[sashasmom]

Okay - just got back from first obedience class - went pretty well.
Ntohing noticible on ride home or at aclass.
Now Sasha is licking at her right dew claw and I've noticed it seems to be swollen, a little bloody, definately red.
There is more softer claw underneath the actual nail that one would trim.
Any clue?
Never seen that before!

 

[gazar]

This nail thing seems to be a regular occurance for bulldogs. Not sure why. My Clara has this happen to her all the time, one nail after the other. It helps to keep the top nail trimmed back above the new nail. Less painful for them as they are not hitting it or walking on it.

 

[augrad]

The softer claw underneath the hard one is actually the quick. Is it exposed? She must have caught it on something.

 

[sashasmom]

The underneath 'softer' part always is kinda there.....

I am taking our two cats in to our vet tonight for their annuals. Will ask him about her claw then.
Darn it! I was actually hoping to take her by the vets on Saturday and do a walk-through with her NOT seeing the vet or anyone to try and get her over her vet-fear. :roll:

 

[PitBullRoyalty]

That soft "claw" is the quick, the are supposed to grow together but I have seen dogs grow the two separate.
So what happens is everytime they catch the "quick claw" on something, it will bleed.
The only answer I have seen to this is removal of the dew claws, which I recommend for active large dogs anyway.

 

[gazar]

This happens to Clara on a regular basis with all of her nails. The old top nail eventually falls off and there is a new nail underneath. I think because she always likes to dig for bugs she lifts up the top portion. Wish I could find some way to keep this from happening, as it does seem to be painful for her until the old nail drops off.

 

[sashasmom]

***UPDATE***
Dropped her off this morning and vet will look at her inbetween his other surgeries. She wouldn't stop licking and I keep seeing blood on the quick part. She has such fear of "tall men in scrubs" that he will probably have to put her under and said if the joint is broken he may just remove it.
Poor thing. She never has a "good" time at the vet and it is where we will board her too.
I have been going there with her on weekends and just passing through, giving her treats, so she will de-sensitize.

 

[gazar]

***UPDATE***
Dropped her off this morning and vet will look at her inbetween his other surgeries. She wouldn't stop licking and I keep seeing blood on the quick part. She has such fear of "tall men in scrubs" that he will probably have to put her under and said if the joint is broken he may just remove it.
Poor thing. She never has a "good" time at the vet and it is where we will board her too.
I have been going there with her on weekends and just passing through, giving her treats, so she will de-sensitize.

Sure hope all goes well. Let me know what the vet says about her loose toe nail. Thanks - Pat

 

[sashasmom]

update to the update

Well....the good news vet only had to clip nail wayyyy back. He says this part of the body bleeds like crazy and so wrap has to stay on for 2 days. She is also in an e-collar. Looks pretty pathetic. :crybaby: She also got an injection for pain.
She seemed fine last night but this morning was not bearing full weight on it when standing - no limp when walking though.
We have obedience tonight and I am going to see how she is when we get home. I REALLY don't want to miss class because we will also miss one in two weeks. Not that I will MAKE her go if she is obviously unhappy, but I am hoping if I can at least go to class and not parade around ring or find some other accomodation.
:roll: (sigh)

 

[gazar]

Re: update to the update

Well....the good news vet only had to clip nail wayyyy back. He says this part of the body bleeds like crazy and so wrap has to stay on for 2 days. She is also in an e-collar. Looks pretty pathetic. :crybaby: She also got an injection for pain.
She seemed fine last night but this morning was not bearing full weight on it when standing - no limp when walking though.
We have obedience tonight and I am going to see how she is when we get home. I REALLY don't want to miss class because we will also miss one in two weeks. Not that I will MAKE her go if she is obviously unhappy, but I am hoping if I can at least go to class and not parade around ring or find some other accomodation.
:roll: (sigh)

Did the vet tell you why the nail lifts up like that?

 

[PitBullRoyalty]

He should've just removed it, if they grow apart it is a genetic deformation of the nail bed and this
means it may likely grow apart all the time. He (hopefully) put her under anyway. I say hopefully
because if he cut the nail way back while she was awake that would be extremely painful and tramatic.

I prefer pits or any large athletic dog to have their dewclaws removed when they are pups (it can be done
older but it's better to do when they are getting fixed as it is cheaper and they don't have to be put under twice).
You wouldn't believe the number of dewclaws we have to fix because they get caught on something. This one
dog (it may have been a pit) got his dewclaw stuck in the trunk of a tree and struggled so hard that he broke
multiple bones in his leg and foot and eventually ripped the nail right out of his foot and lost alot of blood.

I say it's not worth the trouble of just having the dews removed.

 

[sashasmom]

The vet just seemed to think she caught it on something (as pitbullroyalty suspected). We have a chain link fence and she likes to jump up against it (and over it too but that is another thread!).
He definately had to put her under as she has vet-fear aggression. I just had to change the dressing and the nail is gone so he clipped it very far back.
If it happens again I will definately discuss removing both of them with him. He owns a rescue- bullie mix too so that is helpful.

 

[PitBullRoyalty]

We had some dogs that were "scrub shy" so the vet and tech would change their clothes and put
the dog under and then put sterile surgery gowns right over it and the dogs were alot calmer. LOL.