For those of you who know me you know that I am completely against cosmetic surgery in animals or surgery that is performed just to satisfy the human and has no benefit to the animal. However when it comes to dew claws I hate them. Indiana and Davinia both have their dew claws. They are the only nails on both girls that do not just file themselves during the normal course of their lives and they get stuck on everything.
This afternoon Indiana was sleeping under the bed and started screaming bloody murder. Of course she was under the bed so I couldn't get to her to see what was wrong. She would scream and then stop and start screaming again. I didn't want to pull her out from under the bed and hurt her more in case there was something medically wrong. So I let her come out on her own still screaming bloody murder. a quick check and I noticed she was holding her front paw funny up under her chin. So upon investigation I find her dew claw caught in her ID tag. Thank goodness it was something I could easily fix and it wasn't stuck on something that her moving out from under the bed would tear the dew claw nail off. Unfortunately this isn't the only time she has gotten herself really stuck to something with her dew claw and thank goodness both times she was stuck on something I could easily extract her nail from (last time it was a knit sweater).
I can honestly say a dog who has their dewclaw removed by a trained vet using sterile equipment and a little bit of pain meds and proper home care instructions will be in less pain then a dog who has their dew claws and gets them stuck multiple times over the course of their lives. If there was a purpose to their dew claw I would never advocate removing them or if they could keep them filed themselves I wouldn't care. Their dewclaws are far enough up their leg that they don't scrap the ground in flat areas (like Miami) but not high enough up that they just hang there and are not a bother to them.
I can't cut them on my own while they are white and I can clearly see the quick Cavaliers HATE their paws being played with. It is at least a two person effort especially with Indiana so I have to take them to the vet to have them done that only happens when they have a reason to visit the vet.
If it was an occasional thing that they get themselves stuck I would also say probably not necessary either but aside from the to major situations with Indiana both girls get them stuck in their ears all the time. I will see them scratching and then hear a little yelp.
So there you go I HATE DEWCLAWS.