definitely broken (it's not at an odd angle).

It isn't off enough to have severed the quick, so I'm not sure if I should clip it and clean it, or leave it be and let it heal on its own. It bothers her if I touch it, and she is sitting here licking it.

Help, please?
my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals
 [notify]
Ember FDX

Go Go Devil- Bunnies!		 
 
Barked: Mon Dec 3, '12 6:07pm PST 
If it's bothering her that much, it definitely needs attention. When I've had dogs in daycare injured as you've described (it's a very common injury) we put the dog on bed rest and call the owner to pick them up. The recommendation is to take them to the vet, because attempting to deal with it yourself is bloody at best, and can cause further injury at worst.

I have seen leaving it alone to heal and fall off on it's own totally backfire, causing re-breaks and infections and in one case, eventual amputation of dew claw.

If it were my dog, I would clean it, either bandage or put a cone on her so she can't make it worse, and have a vet look at it. But I have known people who do trim it up their self.
my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals
 [notify]
Ava & Nix

Suburban Farm- Dogs		 
 
Barked: Mon Dec 3, '12 6:18pm PST 
A vet can clip it the rest of the way off and use something to stop the bleeding, but if I were you I probably wouldn't try to do it myself if it's going to make it bleed. frown

A while back Ava cracked one of her nails in such a way that it exposed the quick at the tip. I have no idea how she did it, and it never bled or anything... it was just this thin pink sensitive layer of flesh around the quick. I was able to use the nail clippers to clip off the broken part of the nail so she wouldn't snag it on anything (Ava is really cooperative for her nails, even when she was in pain, so it was easy. I wouldn't have tried it on a fidgetty dog though.) but I had to wrap her paw up so that she wouldn't scrape the exposed quick. Thankfully it never bled, and healed really fast in only a couple days.

But if it's that close to the base of the nail, near her pad, and really going to bleed I would have a vet look at it. Until you can get to a vet just bandage and try to stop her from licking at it. hug
my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become pals
 [notify]

Pixie Bell

Is that a ball? 		 
 
Barked: Mon Dec 3, '12 7:43pm PST 
Here is an image of the broken nail. The blood is all gone from the broken piece.

You'll have to copy paste it. I couldn't get the Dogster Forum Helper to come up on my iPhone... It usually works, but this update seems to have some bugs. confused

http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l510/DaynaKH/A1BAA29C-DA8 4-4EF1-8A67-1FBAECAF47F8-374-000000158E38ADD9.jpg
my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals
 [notify]
Fritz

Fritz, cats are- fun when they- run
 
 
Barked: Mon Dec 3, '12 8:10pm PST 
I couldn't get the pictures open, but from what you describe, the vet would be the best call. Feet can easily become infected and a broken nail is painful and deserves attention.
my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals
 [notify]
Star

247510		 
 
Barked: Mon Dec 3, '12 8:33pm PST 
Star mangled her dewclaw once, it bled dramatically and was VERY painful for her. The vet snipped the hanging bits, wrapped it, and she was fine within a few days.
my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals
 [notify]
Taggert

Semper Vorax		 
 
Barked: Tue Dec 4, '12 5:21pm PST 
Taggert has had a run in with dew claw troubles too. Basically, if the dog will let you touch it, snip it off, but other than that we just dab the exposed quick with witch hazel a couple times a day, and the nail will fall off or will be chewed off on its own. Last time, taggert wouldn't let anyone mess with it, but he let us dab at it with witch hazel and cotton ball. he had snagged his dewclaw on a loose loop in the carpet and it broke so that it was sticking out at a right angle to the quick. It took about 3 days dangling before it finally just came off on its own. WE gave him half of a baby asprin tablet for any pain he might have had. The vet would have charged us tons of money for sedation and a checkup and the anti-inflammatories, but we just watched and waited and kept him away from serious activity and it grew back just fine with no infections. After about three or four days, it just came off on its own. The time before that, he got his paw under my foot by accident and crunched it. we were able to clip off the dangling piece that time.
my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals
 [notify]
Jocelyn

Is it time to- eat?		 
 
Barked: Tue Dec 4, '12 9:04pm PST 
Jocelyn has never hurt a dew claw, but she has broken another nail. She was licking it constantly. You need to got to the vet. They took care of my Jocelyn. Good luck! Actually, 2 weeks ago Johnathon broke his dew. It turned horizontal. The vets have told me to watch it to see if the blood vessels die or not. It actually fell off a few days later. A new one has already started growing in. I'm not sure if this will happen with your dog or not. Margie split her nail all the way into the nail bed. As the nail grew, it just kept splitting. I actually saw something on tv about a dog with the same problem. They removed the entire nail. Leaving it would make any new growth split. I just yanked her nail out with pliers. If you choose to do this, have a muzzle handy! Margie went through this twice, once with the front foot and once with the back.
[notify]