Little Baxter came to see us last week for his routine desexing procedure. On his pre-admission check, Dr Matt noticed Baxter had extra toes on his hind feet. These extra toes are called dew claws and on the hind feet are not considered normal and serve no purpose. Dew claws are claws higher up the dog's leg that do not contact the ground, and are often referred to as 'thumbs'.
Dew claws, on the hind feet especially, have a high incidence of catching on things leading them to be torn which is very painful for the dog and result in bleeding requiring surgery. Additionally, as the claws do not touch the ground, they may also not wear down with walking which may cause them to become overgrown or even ingrown.
As Baxter was already undergoing an anaesthetic, Dr Matt deemed it appropriate for Baxter's hind dew claws to be surgically removed during the desexing procedure to avoid any future issues or complications. Afterwards, Baxter's hind feet were dressed with some snazzy bandages which matched his brave boy bandana! Baxter is doing great following his procedure and back to his cheeky puppy ways!