Paw-don the Pun

I tried and tried to think of a clever title for this post, and that was about as good as I could do.  You see, this post is about paws.  Specifically, Dexter's paws.

Dexter is a happy, healthy dog.  We take him for regular vet check ups, we watch his diet, and we try to make sure his needs are all met.  We also shower him with love and affection.  He is indeed a happy dog.

However, several months ago, I noticed that Dexter, when climbing stairs, did it on 3 paws only, never putting weight on his front right paw.  When he runs around, he does so on all 4 paws, and never acts like his paws hurt, it was just this weird thing with the steps.  At first we chalked it up to him just being a weird dog.

Then I noticed that same paw, the front right, seemed to be bent out or twisted, more than his other one.  Hubby said it just looked like Doxie paws to him.  After one particularly long walk, however, his leg was so bent, it looked like it would buckle under him.  I immediately called the vet.

After a thorough examination, the doctor said Dex has plantar fasciitis.  This means the tendons in his paw have been strained or injured in the past, and are inflamed.  He does not put full weight down on his paw; because of how he does put pressure on the front of his paw, the leg twists outward.  It is not really causing him any pain, but he cannot go for walks right now, until we see if the inflammation subsides.  We are resting his paw, and giving him fish oil.  If this does not work, we may have to have it wrapped.  Other interventions could include cortisone shots (which I am hesitant to do) and eventual surgery.  The doctor thinks surgery will not be necessary, right now at least.

Again, Dexter shows no signs of being in pain, or being depressed.  He still runs around outside like a nut, but no walks and we carry him up the inside steps.  Have any of you ever experienced this with your dogs?  Can you provide me with any insight?  I am unable to find much online about this in dogs, only in people.  The doc says this is simply a risk of a dog being bred to be short legged with a long body.  In other words, doxie problems.

Do you like her nails?

I made a decision long ago to not get Nora declawed.  From everything I had read about the procedure, it seems pretty painful for the cat, and it can make cats more hostile, because you are taking away their defenses.  Since Nora can be temperamental at times, I do not want to run that risk.  Also, should anything ever happen that Nora escape outside for a long period of time, her claws will allow her to protect herself.  But, something has to give, because she is totally destroying our couch, which is only a year old.

In the past we had tried a temporary solution that worked well, then we stopped using it for a while.  It looked like it was time to re-institute the intervention.  They are called Soft Paws.  Soft Paws are little vinyl caps that you glue over the cat's individual nails.  The caps come in various colors, even holiday packs, and the glue is completely safe and non-toxic.  Each application lasts about a month to 6 weeks, so when you get a pack containing 40 caps, if you just put them on the front paws, that pack can last 6 months.  They stay on really well.  In fact the reason we stopped using them before was that the ones we had stayed on so well, the glue we had for new applications dried up, so when the caps did eventually fall off, we had no glue to reapply.

I will admit, the application process for us can be a bit tricky, because before we started using these, Nora was not used to getting her nails trimmed.  So she was really scared.  It is best to trim the nails before applying the caps.  Because Nora is not used to having her nails touched, she gets really anxious.  But she gets over it pretty quickly.  My advice to you is start trimming your cat's nails when it is a kitten.  In fact, they even make kitten sized Soft Paws.

Once all the caps are applied, you do have to hold your kitty for a few minutes to allow the glue to set.  And be prepared, kitty will try to chew the caps off at first.  You have to train kitty to get used to the caps.  So the first kit you get may seem to go pretty quickly if kitty chews the caps off and you must reapply often.  But kitty will get used to it, Nora sure did.  And look how pretty her nails look!

After she was finally able to get down, I will admit she did go and hide for about an hour, but by bedtime last night, she was back to cuddling up to me and loving all over me.  And now, she was able to show off her pretty new manicure at the same time!

For anyone looking for an alternative to declawing, I strongly encourage you to talk to your vet about Soft Paws, and check them out.  We just love them, don't we Nora?

P.S. They also make Soft Paws for doggies too, so if your doggie scratches things in your home, or scratches him or herself due to skin conditions, check them out!