I brought my dog here after he bloodied up his back paw a bit. He got a couple of his nails stuck in a bench as he was jumping off of it. My pup was not in any pain or phased by the incident at all. Because I do not have canine nail clippers I figured I should bring him to the vet to get them cut back to where he broke them and maybe get a bandage to keep on him for the rest of the day. My mom and I stopped over to Brushwood and immediately got a room because it was empty. Because my dog was in no pain he was walking around in the exam room while we waited for the doctor. By the time the doctor came in my dog's back paw was now completely covered in dog fur from the floor as well as the dried blood on his own hair that was already there, making his nails very difficult to see. Without washing his paw at all the vet looked at it for a second and then asked me when the last time my dog ate was. Then told me he'd have to put him to sleep and remove the nail because it was clearly hanging on by a thread. Then he'd give my dog reversal so that he would come out of it faster so we could pick him back up in a few hours. Then he would have to wrap it and we'd have to get a cone for my dog to wear on his head... oh and the nail may or may not ever grow back and may or may not be deformed. I was a bit shocked. First, I explained to him that the nail he didn't mention at all, the nail NEXT to the one he said 'was hanging on by a thread' was actually the one I thought was more damaged. He looked again and quickly said oh yes he saw that he'd actually have to remove them both. My mother asked him if there was a way that we didn't have to put my dog to sleep but just perhaps something local for the procedure. The vet said to us "well, would you want your nail taken out while you were awake?"... so we then suggested that we actually clean his paw off so that it might be easier to accurately see what is going on before making the decision to surgically remove now TWO nails. With a sigh he asked his assistant to clean the paw and he left the room. He came back a minute later and took even less time looking at the paw while my dog was sitting on my lap. Because he seemed to think surgery was still necessary, I kindly asked him to explain exactly why and to show me where the nail was barely attached. I truly was hoping for clarity because I was so shocked that something I thought was so small was turning into such an ordeal. I wanted to make sure that if I was suddenly going to be putting my dog through all of this that I completely understood everything. Thats normal, right? The MOST SHOCKING PART OF ALL is that this vet REFUSED to explain it. He immediately told us that was the way he felt he had to deal with it, and that was it. Now I'm frustrated because I want a solve for my dog's paw but I also deserve to understand the process. I said "I'm sorry that I don't completely understand this, I'm not a vet". He answered by saying he won't know the details until he's in surgery and asked again if I'd want my fingernails removed without being put to sleep. I said I've honestly never thought about it but thats not what I was asking. He then told my mom and I that we seem to be questioning what he thinks is best and maybe we should go elsewhere. To this I replied "if you are not going to explain this to me then I agree, we should go somewhere else". He refused to explain. We left.
SO- a couple hours later at a different vet in town the doctor looked at his paw on the exam table, told me she'd have to trim back two of his nails, they might bleed a tiny bit so she'd wrap it in gauze that we could take off in 30min. It was $20 and took 5 minutes with a nail clipper. My dog never bled after this, his nails are fine, he was never in pain.
Had my mom and I not asked questions my poor dog would have had to go through completely pointless and useless surgery, grogginess, pain, and had two nails completely and unnecessarily removed and therefore would have been recovering for days. That is animal cruelty. AND fraud against my wallet. Will never go back. read more