my dogs duclaw

Question
I have a cattledog and she is 3yrs old I would like to have all her duclaws removed is it a painful operation? How long to heal?  Thanks

Answer
Linda,

Declawing is easiest done on very young puppies (3 or 4 days old), at which point it is a relatively painless, bloodless procedure. Removing the dew claws of an adult dog is a much more invasive surgery and does involve a rather painful recovery. Recovery time depends on the dog and on how the surgery went, and is usually in the ballpark of several days. Unless your dog is having problems with her dew claws, I would reccomend you avoid having them removed. Sometimes very painful injuries do occur as a result of dewclaws on working dogs, but this is rare - and the chances of it happening can be greatly reduced by keeping them properly trimmed. Most problems with dew claws stem from their not being trimmed since dogs can't keep them filed down on their own by running around. I would either take her to a groomer once every month or two, or purchase dog nail clippers and clip them yourself. If you are having big problems with them, you should speak with your veterinarian and see what their reccomendation to you is.

Hope this helps.

Ashley