# Dew Claw removed - Post surgery advice



## Moonshayde (Feb 19, 2019)

My 7 month old puppy had his one rear dew claw removed yesterday while he was under having xrays taken for his hips.

It was not bothering him and I was unsure whether or not to leave it, but man oh man was it freaky (not that I care) barely hanging on by some skin and completely floppy. I decided to get it off as it was barely on there.

Well I am regretting it today. I thought it would be an easy peasy thing and I even checked on the phone with the vet before and asked if I could attend my obedience classes starting in 4 days she was like "oh yea no problem! I would not do anything much at all the day or two after but after that an obedience class should be fine!."

Well I picked him up yesterday and my take home post op care is insane. I had to take the work off today as he is whining, pacing, crying and I am not sure I can leave him alone in his crate with the cone on. He has been panicking a bit with it on. I am not sure if it is pain or boredom.

They said I can only take him on leash to potty in the yard for 10-14 days until the checkup. The e-collor needs to stay on until then. I looked at the technician in disbelief and said "surely I can do some short slow walks with him after a day or so?" she was like Nope. Nothing. .. Are you serious? I had a dog have a paw tumor removed before. We just put a sock on it, made sure he was a bit quieter than usual and let him just be a dog.

Anyway. Anyone had experience with a floppy rear dew claw removal? No way I am lasting 10-14 days no walks. It's day one and he is pacing so much it's sort of pointless. My bedroom is on the second floor he already did stairs which I am freaking out about but do I sleep in the lounge with him for 2 weeks? He is acting like nothing even happened and just wants to play ball!

I have no idea what to do with him while at work next week. I am too scared to leave him with cone on in crate. I could clear out my small spare room and hope he does not eat the baseboards? :O

Any thoughts? I was thinking i would like to keep him quiet today and tomorrow if I can and then just keep doing some slow walks throughout the day make sure the cut stays dry. I will need to buy some bandages they told me to take theirs off today but the grass is wet here right now. I should have just left the freaking thing I have his newly discovered hip dysplasia to deal with right now....


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## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

Mine cracked one and it was bleeding so they bandaged it. Cracked it again and it fell off on its own. Follow their instructions and it should heal.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Maybe board him where they can keep an eye on him and he will be too distracted to pay attention to his foot? Maybe at the vet clinic or ask a vet tech to pup-sit him? Otherwise just sit it out and it will pass. Take the cone off when you are home. There are other type of cones lik a neck brace that may work. The best one I have had so far, came from Petco. She just sticks her head in it and accepts it but it took a few treats and some training. Maybe he will leave it alone anyways. Sometimes these cry babies (they are know for that) surprise you.


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## Moonshayde (Feb 19, 2019)

thanks for your replies guys. My problem is not that he is bugging his foot, he actually couldn't' care less. 

It's that my vet office told me to not even let him walk around the block for 10-14 days when I thought this would be a very minor surgery. I paid for a $300 obedience class that starts in 3 days also.

It s day 1 and he is pacing and crying and almost screaming from boredom/ no exercise. I was just hoping people thought that the 10-14 days no walks was excessive or not. 

I took the cone off after a few hours as I am here to watch him 24/7 right now. I put it on when we slept.


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## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

It seems excessive but if he has stitches, maybe not. You can go to class the first night without him, watch carefully and try to keep up by working him a little at home. Mine had major surgery last summer and I had to keep him quiet for 6 weeks. No running, no stairs. I got a soft Comfy Cone. I worked with him on scent training, I hid things in boxes (1 with an object, the rest empty) and he had to alert me to the box with the scent. I got Kongs and filled with some of his food.


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## Mei (Mar 30, 2018)

I dont have experience with dew claw removal recovery. But I second the motion that you, without doggo, go to obedience class. The first day of my our obedience class was owners only. Subsequent classes I had Mei there but quickly learned the classes are mainly for the owners to learn. Mei slept through most of the classes lol. Started hers at 10 weeks.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

How about a second opinion form a different vet office? Did they give you the correct post-surgery instructions? Sounds more like that one for after a spay or abdominal surgery.


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## tc68 (May 31, 2006)

You've got me a little worried about getting my dog's 2 rear dewclaws cut off too. But I do agree with you....isn't 2 weeks a little excessive? I can imagine on my dog. Those 2 things are barely hanging on. Maybe 2 stitches each dewclaw, if that? Can't imagine you need to be careful for that long. I don't know. Anyway.


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## Moonshayde (Feb 19, 2019)

Hi Guys, thanks for all your thoughts. I could totally be shooting myself in the foot here but after the day we had yesterday we just could not go on. It actually got dangerous. I was trying to restrict his activity. Only going out to potty and he was loose in the house but I did not let him run or anything. It was a disaster. By night time he was getting violent zoomies, drive-by biting, leaping over the chairs. We managed to grab him and get a leash on him but he continued to zoom. Very stressful! He had this wild look in his eyes lol, like he was seeing right through me!

It probably did 1000x more damage than a controlled walk around the block would have! I took the bandage off last night to have a look and oh my goodness we all actually started laughing. The cut was barely a centimeter long and I think I saw maybe 1 stitch. I know I don't want to push it but we are totally going for walks and I have decided to keep it dry and wrapped for about another day then see how it goes I think it will be fine as long as he does not lick it.
@tc68 - I am not sure what your vet will say but just me personally I think my take home instructions were standard for any sutures perhaps not this procedure specifically. If they removed any bone like in the front dewclaws I could understand but not this floppy little thing. At my own risk I am just keeping him as quiet as possible for a day or so then pretty much let him do whatever. Maybe no sliding for the ball though haha. Haku's was like you described "barely hanging on." I think it will be fine. Haku has not even sniffed the area, he just looks at me like "why are we not DOING ANYTHING AAAAHHH!"


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## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

I have never had a dog with a rear dew claw, just on the front. I looked it up and it’s not common in our breed, so it was probably a good idea to remove one that was falling off anyway.


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## tc68 (May 31, 2006)

Moonshayde said:


> Hi Guys, thanks for all your thoughts. I could totally be shooting myself in the foot here but after the day we had yesterday we just could not go on. It actually got dangerous. I was trying to restrict his activity. Only going out to potty and he was loose in the house but I did not let him run or anything. It was a disaster. By night time he was getting violent zoomies, drive-by biting, leaping over the chairs. We managed to grab him and get a leash on him but he continued to zoom. Very stressful! He had this wild look in his eyes lol, like he was seeing right through me!
> 
> It probably did 1000x more damage than a controlled walk around the block would have! I took the bandage off last night to have a look and oh my goodness we all actually started laughing. The cut was barely a centimeter long and I think I saw maybe 1 stitch. I know I don't want to push it but we are totally going for walks and I have decided to keep it dry and wrapped for about another day then see how it goes I think it will be fine as long as he does not lick it.
> 
> @tc68 - I am not sure what your vet will say but just me personally I think my take home instructions were standard for any sutures perhaps not this procedure specifically. If they removed any bone like in the front dewclaws I could understand but not this floppy little thing. At my own risk I am just keeping him as quiet as possible for a day or so then pretty much let him do whatever. Maybe no sliding for the ball though haha. Haku's was like you described "barely hanging on." I think it will be fine. Haku has not even sniffed the area, he just looks at me like "why are we not DOING ANYTHING AAAAHHH!"


Yeah, that was exactly what I was thinking. The front ones, yes...I can understand the 2 weeks. The rear ones....I don't get. Ticks hang on dogs stronger than those rear dew claws. Anyway, whatever. I guess, better safe than sorry, right?


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

I would think if you snuggly wrap a few layers of vet-wrap over a piece of gauze he should be ready to do whatever he feels like for a few minutes. I personally (disclaimer!) would just do a test run and check if there is any bleeding. There are no major blood vessels in that area. It is just a layer of skin that has been sutured (common sense goes a long way!). I agree with OP that trying to keep him quiet for all that time is worse. Let us know. Maybe the vet techs here can chip in. And yes, the front dew claws are attached to bone so that is major unless they do it right after birth.


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## Moonshayde (Feb 19, 2019)

So just to give an update if anyone comes across this and is interested. The vet that actually did the procedure got hold of me as I left a voicemail just double checking the post-op precautions. 

She says she thinks the technician may have misunderstood her after the procedure and gave me standard suture take home instructions. She basically said after a day or two it should pretty much be good to go. I mean of course we can't do anything crazy but walking, she even said some running is fine and the obedience class is no problem. She said basically the only thing I can't do is walk him through a swamp lol.

I have wrapped it just like wolfy dog described whenever he is outside or we are walking and it's looking great. Now trying to figure out what to do with him while I work tomorrow is another story....I am too scared to leave him in his crate with the cone and am concerned that he could lick the stitches when left for long enough agh...

And on a side note, I cannot BELIEVE the difference some exercise and mental stimulation does. I literally had a different dog. After our exercise restriction incident, the next day I walked him, did a petsmart trip, rolled the ball around a bit with some obedience and he was all chill lazing around on my bed with me. Seeing that contrast so black and white sort of blew my mind. I knew it about this breed but seeing it like that was really eye opening and sort of cool to see his "bored" threshold right now so I can adjust activities accordingly haha. He is a busy guy!


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