Broken Dew Claw Nail

Broken Dew Claw Nail

Finding The Problem
What a day it had been.
My poor pup. Jerking away in midst of play, with a yelp.
When I put her coat on and when I groomed her.
I had no idea..
Starting at the shoulder, I worked my way down.
Nothing.
I gently touched each of her tiny toes and nothing.
It wasn’t until she lay flat out on her back for her belly rub,
scratch under her small arms and up her legs,
did I find what her problem was.
My Poor Little Baby.
Her dew claw nail was broken off, right at the quick but
still attached.

Remedy
I carried her out for potty and stopped at the car for our
first aid kit.
Once back inside, I added a small amount of Epsom Salts
to a bowl of warm water.
I had her soak her paw in the bowl of water for about five minutes.
The blood from her broken toe nail had dried and her hair was
all messed up and sticking to her nail.
Once we got her all cleaned up,  I was able to take a better look.
I thought of what I would feel like if that were me.
I didn’t want to cut the nail off as it would need to be cut into the quick.
That would hurt even more.

I had her sit quietly while I moved as much hair away as I could,
applied a dab of neosporin with a Q-Tip

then wrapped gauze around her paw,
holding her nail in the place it would normally be.

I gently taped up the gauze and finished off with wrapping a white
ribbon around the whole bandage.
She was so happy.

She stood up and began licking me like mad.
It must of felt so much better.

Consulting Vet
Prior to finding the problem myself, I had called the vet ..
I noticed she was favoring her paw but could not find any sore spots
when examining her.
My little Yorkie is very hairy, especially on her legs and paws.
The vet told me I would have to come in for X-Rays.
I am glad I held off for a bit.

I was concerned for my pup.
If she is in pain, so am I.

Well with her new bandage she was able to resume playing without jerking and
yelping periodically.

Friends with Benefits
I contacted a vet assistant friend. I was told to change the bandage every two
days.
That eventually the nail will grown out and fall off.
Eight days later, sure enough. No more nail and one healed puppy!

Since then, my Roxy has broken her dew claw nails twice more.
Each one last summer on different occasions and this past summer again.
Last time she was chasing dragon flys on a dock. The times before that she was just playing hard.

Running like mad and just
being her goofy self during play time.
A very active pup.

This past summer when she was bandaged from her last broken dew claw nail, she had to go in for her shots.
In talking with the vet about it, he claimed that he never seen front dew claw
nails break but back ones.
Well my pup doesn’t have back dew claws.
She only has the two at the front.

Family and friends suggest I have them removed so I brought this up with the
vet.
He concluded to not do anything but take the wait and see approach.
That, Perhaps I am having a streak of bad luck.
That suits me fine as I am so not wanting to put my pup through that.

It wasn’t more than a week later I ran into a friend at the dog park with her five dogs.
Her small Yorkie mix was limping, off and on.
She told me that her nail was broken and yes, it was one of her fronts.

I told her what I did, adding how much of a difference it made for my pup.
She was so happy.
The last two times, my girl knew what the routine was.

She’s Becoming A Real Pro At This!

Since it rained an awful lot, we just changed her bandage as needed.
As well as the ribbon around her paw.
The ribbon is simply cosmetics and is optional.

I can not thank my vet assistant friend enough as without her advice,
I probably would of fussed over my pup far more than necessary.

This way, I fixed her up within minutes and her routine went on as normal.
One thing we did do different for the first four days was that I carried her
down stairs and back up again.

Until Next Time,
Happy Tails!

November 7, 2009. Tags: broken dew claw nail, First Aid. First Aid. 10 comments.