Author Topic: Dew claw nail ripped off!  (Read 15389 times)

Offline Amy (guffer)

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Dew claw nail ripped off!
« on: December 05, 2008, 02:41:58 am »
Yesterday, Apollo came inside with a bloody front paw.  He and Zeus were wrestling around and apparently managed to rip the dew claw nail off completely, leaving the quick exposed.  I'm attaching pictures, because I've never even heard of this happening before.  It looks clean and pink so far, so I'm not worried about infection yet, but it obviously bothers him a bit, since he's been licking it everytime he lays down.  Even Zeus was trying to lick it for him this morning.  (Such a thoughtful brother!)  Has anyone seen this happen before, and if so, should I be doing anything with it?  I'm pretty sure he'd never keep a bandage on it.  I just took some pictures....  What do you guys think?

Tonda

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Re: Dew claw nail ripped off!
« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2008, 04:13:28 am »
Oh man, I'm so sorry for your baby! We just had a long discussion about dew claws (where I learned that Pyr's are one breed where you're not supposed to have them removed). I sure hope it heals up quickly.

Lyn

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Re: Dew claw nail ripped off!
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2008, 05:37:30 am »
Bubba had ripped off his rear dewclaw by catching it in the carpet. Bubba has double dews on his one rear leg. It was the floppy one he caught.

It looked the same.. the quick was exposed like the nail just slid off.  :( It took me forever to get the bleeding to stop. But within a couple days it seemed to harden and didn't bother him at all. The nail eventually grew back normally.

I found the post I started about Bubba's ripped dewclaw..http://www.bigpawsonly.com/index.php?topic=10534.0

Viking Lady

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Re: Dew claw nail ripped off!
« Reply #3 on: December 05, 2008, 05:47:21 am »
It was those back daggly ones I was concerned about. When I brought this up before people were talking about whether they were attached or not and I was confused. Daggly ones don't seem attached to me. Anyway, I thought since Luke is pretty much in a contained fence there wasn't as much danger of getting them caught. But if they can get caught on carpet anything can happen.

Guess I'll just have keep my fingers crossed.

yellow_dog_mom

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Re: Dew claw nail ripped off!
« Reply #4 on: December 05, 2008, 05:53:34 am »
It was those back daggly ones I was concerned about. When I brought this up before people were talking about whether they were attached or not and I was confused. Daggly ones don't seem attached to me. Anyway, I thought since Luke is pretty much in a contained fence there wasn't as much danger of getting them caught. But if they can get caught on carpet anything can happen.

Guess I'll just have keep my fingers crossed.

I don't know Debbie..it freaks me out to think of this happening..it looks awfully sore and I'm such a sap with this kind of thing!  :-\

Viking Lady

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Re: Dew claw nail ripped off!
« Reply #5 on: December 05, 2008, 06:05:27 am »
Me too. Looking at that picture made my stomach hurt.

Lyn

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Re: Dew claw nail ripped off!
« Reply #6 on: December 05, 2008, 06:24:26 am »
By attached they meant by bone. You should be able to feel if there is a bone attached to the toe.

The one Bubba tore is just attached only by skin, so it's really loose and floppy. It doesn't help that the nail on that toe curls. I try to keep it trimmed short but it's still curls kinda like a cat claw. I wanted to have them removed when he was neutered but my vet advised against it since it's super painful and the chance of infection is high. Luckily Bubba hasen't tore his again. *knock on wood* LOL


It was those back daggly ones I was concerned about. When I brought this up before people were talking about whether they were attached or not and I was confused. Daggly ones don't seem attached to me. Anyway, I thought since Luke is pretty much in a contained fence there wasn't as much danger of getting them caught. But if they can get caught on carpet anything can happen.

Guess I'll just have keep my fingers crossed.

Offline London_Pyr_Lover

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Re: Dew claw nail ripped off!
« Reply #7 on: December 05, 2008, 06:25:33 am »
Ohh Noo!  Poor Apollo!  I would do what Lyn did, try to keep it clean and bandaged and hopefully the nail will regrow.  The only reason I wouldn't want to take him to a vet right away, is I think the vet would strongly suggest removing it completely, and not only could that be very costly, it's also removing a dew claw from a Pyr.  I know it's not a double dew from the back, but still.  On the other hand though, if it starts to look infected or if it just won't stop bleeding, then yeah, you really should go to the vet.

Modified because I'm a goober, and need to pay more attention to what I write!  ::)
« Last Edit: December 05, 2008, 06:32:08 am by London_Pyr_Lover »
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Lyn

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Re: Dew claw nail ripped off!
« Reply #8 on: December 05, 2008, 06:30:19 am »
I should probably add that I did call my vet. He said as long as the bleeding had stopped just to keep an eye on it for infection. Apollo's doesn't look like it's bleeding to me so I think your ok so just keep an eye on it.

My vet did say the nail may or may not regrow. If it doesn't then you'll more than likely have to have it removed.

Offline Amy (guffer)

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Re: Dew claw nail ripped off!
« Reply #9 on: December 06, 2008, 03:07:52 pm »
Thanks for the advise, everyone.  I did end up just calling the vet, and they said it was ok to just watch it since there's no bleeding and he's not bothering it too much.  I'm so glad to hear that Bubba's nail grew back.  I was worried that Apollo's little toe might stay messed up.  And he's not licking it much today, and he's running around and playing like usual, not favoring that leg at all, so I think it's going to be alright.  I just freaked a little the other day.  Don't like to see my baby bloody and in pain. :'( 

Icerotti

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Re: Dew claw nail ripped off!
« Reply #10 on: December 07, 2008, 04:21:00 am »
Glad to hear he is doing well today.  :)