HELP!!! Dewclaw Injury!!

[MurphDane]

Okay, so I was just on my way home from Murphy's first dog park trip in MONTHS due to his lengthy and difficult surgical recovery (a whole other story) when my 5 year old son noticed that "his paw was bleeding".  In actuality, he has broken off one of his dewclaws about halfway up, and it's bleeding all over the place.     I put some of the styptic powder that comes with the nail clippers on it that is supposed to stop bleeding, but I don't know what else to do with it....Should I clip it off so it's not all ragged?  Will that make it bleed more?  Should I bandage it up?  Just leave it alone?     Anyone have any suggestions?  Thanks!!

Lisa & Murphy

[nohesnotahorse]

If it's just the nail itself and the powder has stopped the bleeding, then I would treat it as you would if you had cut a nail to the quick... i.e. keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't start bleeding again.   I wouldn't do too much trimming or messing about with it until it's been dry for a while, unless you think that there's a very good chance he's going to snag it on something and start it up again.   I would also check the area around it to make sure there's no other injury present.  If you cannot stop the bleeding, you may need to take him to the vet.  Any idea how it happened?

[MurphDane]

It's definitely just the nail that's broken off, he hasn't pulled the nail out of his leg or anything, and there doesn't seem to be any injury to the area where it connects to his leg.  Ok, I will just see if I can get the bleeding stopped and get him to the vet tomorrow.  My vet is closed tonight-there is an emergency vet I can take him to, but I don't really think this constitutes an emergency unless he keeps bleeding, but I think he'll be ok.  Thanks for the advice, guys!