Has anyone had a puppy born w/ 5 toes. The extra toe is not a dew claw it is an extra toe on the hind foot. If so did you have it removed?

If the toe isn't bothering the puppy, why would you have it removed? I've never seen this in a dog, but we have 2 littermate cats that have extra toes. These aren't just your typical polydactyl cats with one toe - these kitties have 8 claws on each front paw but no dew claw. At least one claw doesn't retract and it's almost like the kittens have an extra foot tacked onto the regular foot. Very strange and those kitties have the biggest feet I've ever seen on a cat LOL Doesn't bother them a bit, though, and they do a fine job catching mice in the kennel building

We had one but she had other orthopedic issues besides the "extra toe". We first noticed the toe (you are correct, it was a fully functional 5th toe not a dew claw) When she reached about 5 weeks we realized there was another problem with that leg and after taking her to an ortho specialist, her overall prognoses was not good due to numerous issues.

Does he look like a Rhodesian Ridgeback? They are one of the only breeds that have that fifth toe on the back legs. Perhaps a bitch along the way got out of the barn so to speak..

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Charles (:o) ), how old is the puppy? Is it walking yet, if so, does it walk normal for a baby its age?

The puppy is 24 hours old. My vet who is also a breeder will be looking at it on Fri. It is like a thumb, a bit lower and looks like the beginning of a nail bed in the middle of the end but no nail like the other 4 toes. If I am going to have something done to it I would do it now and not wait.

Rhodesian Ridgebacks don't have extra toes in the rear other than the rare dewclaws that generally are removed if present. Great Pyrenees and Briards have to have double dewclaws in the rear per their standards. I'm not sure if any of the newer AKC breeds have extra toes in the rear...

Had a couple of german shepherds in a litter that had extras on the hind leg. Had them removed within 48 hours. I would say remove them. By the way, the sire carried that gene. Bred him to another bitch that had a couple previous litters with different sire, same thing extra toes.

Personally I would wait. The reason being is our ortho vet told me that normally when you see something like that there are other issues. Our puppy was born without a knee cap plus a couple other issues in addition to the 5th toe. Yours sound exactly like ours. If everything else is OK, that toe will not bother anything. Our babies toe was actually bigger than all but one other, it's nothing like a dew claw.

Just as an aside, anatomically speaking the dew claw IS a "real toe". On the dog's forelimb it is the equivalent of our thumb. It is designated the first digit (on both fore and hind limbs).

Each digit is made up of small bones called phalanges. The first digit/dewclaw only has 2 phalanges whereas each of the other digits has 3.

On the hindlimb there may or may not be a 1st digit/dewclaw; most breeds of dogs only have 4 digits on the hind limb (and actually those dogs also do not have the first metatarsal bone either). When a rear first digit/dewclaw is present it can be highly variable (ranging from a complete digit with 2 phalanges connected to metatarsal I or a "loose" claw attached to the skin only the distal phalanx/nail present).

I would wonder if this puppy in question happens to have a full First digit present on the hind limbs.

Wendy, I cannot speak for Charles but in no way did our "5th toe" resemble a dew claw, one could tell the difference at night with sun glasses on.

That was actually my point Gregg. On the rear foot the "dew claw", which is actually the first digit, CAN present as a full digit with the First Metacarpal and phalanges (none of which are normal in most breeds). It is entirely possible that it would not resemble a traditional dew claw and would look like a more typical digit.

Wendy,

What is the best thing to do if this is the case? Remove it or leave it? My inclination is to remove it and then have a normal foot. This 5th toe looks like it will not have any arch to it. It does have a bone but not a toenail. however there may be a nail bed.

I recommend that you keep your plan to have your veterinarian look at that pup. It will be much easier to make a decision once they've seen the issue in person (vs all of us guessing what it might be here online!). The treatment plan will depend a lot on what sort of bony attachments are present (it may have bones in the digit but they might not be connected to the metatarsals). Also, as others have mentioned it is possible that there are other developmental issues (but not always).

Is the extra toe the most medial/inner digit on the foot? If it does not have solid bony attachment and is the most medial digit then it may be something than can be removed at this age. But again, will depend on the specifics.

I know it's hard in a tiny pup but any possibility you can get a picture?
And please let us know what you guys decide once you and your vet take a look.

I recently had a puppy with what you are describing. My vet said he would remove it like a dew claw. It did infact look like a toe, but upon close inspection you could see that if you removed it the pups foot would look normal. However, he also had some other issues and passed away at 2 days old.

My vet is very respected in our state. Breeders drive hours to go to her. She took one look at the puppy and said, "Oh that's no big deal. Just an extra large dew claw on the outside." 10 minutes later the toe was gone. Mind you this toe was larger then the normal toes. She said she has seen it in different breeds from time to time. She used surgical glue and you can barely see where the toe was cut off.
Thanks for the responses.