Dewclaw removal??????

[bob_bettysmom]

The other day my 2 beagles were playing when i heard BOB start yelping/baying as loud as he could. He had somehow caught his front dewclaw on something and broke it, causing it to bleed pretty badly. Being an over-emotional 8 month pregnant woman I rushed him to the vet fully expecting him to have to undergo surgery or something the way Bob was yelping. During the exam the vet concluded no surgery needed because the dewclaw was only chipped and ensured me it only looked painful because of his blood soaked paw. A dab of Quik-Clot, a bath, and 100 dollars later, Bob was a brand new dog.
Before I left the vet I made an appointment for both my beagles to get their dewclaws removed to ensure that this never happenes again. I've done a little research since on dewclaw removal and most people are telling me it is a painful procedure/recovery especially for older dogs, and can be dangerous since they have to put the dog "under". I'm looking for advice before i go forward with removing their dewclaws, because I love my beagles and I dont ever want to see them in pain, or put through any un-nessacary/risky procedures.

[Brien]

We had Bodie's dewclaws removed at the same time he was fixed (5-months old). I think it was maybe an extra $200-300. We felt it was only a matter of time before they got caught on something and figured it would be better to do it sooner than later.

If you do it he'll have to wear a cone for a couple of weeks since the stitches would be easy to pull out.

[RosCole]

Roscoe still has both his dew claws and has not had any problems. We just make sure they are trimmed regularly.

Cole's were removed when he was just a baby, the breeder did it.

Gino still has his and like, Roscoe, we just keep them trimmed.

I have heard the same as you regarding the removal once the dogs are adults and personally I would not do it, but that is just my preference.

[cobismom]

Cobi has his dew claws, and they grow like wild fire. He hasn't ever gotten them caught on anything, thank goodness, cause I would be like you, a wreck. But they do curl and if we don't get them trimmed, it can be more difficult to do all curled up.

That said, Casie doesn't have his, his breeder took them off at birth. When I asked about that practice, she told me that most vets would rather take them off within 1 - 2 days of their being born, as there is no cartilidge there and very little bleeding as pups. But people who don't take them off,
can have them removed as older dogs, but it is akin to circumcising a 10 year old...not pleasant and many ramifications.

I wish I would have had Cobi's done, but it's too late now. The money I spend to have his nails clipped would have paid for the surgery.

Good luck, it's a tough call.

[LoAndBeholden]

We had Starla's removed when she was spayed. Bless her heart, she wouldn't stop gnawing at the bandages so she had to wear a cone...and since she was smaller, the cone was too big, so when she sniffed you could hear her a mile away because of the cone dragging on the floor. We joked that she was a clash of decade styles, an Elizabethan collar with neon 80's legwarmers, was a definite fashion no-no. As for pain and such, she returned to the normal bouncy puppy within a day once the anesthesia wore off. I always thought it was a fairly common procedure and I don't think you have much to worry about if you do want to get it done.

[Mollys Mom]

Molly is always getting her dewclaw caught so we keep it cut short. My greyhound Andy came to us with his already removed - a common practice for the racing greys.

[bob_bettysmom]

Thanks everybody for all your advice! But I've decided to cancel both their appointments to get their dewclaws removed, just going to have to make sure that theyre trimmed. I just dont see their recovery going too well, as cute as they would look in a cone, I think theyre smart enough to figure out "I'll lick your stiches off if you lick mine!"