No, no, no...someone shoot me! Poor Harvey

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Patches

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I am feeling incredibly guilty right now. Boo hoo.

Harvey has strange "little toe" claws on his front feet. They grow very rapidly and curl over into his pad. He's been having them trimmed every week, at the vet's suggestion, to encourage them to grow straighter. Vet also said regular trimming will make the quick recede up the nail.

So, it's been just over a week and we went to trim the tip off it, as we've done numerous times already. Cue him freaking out for some reason and moving just as Duncan made the cut.

Yup...you guessed it, we caught the quick. :eek: :mad: :(

We stopped it with baking powder (that's what the vet advised when he told us to do it ourselves), I held a tissue over his foot to encourage clotting and have placed him in his crate.

It's not bleeding now, but what next? It's not really that short either. It just grows all strange. I have some softban and vet wrap, hibbiscrub and Terramycin spray. Would you wash the foot in lukewarm water (I think cold/hot would likely make the blood flow through the nail again) or would you just spray it with the Terramycin and bandage it?

My concern is infection when he goes outside. I will now return to taking him to the vets every 10 days for him to do it, although it's a bit of a cost at £22 a time.
 
These things happen! Does it need a bandage? I'd just spray it and keep an eye on it - you could always put an old sock or probably better a food bag over his paw when he goes out to keep it clean, but I'd have thought a bandage would just make him worry at it and might make it worse?

(((hugs)))) it was an accident, it happens, and maybe it will teach him to hold still next time! (OK maybe the last bit is wishful thinking...)
 
I've just ordered a Styptic Powder Pen for "next time".

We didn't cut it that short at all, although a little shorter than we meant to. I feel so guilty. Poor little mite.

With the way it grows it simply can't wear down. It would need a good half an inch off it to stop the curl and get the tip to contact with the floor when he's walking. Obviously we can't cut that much off, so every week or so we cut the tip to stop it touching his pad.

The underneath of the nail is straight. It's like the top edge just grows and grows and curls over the underside of the nail....if that makes sense? It's the same on both "little toe" claws on his fore feet.

I take him on the road once a week for a walk but living on a farm doesn't make for much "concrete/tarmac" walking. That said, he does like to dig!

What's the infection risk? I panic about such things.

Soo...a sock over his foot when he goes outside might help a bit but you'd do nothing else other than the antibiotic foot rot spray?

How long do they take to heal properly...thinking about walking over the fields tomorrow etc.
 
Don't panic I'm always doing it (short claws for showing are essential and they have to be REEEAAAAAALLLLYYY short! :o) Infection risk is very low, it clots quickly and with his dew claws they aren't coming into contact with the ground so he's unlikely to catch it and set it off bleeding again. Don't bandage just leave it with some talc/wound powder or similar on it. It will be fine :)
 
I don't know how long it will take to heal as I've always been too chicken to cut my dogs' nails:o but if it is not too short, I think it should heal quite quickly. Infection-wise, I'd protect it outside for a couple of days as you are on a farm, and I think a foodbag would be better than a sock on reflection as it would be waterproof. But I wouldn't panic too much, just rinse it off when he gets back in and try and keep it clean. I think the risk must be pretty low, as it is only a shallow injury:)

You could try filing it down in future as opposed to clipping it, would that be a possibility?
 
These things happen, don't beat yourself up about it and don't worry too much.

CUtting nails can be tricky, especially when the quick has grown. You can buy something called a 'dremmel' that gently grinds the nail away making it unnecessary to use clippers. The dog soon gets used to it - can be tricky at first - and most sit happily lapping up the extra attention.

It certainly shouldn't be necessary to cut the nails every fortnight. If you decide to stick to clippers it might be cheaper to use a beauty parlour where staff will be very used to the process. Or maybe having the nail removed will be a better bet in the long run.
 
Stop beating yourself up woman, I used to have to cut our Lancashire Heeler claws as she had awful shaped feet and I was always cutting the quick. Cue lots of blood and drama from her, and it was all forgotten a few minutes later. I never used to worry about infection to be quite honest. I wasn't sure from the description if you mean dew claws, but if that is the case then even less risk of infection as Vizlak says.
 
If you've just nipped the end, I wouldn't worry about infection. The nail is a very vascular region and bleed like bilio even with a slight nip to the quick! I use Potassium Permanganate on them, you can get it from your chemists in a small tub and the added advantage is that it has antiseptic properties.:)
 
No, it's not his dew claw. It's his "little toe" or the most outside claw on each foot that I have to keep clipping. It does contact the ground.

It's only a "remedial farrier" type operation to slowly, but regularly, shorten it bit by bit. The hope is that eventually it will be able to be cut into a more normal claw/nail shape and will wear itself away naturally. It's too mishapen and long to cut it all back in one go. Problem is we left it four weeks initially and it had grown longer than the time we'd first had it cut. This is why the vet said to trim it a tiny bit at a time every 10 days to a fortnight.

We have dremmels etc here for our wood working/metal work operations. Never thought about that. Duncan even uses a dremmel on the cows' hooves, as well as an angle grinder with a special disc...bit overkill for a puppy though! :D :D

Right.. I will put a bag on his foot when I let him out tonight, with a sock over the top to give the bag more protection from splitting.

I've never experienced this before. In 14 years of having Jasper his claws were never cut once. His always wore away naturally.
 
Vizslak said:
You don't need to I promise! It will be fine! :D
Click to expand...

So if his foot falls off, I can blame you? :p

Right. I will stop panicking. It didn't bleed for that long really and it wasn't pools of blood either.

Next question should be "where can I buy a straight jacket for dogs from to use when claw clipping?"
 
Patches, you daft sod! :D Don't panic, he will be right as rain! I use to cut the quick all the time when I was grooming (black nails are not my forte!) bit of wound powder and they were fine (only bloody thing that crappy stuff is any use for!).
 
I just had him on my knee and his nail has weeped a bit of blood on my top. I've just wrapped some softban over the end and vet wrapped it on...hoping the pressure will help to clot it.

I'll take it off before we go to bed and will nip out and get a styptic pencil tomorrow as mine might take a while to come.

I have wound powder in my horse first aid box though, if that's the type you mean?
 
Harveys paw will not drop off!

http://www.sourcingmap.com/electron...ail-trimmer-clipper-p-39923.html?currency=GBP

Never used one myself I just clip my old dogs (her's grow at strange angles too)Though I could do with a angle grinder on them as they are so tough!

Have not caught her quick for a few years now. I find if you squeeze with the clippers before cutting, if they squeak or pull back then you are on the quick.
Unless you have one that squeal like a pig before you get the clippers near the claw! Had one like that too & she pulled around & often got her quick caught because of it.
 
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