Your dog has a broken claw?

First, try to check his paw to see if his claw is really broken. Be careful though! A broken claw hurts a lot. He may not let you look at it. He could even become aggressive and bite you! In this case, it's better not to insist and take him to the vet right away.

If your dog lets you touch his paw, you can do this:

1. Place corn starch in a clean cloth;

2.Put it on the broken claw that is bleeding;

3.Apply pressure on it until it stops bleeding. 

If he does not let you do that, you could at least try to wrap his paw in a clean towel to prevent him from putting blood all over until you leave for his appointment. 

When you get to the vet, ask him or her for hemostatic powder (which makes the blood clot) that you can take home in case your dog breaks a claw again.

· Prevent your dog from licking his paw so it doesn’t get infected. You can use an elizabethan collar if you have one at home. 

· Keep the broken claw clean until your visit to the vet. Warm tap water does the trick. You can also pick up a mild disinfectant made of dilute chlorhexidine at the pharmacy. 

· Do not put a bandage on his paw because he could eat the bandage. Also, it’s pressure on the broken claw can worsen the pain.

In general, the veterinarian will treat the broken claw by following these 7 steps:

1.If your dog is in a lot of pain or is very anxious, it will probably be necessary to use medication to calm him down.

2. We will also want to numb his broken claw using local anesthetics so that he does not feel anything while the claw is being taken care of.

3. If the base of the claw casing is loose then it will be removed completely using forceps. Otherwise, we will remove only the broken part of the corny sheath with a nail clipper.

4. Haemostatic powder will be used to stop bleeding.

5. The wound will be cleaned and disinfected. If it is dirty or already infected, we may prescribe antibiotics.

6. An elisabethan collar or an inflatable collar will be puton your dog’s neck to prevent him from licking the injured claw. He will have to keep it at all times until the wound is completely healed.

7. We will also prescribe a mild disinfectant made of dilute chlorhexidine that you will use a few times a day for a few days at home to clean the wound if you do not have one already.  

Some dogs will also need medication to control inflammation and pain. You will have to protect the wound with a sock or a boot when you go out with him.  

Do not worry! The nail casing will grow back after a few weeks, even if it has been completely torn off. However, it’s possible that the shape of the claw will be different than it was before the incident.

The best way to prevent this from happening again is to keep his claws short at all times. Ideally, you should cut them about once a month.

If you wait too long between the cuts then the claws will become very long and it will be difficult to shorten them because you risk cutting the nerves and the blood vessels at the same time. If this happens, the claws will bleed, your dog will be in pain and he may not let you touch his paws anymore.

The best is to get dogs used to having their claws cut when they are very young. It is important to reward them every time so that they learn that it's fun to have their claws cut.

Your dog has a broken claw? Contact one of our establishments so that we can take care of it. We can also show you how to cut your dog’s claws or do it for you if you do not feel comfortable doing it yourself.

Text created in January 2019