My dog has an injury!! Help!!

[tyrant963]

My dog Zippy, a little chihauhau got his little dew claw caught on somthing and his dewclaw is twisted and kind of hanging off. I just saw the claw while i was giving him a bath. There is no bleeding or anything, i put him in a kennel to avoid more injury but his paw is very sensitive. So he is limping What should i do??

 

[Mushroom Spore]

Maybe go to a vet instead of asking the internet?

 

[tyrant963]

Vets closed at 6pm and i never dealt with dewclaw injuries before, it doesnt look severe but maybe i can do something for the time being before i take him to the vet tomorow

 

[edesign]

Probably not much you can do. Maybe try wrapping it in a bandage to keep it from being further injured but it may try to gnaw the bandage off...

The dog should be fine until Monday, it will either walk on 3 legs or continue to limp. Just keep an eye on it for signs of infection or anything serious.

 

[jen650s]

The dew claw is similar to our thumbs is structure. If it is twisted it might be broken, I agree with edesign, immobilize it (when my dog broke her foot in a twisting accident I used cloth medical tape with a single layer of gauze beneath it to keep it from sticking to her fur until I could get her to the vet) and see a vet soon. An untreated break can often lead to problems later in life, not the least of which is arthritis, so get it looked at properly as soon as you can. There is at least one vet on the boards who could probably give better advice (silieputty is one) for the time until you can get to your vet. Good luck,

---Jen

 

[bolt619]

This is exactly what happened to one of my chis a few years ago. I ended up taking him to the vet where the operated on him and they ended up taking it off.