My dog's claw is upside down. Why is his nail growing oddly?

Question

My neighbors have a dog who has diabetes, cataracts, was rescued, and age is unknown. All of a sudden, as I was petting him, I noticed that one of his claws was UPSIDE DOWN!!! Totally freaked out, I told the owners (my neighbors) about it, and they were just as shocked as I was. They've had this dog for a while, and had never noticed this before. He is very well taken care of and has wonderful owners, but I was so curious that I searched it, only to find nothing. Can anyone tell me what this is?

Jessica Keay, DVM · Accepted Answer

How very odd! A photo of the said claw may help us to better answer your question. Sometimes toenails if gorwing long can curl all the way around, so if the nails are long it could cause this appearance. If a nail becomes injured and pulls from the nail bed it can turn around but usually this is a very painful incident and would be noticed by the owner. A congenital defect could also possibly cause a strange positioning of the nail, or an injury to the nailbed.

My dog's claw is upside down. Why is his nail growing oddly?

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