Can front dew claws be removed....to keep Kyra from scratching her eye.......

[victornewman03]

......while cleaning her face ?

Indoor only cat.  We are not in favor of de-clawing any cat.  She came up with a teary, squinting eye,  last 3 days.  Feral rescue, been here about one year, but still a bit difficult to handle.   Was at the vet a week ago for a nail trim. 

Only a couple of possibilities for the squinty eye:  cleaning her face and a dew claw scratched the eye....or running around the house and running into something.

Does not sound like a simple procedure.  Have not yet discussed with our vet.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Columbine]

I can't recommend removing any claws, unless the claw itself is so damaged that there is no alternative. Would Softpaws claw covers be a viable solution? I have to say, I've never heard of a cat accidentally scratching itself whilst grooming....and my girl has really long claws that we don't trim.

 

[-_aj_-]

I would not recommend declawing at all but coming from a country that deems it as barbaric it isn't surprising.

I have 2 indoor cats that have all their claws fully intact and they have ever cut themselves the way you are describing, I do agree with the softpaws if you are really that concerned.

 

[nansiludie]

I wouldn't think she'd scratched her own eye, she might have gotten a bit of dust or dirt in it and by rubbing the eye, the dust scratched the eye that way. Is the vet sure it is a scratch and not a corneal ulcer? Is it from just one eye or both? Another thing, cat's claws are retractable, which means they only come out at will of the cat, so I really doubt she'd have used and actual claw to scratch her eye. Is she sneezing or having any nasal discharge?

I would strongly suggest to not remove any claws, a declaw is not only just the nail, it is the removal of the whole first joint, if you look up the paw project, they have a whole video and diagrams much better than I can explain, about exactly what it is and what it does to a cats normal claws and paw structure

Here is the link, http://www.pawproject.org/

 

[victornewman03]

Not a DE-claw....just a single DEW-claw.  (If it ever comes to that.)   I have not had much experience with cats and really don't know if the eye boo-boo was from a dew claw or .................??

Not yet discussed with vet.

 

[happybird]

Dew-claw removal is a fairly common surgery for show dogs, and some regular dog owners choose to have them removed to prevent a very, very painful tearing injury. Mostly hunting dogs and agility dogs, or other active dogs likely to get the flappy, little thing caught in something. I imagine dew-claw removal for a cat would be similar and easily done by any vet.

But... that would have be definitively determined to be what is scratching the eye. I've never heard of such a thing happening and would look for other causes. Even running into something, eye first, would be a more likely culprit than the dew-claw. There could have been a foreign body in her eye and she rubbed it, causing a scratch.

Most minor scratches on the eye heal on their own in a short time. Clear discharge/tears are okay, yellow or greenish discharge would need to be seen by a vet for an eye-stain (to view the injury) and, most likely, antibiotic eyedrops. Or, if there is no noticable improvement after a few days, a vet trip becomes necessary.

I've dealt with corneal abrasions on myself (I am a horrible, horrible contact lenses wearer), my lab, and one of my cats. Both my girls got something in their eye and rubbed it too hard. After the initial injury, it is not painful, just itchy and uncomfortable. The worst is the sensitivity to light. Even after almost a week of healing, bright light can make you teary-eyed.

 

[nansiludie]

 
Not a DE-claw....just a single DEW-claw.  (If it ever comes to that.)   I have not had much experience with cats and really don't know if the eye boo-boo was from a dew claw or .................??

Not yet discussed with vet.

Still a dew claw is a claw, you have to press on the pads to have the nail reveal itself.

 

[catwoman707]

No way did she scratch her eye while cleaning with her dew claw.

When they are cleaning they pull in their claws tightly, cats never scratch themselves accidentally.

Something around the house.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

....

Indoor only cat. We are not in favor of de-clawing any cat. She came up with a teary, squinting eye, last 3 days. Feral rescue, been here about one year, but still a bit difficult to handle. Was at the vet a week ago for a nail trim.

Only a couple of possibilities for the squinty eye: cleaning her face and a dew claw scratched the eye....or running around the house and running into something.

...

A teary, squinting eye is one sign of a URI.

 

[victornewman03]

OK, we are back from the vet.  Abrasion of eye from running into something was the diagnosis.  Not a scratch or anything serious.  Eye drops for a week, 3x a day (Tobramycin).  Vet used green dye and fluorescent light to look.  Dew claw scratch pretty much ruled out. 

URI symptoms are both eyes watering and runny nose. 

Thanks for all your comments....

 

[Columbine]

I'm glad it's just a mild scratch. Hopefully she'll be fully healed soon

 

[nansiludie]

I am glad its not serious, eye injuries can be serious. Please keep us posted on how she does.

 

[mingmugs]

......while cleaning her face ?

Indoor only cat. We are not in favor of de-clawing any cat. She came up with a teary, squinting eye, last 3 days. Feral rescue, been here about one year, but still a bit difficult to handle. Was at the vet a week ago for a nail trim.

Only a couple of possibilities for the squinty eye: cleaning her face and a dew claw scratched the eye....or running around the house and running into something.

Does not sound like a simple procedure. Have not yet discussed with our vet.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Can you look at my post picture and tell me if it's the same thing that your cat do to her eyes thanks

 

[mingmugs]

Still a dew claw is a claw, you have to press on the pads to have the nail reveal itself.

What's wrong with it if it'll help the cat in the long run

 

[tabbytom]

Can you look at my post picture and tell me if it's the same thing that your cat do to her eyes thanks

What's wrong with it if it'll help the cat in the long run

there, you are asking a question in a thread that is 8 years old. I'm not sure if the OP will be back to answer your question. I think it's best you stick to your current thread and get fresh replies from there.

 

[catloverfromwayback]

Never mind!