Is this normal!?

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vieshot

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Mum took our elderly Labrador to the vets yesterday. He is your typical badly bred case and has alot of skin problems. While she was there she asked the vet to trim his nails as they get very long very quickly and his problems mean there are times he cannot be walked as he gets quite poorly.

The vet cut his nails down to the quick. He bled alot. Mum had blood up her arms and by the end he was so traumatised he was shaking in the corner. Mum was nearly in tears and described the event as 'barbaric' but not being a vet we don't know if this is ever normal!? The vet assured her that it needed to be done because they were so long. She never offered him and type of pain relief and spend the time asking mum to hold his mouth shut so he can't bite- again I find this bizarre too, that is not a reliable way of preventing a dog bite! Not that he would anyway regardless of how much pain he was in.

I'm very concerned and am now considering changing vets.

The last time I took my BC x Labrador to them who is very fit, goes out with the horses etc the vet told me I needed to watch her weight because she's too stocky for a border....Erm probably because she isn't one!!

Just wanted some advice really. This same vet left a needle in my friends dog after an op and only noticed it when they returned the dog because it was bleeding through its bandage!

Help :-(
 
Erm no thats not normal and a sure way to put a dog off ever having its nails done again. I know a few old school types that insist on getting nails back to the quick or nearly to the quick, they regularly hit the quick and then have to stem bleeding with powder. Its not something I would intentionally do to my dogs and I'm very shocked at a vet doing it!
 
It does sound drastic to me, particularly as it stressed out your old lad so much. The trouble is when nails get long the quicks get long too, but the best way to shorten them is to just trim a tiny bit each week. Quicks do bleed a lot, the vet usually has something they can dip the nail in which stops the bleeding quickly. Not having seen your dogs nails I don't know if it was necessary to take so much off, but does seem extreme in an old dog.
If he was worried about being bitten I would have thought he would have been better muzzling or taping the dog, but maybe he felt that would upset him more.
Personally if I didn't have full confidence in my vet I would change vets (and have done so), so if you feel you have had more than one bad experience perhaps time to look elsewhere.
 
No. Even if they were in such a state cutting the quick was unavoidable then you should still have been told they need little & often. I'd change vets, there's plenty of good ones. Vet might not have done anything major but doesn't sound like someone to trust in an emergency.
 
Um no it is not!

I'm sick and tired of these damm it know it all vets!! He's your pet, you are responsible for him and he looks to you for his needs. If you don't like what the vet says or does to your pet at anytime, anywhere, then tell him.... NO!!

Buy yourself some clippers, the strongest ones you can find and just take a tiny tip off every week, while your mum feeds him cubes of cheese as a reward. It's a lot less stressful and at least you'll know what you are doing.

Also I find it's a great way to get a Dobermann off the sofa.;)

Here's hopeing you mums labbie is not to hurt.
 
vieshot said:
Mum took our elderly Labrador to the vets yesterday. He is your typical badly bred case and has alot of skin problems. While she was there she asked the vet to trim his nails as they get very long very quickly and his problems mean there are times he cannot be walked as he gets quite poorly.

The vet cut his nails down to the quick. He bled alot. Mum had blood up her arms and by the end he was so traumatised he was shaking in the corner. Mum was nearly in tears and described the event as 'barbaric' but not being a vet we don't know if this is ever normal!? The vet assured her that it needed to be done because they were so long. She never offered him and type of pain relief and spend the time asking mum to hold his mouth shut so he can't bite- again I find this bizarre too, that is not a reliable way of preventing a dog bite! Not that he would anyway regardless of how much pain he was in.

I'm very concerned and am now considering changing vets.

The last time I took my BC x Labrador to them who is very fit, goes out with the horses etc the vet told me I needed to watch her weight because she's too stocky for a border....Erm probably because she isn't one!!

Just wanted some advice really. This same vet left a needle in my friends dog after an op and only noticed it when they returned the dog because it was bleeding through its bandage!

Help :-(
Click to expand...

All his nails?:eek: If so, totally incompetant imo. Potassium permanganate works a treat on a bleeding quick when one occasionally cuts a bit close (:o).
 
Not all but five or six bled alot. He was crying out in pain and everything. He's a good dog for having his nails trimmed so I really hope this event won't put him off from now on, can't say id blame him if it did!

Think I will do a bit of research on other vets in the area and get all three dogs registered elsewhere.

Thanks for the advice people, much appreciated
 
My daughter's old lab had the same thing happen to him. Luckily for him, it was only one nail but he won't let anyone touch his feet now. My daughter said he bled a lot. I have just trimmed very small, very sharp ends off our pups nails and have always made sure that he allows his feet to be handled, however, if a vet made him bleed, I think I may do the same to the vet!
 
No it's not! I'd be really cross:mad: Poor old lad.

Once his nails heal up (I'd probably give it at least a week to be on the safe side as I expect they'll be sore -Cayla could probably give you much better info on healing time than I could) I would make a point of gently getting him to give a paw, and if he's happy with that, gently 'flick' each nail with your finger tip, and reward and praise him - this is what we advise puppy owners to do, to build a good association with having their nails touched and make it easier to get their claws trimmed. Don't force the issue if he does seem wary, just take baby steps and build him up within his comfort zone.

And to be honest, I'd also change vets given what also happened to your friend's dog:eek:
 
Not acceptable, but our vets did the same once- I would have stopped them, but they did it while she was in being spayed so we didn't know it was happening. They were generally good vets and her op was done perfectly (not even a scar now) but her claws wouldn't stop bleeding, on and off for 24hours- and having just had the op she was sedated and not walking around much, so they must have cut them really short.
She has been terrible with her claws ever since, treats don't work, toys don't work, soothing talk doesn't work. For a while I had to almost sit on her to keep her still enough so that we wouldn't hurt her again. This was almost 3 years ago and she is just getting better.
Vets have since asked us if we want them to cut her claws but we will never let any vets try. We keep her claws a little longer than most vets like, as she uses them for ratting (she's a JRT) and finds them useful grip on the contact equipment at agility competitions, but we just take off a little when she lets us.
Hope your poor dog isn't as traumatised :(
 
Thats terrible! Even getting close to the quick can pinch and be sore. If they were black nails they should have taken off little and if clear nails they should've cut plenty away from the quick!

If they grow that long that quick they would have been best to teach you how to cut them so you can do them regularly at home yourself.

I would be getting another vet to do your dogs nails if you didnt want to do them yourself otherwise your poor dog will get a phobia of having nail/feet touched.

I've worked in practice 10years and never heard of a vet doing this!

(I havent read any replies just replying to OP)
 
Unbelievable! Is this vet new to your practice? Is there a senior partner? I would be sending an extremely strongly worded letter of complaint. To occasionally accidentally over clip the odd nail is excusable but the situation you describe is highly incompetent. It is such a basic bit of veterinary care that I shudder to think of this vet's capabilities in other areas?:(
 
Sounds like a right clampett!

FWIW I have never clipped a dog's nails - we keep ours on concrete - obviously the conformation of the foot has a role to play but we've never needed to use clippers.
 
Not great!:eek: and indeed they do hurt a bit when cut to the quick.
Keep him off hard floors concrete now for atleast a week as this will keep the bleeding up, esp if he scrambles around, grass walks, then road walks to help keep them down.
I wonder if he just took a stab in the dark and just cut away:p instead of cutting gradually.
Nurses are generally better at the old nail clipping.
If I hit a quick grooming, I use flower to stem the bleeding or put a little bulked up cotton wool dressing on the paw for half an hour till it dries up.
He will prob be a big tender if he catches them over the next week but indeed you will have to go very gently next time and positvely, try a local grooming parlour they cut alot more nails:)
 
Personally I would forget about clipping claws given the history and invest in a dremel. Start the old boy with a new positive expericence, little by little. There are plenty of threads on here or on web re dremels and claws if you care to google.
 
gunnergundog said:
Personally I would forget about clipping claws given the history and invest in a dremel. Start the old boy with a new positive expericence, little by little. There are plenty of threads on here or on web re dremels and claws if you care to google.
Click to expand...

Never heard of it...thanks though, will do some research
 
Obviously they needed a good trim,in this case the dog should have had a Domitor injection as an anaesthetic,it is quick and reversable with the antecedent. There will be inevitable bleeding,but standby of a styptic pen deals with this right away. Better the dog had been whisked away out back and the procedure done out of the owner`s sight .Just rather poor customer relations here.
 
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