Border Collie with a sore paw

irishlady29

Friday evening we noticed the nail on our dogs paw up on his shin was bleeding and looked like it had twisted, ever since if he bangs it he yelps and it's bleeding alot, we have been covering it a night to stop him licking it.
There seems to be very little improvement, to me it looks like the nail is dead as it very yellowy.
Do you think he may need a trip to the vet or will it heal itself?
We are totally confused as to how it would have happened as he was with us all day and evening and we was'nt really up to no good!
Any advice would be appreciated

DBB

Ouch!
Do you mean the dew claw, it's an inch or two up the leg from the paw?
He probably caught it on something, it's easy to do. If something gets caught under it or around it, even for a second while he's running around, it can tug it away from the leg and really hurt.
You may need to have it removed altogther, this will certainly stop it from happening again! But for now, keep it clean and keep an eye on it as it may become infected. You may want to see the vet about it at some stage to discuss tactics!

irishlady29

Yeah thats exactly the spot, did'nt know it had a name! It does appear to be very sore, if it hits of anything he yelps and does seem a bit down since it happened.
Would you think the fact the nail is yellowy that it maybe dead and may just fall out eventually?
Thanks for your reply

DBB

Hi Irishlady,
The dew claw is a vestigial toe: at one stage in the long distant past, canines had 5 toes on each front foot. Now they have 4, and the dew claw is a remnant of the 5th toe.
Problem is, some dogs literally just have a nail that feels like it's just attached to the skin. In other dogs, there's still a bone structure under that nail. In the former case, you've got a sore surface wound. But more likely, you've got deeper trouble because there's possibly a small broken bone under that claw. Ouch again!
So it's hard to know what'll happen, and I'd be concerned that it'll be sore for quite a while. I'll bet he keeps brushing it against things and hurting it again.
So I think I'd be off to the vet to get it sorted for once and for all. If he's going to have to be knocked ou, it might be as well to take both dew claws off to prevent further injury. It's a reasonably common thing to happen, so will be routine enough for your vet.
Good luck:)

Sigma Force

Yeh they can be very sore, my middle girl caught hers a while back..in the stupidist clumsy way she was jumping up and down..as she does..and her foot went down on top of the hose nozzle and it must of caught somehow on the hose nozzle itself..how she managed that I don't know but she would have to catch the claw. She was so sore with it, a bit of a drama queen anyway but it was hanging off and sometimes depending on the way a dew claw breaks you can just keep soaking the end in salted water but this time it was too painful and she had to be brought to the vet, the nail removed. She was so miserable with it, it's one of those little nicks that hurts like mad.

No harm in taking the dog to the vet with it, they might have to remove it by the sounds of it they can become infected very easily. In the mean time soaking it with warm salted water will help, but it does sting.

irishlady29

So it looks like another trip to the vet.....
I'm not sure would I be brave enough soaking it in salty water, it seems very tender although it has stopped bleeding.

Thanks for all your advice

Graces7

irishlady29 wrote: »

So it looks like another trip to the vet.....
I'm not sure would I be brave enough soaking it in salty water, it seems very tender although it has stopped bleeding.

Thanks for all your advice

There is a knack re the salt water; our crazy collie used to get cut paws etc often. A wide bowl, keep the front end happy and just lift the foot and hold it in the water.