Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[Lavenders_Blue]

Tango seems to break her claws very easily. She's pulled off both dew claws (down to the quick), then split one again after it had regrown. She has also split a couple of the nails on her back paw, one which had to be cut off by the vet through the quick and it looks like I'm going to have to take her in again this week with exactly the same problem.

 

Apart from the fact that this is getting quite expensive with vets' fees, antibiotics and painkillers (not that I begrudge it), Tango is also starting to get quite nervy about going to the vets and also about having her paws touched.I'm working on that at home by gently handling her paws and then giving her a treat when she doesn't react, but I wonder if she has particularly weak nails, and if there is anything that can be done about this? I have never heard of a dog splitting/breaking their claws so much and it would be great if I could do something to prevent this. Her claws are not too long, as I checked with the vet last time if they should perhaps be clipped, but he thought they looked a nice short length.

 

I'm probably clutching at straws but... any other ideas?!

[The Dogmother]

It may just be that she has very curved claws which catch on the ground if not kept clipped very close; Cyrus' claws are like that, but thankfully hard as iron.

 

If she keeps catching her dew claws or if they stick out a lot then the vet may recommend that they are removed, this isn't uncommon; lots of fast/racing dogs either have them removed to avoid bad injuries or their owners bind them with vet wrap before a race. Splitting nails are another thing though and it may be worth looking to see if they are weak for a reason.

 

Superglue is a wonderful thing for any minor cuts or rips; that's what it was developed for

[lillybettybabs]

It can be from a lack of EFA (essential fatty acids) if you have weak flaky nails yourself you'll know

what i mean. Try some fish oil in his diet either through supplements or a tin of sardines a couple

of times a week to help strengthen them.

[The Dogmother]

PILCHARDS!

 

Mine love them!

[Chucky Mama]

Yes, some dogs can absolutely be prone to weak nails. There is something called Complederm that you can add to food that helps improve the quality of their nails. It is an oral supplement containing EFAs (essential fatty acids & zinc). Any essential fatty acid supplement will also help Building up her confidence to allow you to handle her paws and clip her nails yourself will be a great help. You can trim them if necessary but I would advise you to have something to stem any bleeding if you get a little too close to the quick. Blood stop swabs are good, they are like cotton bugs and are impregnated with liquid that stems bleeding.

[lillybettybabs]

PILCHARDS!

 

Mine love them!

I remember Cyrus signing for his!

[Lavenders_Blue]

Thanks everyone Tango does have pilchards in her diet, usually one meal of pilchards a week or so but not necessarily that regularly (depends on when I remember). Maybe I'll try upping that to two and if no better then I can give the Complederm a try or invest in a bottle of Salmon oil.

I can understand how her dew claws get caught as they do seem to grow quite long, but the other claws are a bit of a mystery. She only has a couple of clear nails which look like the quick is very close to the end, so I'd be terrified to try and trim them as there really is barely anything to remove - and the rest of her nails are dark, so if the quick is as close to the end of the nail as the clear ones then I've got no hope I think I'll give the EFAs a whirl and see how we get on.

Off to try and superglue her back together now. Keep your fingers crossed, we could well end up glued together

[The Dogmother]

 

Just wondering what you feed her on every day; you could try her on one of the fish diets, mine have Jon Angell's salmon kibble with their morning raw meat. Cyrus has improved no end since we got him and started him on the same diet as Ruby. Jon Angell also sells salmon oil and fish treats.

[Lavenders_Blue]

She currently has Applaws kibble for breakfast and raw for tea. I've actually just placed a large order for raw meat so when the current bag of Applaws runs out I was planning to switch her to 100% raw. She has tinned pilchards in place of one or her meals (either breakfast or tea) once a week or so. I have bought Fish4Dogs kibble in the past (tend to get whatever is best value) and Tango has their fish jerky daily. Maybe a daily splosh of salmon oil is worth a try (cheap enough by the looks of it) as a start.

 

p.s. I can report that Tango and I are not glued together, phew!!

[lillybettybabs]

You watch his coat gleem when he is 100% raw, His nails should harden up to. I am slowly converting onto

Foggy to raw and his nails seem rather solid and sharp now.

[The Dogmother]

I can vouch for the coat quality; Cyrus' was pretty manky when we got him and his teeth and gums were disgusting His coat is now very shiny, teeth clear of all that tartar and his gingivitis has cleared which is a relief, I was hoping that he wouldn't need a GA.

 

The cats have some raw but steadfastly refuse to even try any bones, including chicken wings

 

Jon Angel used to own or work for Fish4Dogs.

[lillybettybabs]

 

The cats have some raw but steadfastly refuse to even try any bones, including chicken wings

 

Foggy eats the whole wing , He loves the dog mince from the butchers too!

[The Dogmother]

Yes, mine get the dog mince and will eat that but they refuse to touch the chicken wings A lady at Stratford market does wee bags of wings and thigh bones, I may get some from her and see if they'll touch those.

[lillybettybabs]

Break the wing up in their bowl whilst they are watching you and leave them to sniff and chew,

then gradually break it up less and less as and when you give them one.

[The Dogmother]

I'll try that then. You wouldn't believe that they are veteran hunters and are always crunching up mice, voles and birds perhaps it's not 'alive' enough.

[Lavenders_Blue]

Proud mum alert here but... Tango's coat is already soft and lovely!

There was a huuuge cock pheasant strutting round my back garden about an hour ago, Tango narrowly missed catching it. She was very disappointed and has spent most of the time since sniffing round the garden hoping he is hiding under a bush somewhere She loves her raw food but all the better if it still has a pulse!!!!

[The Dogmother]

so long as he didn't leave poo for her to roll in!

[Lavenders_Blue]

If he did she probably would have eaten it!

[lillybettybabs]

[pips_pekins]

[Lavenders_Blue]

Just to update, Tango has had to have her claw clipped off by the vet today under sedation

I had a chat to the vet about any supplements etc that could help. She also suggested omega oils and also Biotin (apparently very beneficial to horses hooves!). As Tango is not a horse, I popped down to the local pet/horsey shop and have invested in a bottle of omega oils, so we'll see how we go with that. I'll try the Biotin if we don't have any joy with the omega oils.

[The Dogmother]

You can also use Biotin to strengthen chickens' eggshells. It is available in egg whites but you have to cook the eggs first for it to be available and easily assimilated, so scrambled eggs it is!

[Lavenders_Blue]

Oh that's useful to know. Tango does get raw eggs from time to time but I'll cook them from now on. In fact I have 3 egg whites in the fridge left over from a pudding I made that I was wondering what to do with. Looks like she's going to get cooked egg white on her tea for the next few days!

[The Dogmother]

I've always given mine raw egg too but only recently found out about the cooking thing; there's another 'ingredient' (can't remember the name of it) in egg white white prevents Biotin from being absorbed when raw, but becomes inactive when cooked... amazing what you learn!

[Lavenders_Blue]