# Dew claws removed and one wont heal!!!(caution kinda graphic pictures, sorry)



## Jer

The whole affected area is about 2 inches, and there are no joints (metatarsals?). Is there hard casts for dogs?


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## MikaTallulah

Dumb question- Why did she need the dew claws removed?

I hope Trixie is all better very soon.


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## Jer

MikaTallulah said:


> Dumb question- Why did she need the dew claws removed?
> 
> I hope Trixie is all better very soon.



I am told by the vet, its because they can get caught in a rug or torn off in other ways, which is far more painful then having them removed in a procedure.

TBH, I thought they were only going the remove the skin one that had a curled claw at the end.

I am probably misnaming what was removed, its the bones that are essentially the "thumb" bone on the dogs back feet. My Shiba Inu, doesnt have them nor had them removed. /shrug


Also Trixie has shown no pain through all this, she doesnt even limp with her leg opened up. She needs to go for a walk or twenty REALLY BADLY though!! Two weeks with hardy any activity or training makes her an excited puppy.


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## aerolor

Were these dewclaws on the hind legs of your pup rather than the front dewclaws? Hind dewclaws are not commonly present in most breeds anymore and if puppies are born with them they are usually removed within 3/5 days of birth. The front dewclaws are usually left on most dogs as they still serve a purpose.


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## Always51

all I can say is ouch!!! that does look sore...poor Trixie..hope it heals well for her


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## toliva

Poor girl. I think I would take her to another vet for treatment.

My cat had an open leg wound from an IV site, and it didn't heal for like 2 weeks, and actually opened up further and looked worse. I had the vet look at it, and there wasn't much he could do. He said to try to keep it covered, but no matter what I did the cat bit the bandage off. I stopped messing with it an it slowly healed. Now after 3 weeks or so, or maybe it's been a month, it is finally scabbed over.


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## cgriffin

Poor baby! This does not look good. I think you have to take her back to the vet.
I used to work for a vet clinic where they told so many owners to have the dewclaws removed because they were to "floppy" and would get hung up eventually. But they usually were the ones only held by a skin flap.
If these were firmly attached to the bone, there would be no need to have your girl's dewclaws removed. So, I don't get it, unless the dewclaws were on the hind legs? That would be very rare in Goldens, I believe.
Either way, see if you can rebandage and take her to the vet again, is what I would do. Good Luck!


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## IowaGold

Surprisingly it *will* heal (though there may be some scarring/hairless areas). I hate taking off adult dews! They heal so much faster from the spay or neuter than the dew claw removal. I would definitely have this rechecked by her vet. At the very least, she needs to be on antibiotics and I would probably keep the area covered with a light bandage.


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## Sosoprano

Aw, poor Trixie  I’m not a vet, but to me it does look like the open area that the finger is pointing to might need another stitch or two to bring the edges together. I guess the question is why does it keep opening up? Maybe it need to be kept completely immobile for a period of time (a nightmare for a seven-month-old puppy, I know!)? I think I would get a second opinion before Saturday, if possible.


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## ELI&BAILEY'S MOM

Poor Trixie! I hope she feels better soon.
My little Springer Jack, had his rear dew claws removed shortly after birth. He still has his front dew claws and they stick straight out from his leg. He was chewing on them constantly and they really seemed to be bothering him so we took him to the vet to see if we could get them removed and they refused to do it. They said it would be like them cutting off our thumb. Recovery would be long and very painful for the dog. Jack eventually stopped chewing on them, so we are very glad we didn't have them taken off.


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## Thalie

Ouch, ouch, owie, ouch... that looks painful.

When you bring her back to the vet for a recheck you might want to ask him what he thinks of this product (EMT Gel & Spray Home Page) to try to speed up healing a bit. I've never used it but have heard from several people it does help.


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## A1Malinois

I never remove declaws. I dont do a surgery on my pet (spay neuter included) to "prevent" something that likely will never happen but whats done is done so lets try to heal that 

a member here recommended this Vetericyn One-step wound and infection treatment that works naturally with your animal?s immune system. Theres reviews and pictures on the website. I ordered some, as the reviews I read makes this product appear very worthwhile. I would look into this as well as the EMT gel above.


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## mylissyk

IowaGold said:


> Surprisingly it *will* heal (though there may be some scarring/hairless areas). I hate taking off adult dews! They heal so much faster from the spay or neuter than the dew claw removal. I would definitely have this rechecked by her vet. At the very least, she needs to be on antibiotics and I would probably keep the area covered with a light bandage.


It will granulate in eventually. IG is right about having it checked, antibiotics and covering it. Poor pup. I'm glad she doesn't seem to be worried by it.


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## A1Malinois

Random question. I was told (by my OLD vet) that covering a wound would keep it moist thus keeping it from healing. Does a light bandage count as covering it or can air still get to it? Lincoln had stitches from a dog bite before and the told me to leave it open. Looked pretty similar to that, was really hard to heal except it was on his upper arm (near his shoulder)


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## Jer

Well, the horror is over.

After weekly visits to the vet for 3-4 months...they finally said, shes getting better, in one week we can keep the bandages off. One week later, we bring her back in and they say its regressed almost back to the beginning! I asked if there is a skin graft or some kind of skin glue to use, and they said "well we could have looked at that last week, but now its infected so no."

That did it, I went and got a second opinion.

The new vet, took the bandage off in FRONT OF ME...old vet always did it in back while I waited in front. To my HORROR, her foot was a complete mess! The other side of her foot had worn down almost to the bone, her foot pad was worn through. She had tons of damage all over her nails and inbetween her toes after 14 weeks of bandages rubbing without air. The new vet said... "Well, I think we just need to leave this bandage off for a few days and let this mess dry out" (I told my wife about 5x, that we should do that, but trusted the professionals). New vet said in about 3 or 4 days it should go from red to pink and start to dry up, etc. Well....and im not exaggerating here...in 24 hours, everything was dry and pink. In 48-72 hours she was walking on it again and it was literally scabbing up!!! After a week, she was walking on it will full pressure and everything. :doh:

Her foot is all healed up 2 weeks out and shes hardly limps anymore. Because she lived with those tight bandages for 4 months, she does walk with her foot out and kinda like a cowboy . I brought her back to the new vet for a check up, after she was limping (we played catch with her and that strained it), and he said everything is fine, except for some sore muscles from our WHOOPSIE of forcing her to strain it a bit to much. We are hopeful once she gets some muscle back she will start to walk properly again.

Needless to say we have decided to stay with new vet...who cares more about household pets then livestock... He also literally spend 45 minutes talking to me about all the risks, and potential things that can hurt the foot, also how to do at home physio etc.

I should have trusted my instinct and took the bandages off, but never got to check and see her foot unbandaged...


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## Jer

Lincoln_16 said:


> Random question. I was told (by my OLD vet) that covering a wound would keep it moist thus keeping it from healing. Does a light bandage count as covering it or can air still get to it? Lincoln had stitches from a dog bite before and the told me to leave it open. Looked pretty similar to that, was really hard to heal except it was on his upper arm (near his shoulder)


It wasnt a light bandage, it was a heavy one, where no air was getting to it. On top of that it was chaffing horribly on the rest of her foot.


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## Jer

Bonus Pic! She looks strange to us, without a cone and bootie over bandage on foot!


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## inge

So did you tell your old vet what happened?


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## Jer

inge said:


> So did you tell your old vet what happened?



No. But I have told everyone I know with a pet.

I am afraid I will say something I cant take back lol. For the sake of other animals, I probably should though, eh?


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## inge

Well, I would probably have been knocking on their door straight away...but maybe that's just me...the idea that my animal suffered and it wasn't necessary would get me pretty mad!


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## Jer

Here is the outside of the foot, after 5000% looking better. it was an inch by 3/4 inch, and nasty.









The bottom part is where the dew claw healed, all the other stuff is just collateral damage from the bandages. It took my breath away, it was so bad. I literally, just said *** (but not abbreviated).









The whole bottom bad was just showing meat.


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## Jer

inge said:


> Well, I would probably have been knocking on their door straight away...but maybe that's just me...the idea that my animal suffered and it wasn't necessary would get me pretty mad!


Thats why I figured I would get them where it hurts, profit margins. :wave:


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## mylissyk

Jer said:


> Well, the horror is over.
> 
> After weekly visits to the vet for 3-4 months...they finally said, shes getting better, in one week we can keep the bandages off. One week later, we bring her back in and they say its regressed almost back to the beginning! I asked if there is a skin graft or some kind of skin glue to use, and they said "well we could have looked at that last week, but now its infected so no."
> 
> That did it, I went and got a second opinion.
> 
> The new vet, took the bandage off in FRONT OF ME...old vet always did it in back while I waited in front. To my HORROR, her foot was a complete mess! The other side of her foot had worn down almost to the bone, her foot pad was worn through. She had tons of damage all over her nails and inbetween her toes after 14 weeks of bandages rubbing without air. The new vet said... "Well, I think we just need to leave this bandage off for a few days and let this mess dry out" (I told my wife about 5x, that we should do that, but trusted the professionals). New vet said in about 3 or 4 days it should go from red to pink and start to dry up, etc. Well....and im not exaggerating here...in 24 hours, everything was dry and pink. In 48-72 hours she was walking on it again and it was literally scabbing up!!! After a week, she was walking on it will full pressure and everything. :doh:
> 
> Her foot is all healed up 2 weeks out and shes hardly limps anymore. Because she lived with those tight bandages for 4 months, she does walk with her foot out and kinda like a cowboy . I brought her back to the new vet for a check up, after she was limping (we played catch with her and that strained it), and he said everything is fine, except for some sore muscles from our WHOOPSIE of forcing her to strain it a bit to much. We are hopeful once she gets some muscle back she will start to walk properly again.
> 
> Needless to say we have decided to stay with new vet...who cares more about household pets then livestock... He also literally spend 45 minutes talking to me about all the risks, and potential things that can hurt the foot, also how to do at home physio etc.
> 
> I should have trusted my instinct and took the bandages off, but never got to check and see her foot unbandaged...


Wow! I'm so glad you went to a new vet! Thanks goodness it's healing now. Poor girl, poor you, what a mess. She is lovely and looks very happy to be out in the field!


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## A1Malinois

Nevermind I see I already posted before no need for a repeat post


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