No. Not that kind of manicure. Although we do like the Warren London pawdicure polish pens!
Late Sunday evening mom found Cubby on the floor with a bloody foot, bloody snout and lots of blood tracked all over the room. On quick inspection it looked like Cubby had somehow injured her front leg near her dewclaw. She grimaced when mom tried to touch her leg or paw, so mom called the 24-hour emergency vet at BluePearl and off we went in our stroller into the night. (Reason #100 why we love our stroller: it is much faster than a cab in emergencies!)
Many dewclaws are removed when pups are babies
Cubby was examined almost immediately and the vet suspected a dewclaw injury. He suggested sedation and removal of her dewclaw, and mom agreed. What is a dewclaw? It’s the pup’s innermost toe and is found up around the ankle. They don’t serve a purpose and some pups are even born without them. Evolution we guess! Ginger’s dewclaws must have been removed when she was a baby because we can only feel a tiny stump, but there aren’t any nails. In most cases the removal is considered cosmetic surgery.
Cubby must have snagged her dewclaw on something in the house and it turned into a bloody mess. Doggy nails seem to bleed a lot! Our vet bill was just under $500 – that is one expensive pawdicure! Thankfully we have PetPlan insurance . . . .
Lessons learned
-Keep emergency vet numbers handy – we keep important numbers in our phone and on our fridge
-Have a transportation plan since you can’t call an ambulance – we rely on our stroller
-Keep a credit card (or better yet cash) for doggy medical emergencies since you are expected to pay the day of service – we want to check out CareCredit for future medical emergencies
-Check out pet insurance – we will luckily be reimbursed for a portion of the $500 vet bill thanks to our PetPlan policy
-Take a pet first aid class
-Keep a good pet health book handy – The Complete Healthy Dog Handbook
the pup diary 
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