I had my pups dew claws removed at 2 days old, three pups had double claws so my vet 'stapled' the wound together, did not give us any advice on care or anything, we took the pups back a week later and two of the three pups now have an infection where the staple was and I have been given antibiotics for the pups.
My query is, I have never heard of staples being used for this sort of thing and that when we took the pups back for check up, the vet had to cut off the scab to remove the staple which has opened up a sore area on my pups legs.
The infection was under the scab around the staple, only a little puss came away, but now my poor darlings are left with sore areas.
I am reluctant to give the antibiotics.
Other breeders I have spoken to say that if the area is too big after removal either their vet uses a stitch or a purple coloured powder/liquid. my vet used staples and yellow powder
I AM NOT A HAPPY PERSON AT THE MOMENT!

I've never known dewclaw wounds to be stitched or stapled, and only potassium permanganate (the purple antiseptic/astringent) used occasionally.

>I've never known dewclaw wounds to be stitched or stapled,

Whats the usual procedure then?

gemini-can i ask how your pups handled having their dew claws removed? Did it seem like they were in pain?

The reason i ask is because i have read on here that dew claws and tail docking doesnt cause any pain to the pups,but i was talking to a long time breeder at the park the other day,who used to dock and gets dews removed, she said, "to be totally honest it does hurt them". What's your impression?

To cut them off, and apply the stuff JG said. They will heal and crust over, time passes and the crust falls off and the wound heals. Wether there is pain or not depends on the view of the breeder, many people will have a different story to tell. Some vets will use a local to numb the area, both for tails and claws, and cut them off. Some tails are banded, like lambs tails, and fall off.

I have always been told that dewclaws cause brief pain, but banding of tails does not seem to.  an infection though may be painful.

>Whats the usual procedure then?

They're cut off and a styptic applied if necessary; the wounds are generally no bigger than the umbilical wound, and that's not stitched in any way. Removing the dewclaws seems to cause a second of pain, but it's very brief - there's no more reaction than when the litter is disturbed for any reason, and they squeal more when the bitch steps on them. Human babies make more fuss when they have their simple heelprick test!

Hi the pups had a brief pain when the dew claws was removed.
The pups did cry when it was being done but by the time we left the vets room they had settled down and have been ok.
Today the wounds are looking much better, I have not used the antibiotics yet as have been advised that it would cause the runs and also can sometimes growth stunt.
I have bathed the wound with Hibi Scrub and the wound is now crusting over again nicely, the pups do not seem bothered with the wound at all and mummy dog is not either.

I have never had any closures applied to dew claw wounds but then I have no experience of double ones which I guess could leave a much bigger area particularly with large puppies.  I am glad to hear they appear to be healing with bathing.  A little salty water might be better.  Hibiscrub has chlorhexidine in it, I think, which can actually kill off new tissue and so might slow things down.  The main action you are looking for is to just wash away bacteria regularly really, thus preventing their multiplication.  You don't have to nuke them :)

If my girls have c-sections, my vet always recommends cleaning the area daily with a Hibiscrub solution, and it always heals quickly.

My vets will no longer remove dew claws, have tried 3 vets and all the same!

I'm sure in most cases it will not do any harm.  I just think it is overkill (pardon the pun :))  It is generally recommended for disinfection before surgery,
a couple of references on that:-
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100001240.html
http://www.tiscali.co.uk/lifestyle/healthfitness/health_advice/netdoctor/archive/100001240.html,
when clearly there is greater need to reduce the bacteria count to as close a zero as possible to prevent ingress into the body but afterwards washing the bacteria away regularly to prevent multiplication should be adequate. 
I attending an infection control lecture some time ago where one speaker was a Hospital Infection Control person.  Someone in the audience asked her why the local hospital did not use one of the "modern sprays" to clear lockers etc. and she told us that washing away bacteria, they used ordinary washing up detergents, was quite sufficient when done regularly enough.  She also pointed out that too many antibacterials, bleaches etc were used in her opinion to both the detrimental of the environment, our resistance to germs and germ resistance to counter measures.  I stole the saying "there is not need to nuke them" from her :)

This is only one persons opinion, a long time ago, maybe things have changed. is this opinion only hearsay though :D :P

I'd go with what the current feeling is from my vet. :)

It was several months ago not the dark ages :)  Yes it is hearsay, but the references I have given are not.

A friend is a consultant gynae/obstetrician and one of his pet rants is the overuse of antibiotics and anti-bacterial cleaners :( :(

Daisy