Deformed Dew Claw - Surgery Questions

sivyaleah

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When we brought Luna home we discovered she had a deformed dew claw. At the time, wasn't a huge concern since we brought her to our vet regularly for them to clip her claws on a regular basis.

When she was about to be spayed, we had a discussion if it might be appropriate to remove this claw while she was already under anesthesia to avoid future problems. The vet, at that time, still thought we were responsible enough owners to continue bringing her there to have them take care of it so she said why incur the extra cost?

Well who knew we'd eventually have this terrible pandemic, which prevented us from getting to see the vet for the dew claw trimming? The vets office stopped seeing patients for more routine care for the last few months, they only were seeing them for more emergency type visits or for upcoming needed vaccinations, etc. We were trimming Luna's claws ourselves during this time period but we never were able to get a clipper under and around the dew claw - it grows backward and curls around into her skin area and she's not the best at being clipped in the best of circumstances. So, we did what we could but clearly it wasn't enough.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when Luna had a passing illness so the vet had to see her; fever, loose stools, and poor appetite. She discovered on that exam that the dew claw had now grown into her and had some pus underneath it. She was able to clean it out but not cut it back since it was now literally inside her. Put her on an antibiotic and told us that yea, surgery was the best thing now and she felt awful that she hadn't gone ahead and done it during her spay surgery. But again, pandemic couldn't have been foreseen.

She is talking to the office manager about a discount at least for the surgery which does help. But I'm more interested in knowing about the recovery of this kind of procedure. Obviously she'll have to wear an E-collar for a couple of weeks (perhaps a little less) and from what I'm reading it's certainly painful for the first few days. But I'm also seeing that many vets recommend changing the litter to paper or crystal type to help avoid potential infections - which I can't even fathom working here since we have 2 cats and the other one is very set in her ways and it isn't like we can prevent Luna from using another box with her normal litter in it. And how are we going to limit her from using the stairs? Running around? Jumping up? She just barely turned a year old and pretty much still a kitten. Let alone wearing that E-collar!

So, looking for anyone that has had to have this procedure done for their cat and hear experiences. I am NOT looking to discuss declawing! Or talk to anyone that declawed their cat. I am completely anti-declaw. The dew claw of domestic cats is more or less vestigial (I'm aware in wild felines it serves a purpose). I would prefer that she did NOT have to have it removed but it IS deformed and IS causing her discomfort and IS now grown inside her and may be the cause of why she was ill when we brought her in the other week.
 

fionasmom

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I am sorry that the vet did not remove the dewclaw. They can be prolematic. This may not help much but I rescued a terrier years ago, now deceased, who had dewclaws that literally stuck out like knives. When I had her spayed, the vet immediately said that since I had two other dogs that it was a safety issue and that they had to be removed during the surgery. I remember Eppie coming home with bandages over the dew claw areas....pretty secure bandages that she could not remove...but nothing else that was negative. I do not recall any sort of a recovery period that was any different from any other non invasive surgery. I am sure that the site was sore, but it healed properly. Of course, I was not dealing with cat litter. There are some members here who have a lot of experience with various litters though and I am sure that they will have ideas.

Right now I have a recently brought indoor feral who will not use litter but will use a box with a puppy pee pad with attractant on it. You may have to give Luna her own room, if that is possible for a few days, with her own litterbox which she hopefully won't stonewall if it is not filled with her preferred litter.

You should get your discount and possibly this surgery should be considered an emergency and done ASAP?
 
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sivyaleah

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I am sorry that the vet did not remove the dewclaw. They can be prolematic. This may not help much but I rescued a terrier years ago, now deceased, who had dewclaws that literally stuck out like knives. When I had her spayed, the vet immediately said that since I had two other dogs that it was a safety issue and that they had to be removed during the surgery. I remember Eppie coming home with bandages over the dew claw areas....pretty secure bandages that she could not remove...but nothing else that was negative. I do not recall any sort of a recovery period that was any different from any other non invasive surgery. I am sure that the site was sore, but it healed properly. Of course, I was not dealing with cat litter. There are some members here who have a lot of experience with various litters though and I am sure that they will have ideas.

Right now I have a recently brought indoor feral who will not use litter but will use a box with a puppy pee pad with attractant on it. You may have to give Luna her own room, if that is possible for a few days, with her own litterbox which she hopefully won't stonewall if it is not filled with her preferred litter.

You should get your discount and possibly this surgery should be considered an emergency and done ASAP?
Thanks!
Unfortunately, she had lost quite a bit of weight somewhere between when she was weighed early March and then early May when I brought her in for her illness and we weren't sure what the reason for that was. We ran tests, thankfully everything came up negative but the vet wants her to regain weight before she does surgery. She went from 10.25 lbs down to 9 lbs and she's a purebred Maine Coon. She should be at least 11 lbs by now so she was quite underweight. After her illness I kept a close eye on her food intake and changed a lot of what she had been eating and thankfully, when weighed yesterday, she gained back nearly a full pound in 3 weeks so it appears whatever it was that caused it to happen is over. I have my suspicions that my husband wasn't paying as good attention to her food schedule as he should have been and now, with me working from home due to Covid, I'm here to constantly feed her.

I bring her back for another weight check in a few weeks and as long as she is gaining they will schedule surgery. She isn't in pain per se - I can touch that area and she isn't flinching or anything and she it isn't affecting her energy or ability to do anything like run or jump. But, the vet says it certainly must be causing some discomfort to her at this point and if left as is eventually will become a bigger problem as it continue to grow.

Anyway, yes, we do have a room we could keep her in for the first few days at least - it's our guest room which is my home office now and she spends a lot of time in there with me weekdays anyway. And I could sleep in there with her if need be for a couple of nights too. I've done it before when she first came home to us and when she was spayed. I'm assuming though, that after a day or so she'll be up and wanting to get the heck out of there just like when she was spayed and she sure is a lot larger now so keeping her contained in a small space will be tough. I guess we'll figure that part out when it's closer to the date. Or not LOL
 

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Hi. Way, way back when, I front declawed my first cat (6 mos old). I did use shredded newspaper instead of litter and he adapted to the 'new' litter without question. If I recall correctly, I did this for about 2-3 days, and then switched back to the litter. Of course, the issue I thought was important at that time was to replace the 'litter' each time he used the box to help to prevent infection from soiled papers. I know of other cat lovers at that time - remember this was 30 years ago - who continued to use their standard litter and none of them had any issues with doing so. I guess what I am saying is that if you can isolate her, then try the puppy pee pads - and, if that doesn't work try the shredded newspaper - or, rather, the more modern versions of such like Yesterday's News or other paper pellet cat litters. Try saving some of her 'stuff' to add to the 'new litter' to help encourage her to use it. And, I am sure you could even add a tad bit of the litter she is used to, if for no other reason than the smell of it.

That is the only 'change' I made to my cat's habitat - otherwise he was free to roam, run, and jump and didn't seem like it bothered him one bit. I never used a cone either.

Have you considered calling around to feline only vets and see if any of them have another idea about how this could be tackled other than actual surgery? I have heard of cases where the nail was cut enough to extract it from the paw pad - and while there is a likelihood of bleeding, I am guessing the heal time would be faster than with surgical removal.

I hope Luna gains her weight back very, very soon!!
 
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sivyaleah

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Hi. Way, way back when, I front declawed my first cat (6 mos old). I did use shredded newspaper instead of litter and he adapted to the 'new' litter without question. If I recall correctly, I did this for about 2-3 days, and then switched back to the litter. Of course, the issue I thought was important at that time was to replace the 'litter' each time he used the box to help to prevent infection from soiled papers. I know of other cat lovers at that time - remember this was 30 years ago - who continued to use their standard litter and none of them had any issues with doing so. I guess what I am saying is that if you can isolate her, then try the puppy pee pads - and, if that doesn't work try the shredded newspaper - or, rather, the more modern versions of such like Yesterday's News or other paper pellet cat litters. Try saving some of her 'stuff' to add to the 'new litter' to help encourage her to use it. And, I am sure you could even add a tad bit of the litter she is used to, if for no other reason than the smell of it.

That is the only 'change' I made to my cat's habitat - otherwise he was free to roam, run, and jump and didn't seem like it bothered him one bit. I never used a cone either.

Have you considered calling around to feline only vets and see if any of them have another idea about how this could be tackled other than actual surgery? I have heard of cases where the nail was cut enough to extract it from the paw pad - and while there is a likelihood of bleeding, I am guessing the heal time would be faster than with surgical removal.

I hope Luna gains her weight back very, very soon!!
Thank you for your comments/suggestions also!

We don't have any feline only vets near us at all. You'd think being in the northeast there would be at least one but nope.

Unfortunately, the dew claw is attached to her bone so there is other way to extract it. Sometimes they aren't but, hers is. And it's not the paw pad itself - it's that "thumb" claw on the lower part of her leg/back part the way upper paw. It easy to not even notice it exists in some cats!

I'm wondering if she'll acclimate back to using the pine pellets she used when we first got her. They were easy to clean up and didn't create a lot of mess. I don't think it's that they are so worried about the wound itself being infected by the litter since it's pretty high up - it is that there will be wrapping on her leg and that will be prone to getting dirty and if that gets messed up it's what will create the risk of infection to her healing. I think?
 

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If you are worried about the dressing just make sure to change it regularly. It also gives you a chance to inspect the healing process. They should be changed roughly every 48 hours provided there is no infection present.

I do know ingrown claws can be extremely painful and cats are great at hiding pain.
 
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sivyaleah

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If you are worried about the dressing just make sure to change it regularly. It also gives you a chance to inspect the healing process. They should be changed roughly every 48 hours provided there is no infection present.

I do know ingrown claws can be extremely painful and cats are great at hiding pain.
Thanks!
 
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