Yeah, my dog caught her dewclaw nail on something once and we had to take her to the vet to have it treated.
Interestingly, the dewclaw isn't just the claw itself. It's the fleshy protuberance that the claw comes out of--perhaps a vestigial toe. At least, that's the way my vet and the vet techs were using the term, and I remember it because it was a cause of much confusion until we figured out that each of us was using the same term to mean different things.
A small claw not reaching the ground, on the foot of some animals.
"Dog lovers need to keep an eye on dewclaws and remember to keep the nails trimmed." Gina Spadafori; Beware of Halloween Hazards for Animals; The Sacramento Bee (California); Oct 28, 2006.
Flews! C_b, maybe you should add it to your Creative Onomatopoeia list.
Yeah, my dog caught her dewclaw nail on something once and we had to take her to the vet to have it treated.
Interestingly, the dewclaw isn't just the claw itself. It's the fleshy protuberance that the claw comes out of--perhaps a vestigial toe. At least, that's the way my vet and the vet techs were using the term, and I remember it because it was a cause of much confusion until we figured out that each of us was using the same term to mean different things.
Another good dog-related word is flews.
A small claw not reaching the ground, on the foot of some animals.
"Dog lovers need to keep an eye on dewclaws and remember to keep the nails trimmed." Gina Spadafori; Beware of Halloween Hazards for Animals; The Sacramento Bee (California); Oct 28, 2006.
- from A.Word.A.Day