My dog has a dew claw which the vet must have missed when he was a puppy.  I try to keep it quite short (it's probably a quarter  to half inch long) but every time I cut it it bleeds.  Before I used to cut it got quite long and kept getting caught, would break in half and always bleed.  I wouldn't have it fixed on it's own but does anyone know whether there is a point/length at which it wouldn't bleed.

What I found when my dog had a dew claw missed was, if you left it a long time between cuts, the blood vessels seemed to grow down the nail further, I found by cutting a tiny bit of the nail at a time over a period the nail got shorter and the blood vessels receded further up it.

Don't know if that makes sense to you.

Robert

Yes it does Robert.  How frequently did you cut it?

Hi Scattergood,

I used to cut about 1/8 of an inch off, about every 3 or 4 days. I was always worried about catching the quick and by hurting the dog put her off having her nails cut again, so I err'd on the side of caution.

Just a thought, I know a lot of people use dremels for cutting their dogs nails, I reckon that would be much better for cutting dew claws.

Robert.

Have you considered having it removed surgically?  It would solve alot of problems.  Many older dogs have them removed very successfully.  Ask your vet if you are at all worried.

Is it a relatively simple procedure? Meg has enormous dewclaws on her hind legs, the vet never mentioned removing them when she was spayed, but the grow incredibly fast. The trouble is she doesn't like anyone clipping them so it becomes a bit of a battle. I was wondering about asking the vet to remove them the next time i go in. Do you have a rough idea of how much it costs and does it cause much bother?

I just heard that it was a painful operation and normally they have to put them under a general so that really puts me off.  Perhaps someone else knows for sure.

Yes they do have to have a general to remove them.......I know of a Min Schnauzer that had two enormous double dewclaws on the hind legs......they were removed by the operation.....no ill effects and now you wouldnt know that she had had an operation.....it was a lovely clean job that was done.  Much better in the long run for the dog as they were beginning to give her trouble. It is certainly worth giving it some thought.

My terrier had his dew claws removed a few months ago.  He had a general anaesthetic, was on antibiotics for a few days and I had to change his dressings every day for a while.  It was definately worth it though because he kept getting them caught and they bled a lot.  He felt a bit sorry for himself for a couple of days, but was back to normal a week or so later.