Lucky - Grass Awn

[Jamila]

Okay so my Husky Lucky has been having surgery for almost three years now. As most of you may know he had an abscess on his side up by his shoulder. Well it has been migrating down his side towards his tail. It is now by his back leg. The vet told me that he is positive that it is a grass awn (also known as a foxtails or cheat grass). He has been determined to find it but this last surgery he told me that he was able to stick in entire index finger in the hole created by the awn towards the abdominal wall. In other words its deep as heck and hard to find. I feel so bad for my dog having to go through this process. He takes it in stride and doesn't let it prohibit him from doing things, but still it has to suck walking around with a constant hole in your side.

My question is has anyone heard of this or personally encountered this issue?

Here's my boy


I was doing some research on it and found some interesting information that I though I might pass along:


The grass awn is torpedo shaped and covered with little barbs. The barbs all angle away from the pointy tip. Once the seed gets snagged in fur, it can only move one way: deeper into the fur. And they don’t stop when they reach the skin. If lodged between the toes or in the ear canal, they can continue to burrow in. Sometimes it is the little, seemingly harmless things that can surprise you. So, the lowly grass awn can pack a powerful punch as it opens a one-way path of destruction, bringing bacteria in its wake.

Grass awns can cause ear infections, punctured eardrums, swollen infected feet, internal infections and abscesses and even spinal cord injuries. Being weeds, they have a high probability of growing where we don’t want them. The only protections are vigilance and prompt attention. If you remove them before they dig in, this can prevent a lot of the difficulties. When you come in from outdoors in the summer, get in the habit of running your hands over your entire pet, paying special attention to places a grass awn might lodge, such as between your pet’s toes (on the top and bottom of the paws) and near the ear opening. For dogs with a lot of hair between the toes it is very helpful to keep the paw hairs trimmed short during grass seed season.

If grass awns escape your notice and manage to dig in, this will require a trip to your veterinarian for removal. The tough seed coats make it difficult for the body’s defensive mechanisms to break down the seeds. Your veterinarian may need to anesthetize your pet to remove them and will likely place your pet on antibiotics.

"The most common sign of a problem is a sudden onset of sneezing – sometimes with blood in it – after a dog has sniffed a foxtail into its nose," says Dr. Franklin McMillan of Los Angeles, California, a board certified specialist in veterinary internal medicine. "Another common sign is a dog licking at its paw to relieve the discomfort of a foxtail-induced infection. Head shaking and pawing at an ear is a tip-off for a foxtail in the ear."

“I have practiced in all four corners of the US,” says Dr. J. Veronika Kiklevich, DVM, a practitioner in San Antonio, Texas, “and I have found grass awns to be a problem everywhere! They are often undetected until they are causing a pet an enormous problem due to inflammation and abscessation."

I got this from Critter Corner: Heinous Hitchhikers (I don't know if its okay to post the link I just didn't wanna not cite my source)

[Cassiepeia]

Poor baby! Lucky is such a brave boy. I've heard about grass seeds doing this, but never personally seen it. It's such a difficult thing for both dog and vet.

Something similar but human related...my stepfather stepped on a needle once that was driven straight into his heel and it actually travelled too. He had to get it taken out of his leg. Scary.

Cass.

[dogs4life]

Oh, poor Lucky, I hope you can find it soon.

The condition you describe is very common in California with all the dry grasses. If we hear our dogs sneezing, the first thing we think of is fox-tails. We've had them in the nose but get them out before they got too deep, thank goodness. I cannot imagine how worried you are about Lucky.

[Jamila]

Yeah it freaks me out cause it keeps moving and I don't know where its going to go from here since it's so far back. It will be even tougher to get to I imagine and my vet is determined to find it. He told me he worked about two years on another dog with the same issue. I have hope!!!! He also told me he would love to find that thing, get it out of my dog and have me buy him a beer. I told him a beer, heck I'll buy you a keg when you find it!

That's freaky about that needle Cass. Yikes!

[Punkygirl0101]

We get them in our backyard, but I immediately pull them out. We had a husky mix who got them in her ear, and had to have surgery to get it removed. Those things are horrible! I always check Bjorn (My only longhaired dog) when he comes in from outside to make sure he doesn't have any stuck on him.

[Sweetpea]

Poor Baby. I hope they find it soon Lucky. I've never heard of Grass Awns. I found a picture online. Grass Awns photo - Peter Hollinger photos at pbase.com

[Jamila]

Yeah I know he would have never got one if I would have had him from day one, but unfortunately I found him like this. I give all my dogs the once over when they come in from outside, plus I keep my lawn mowed and Lucky loves getting brushed so much that if I am brushing Talena he bumps her out of the way lol.

[dogs4life]

OMG Jamila, I thought of Lucky yesterday when we saw a baby lamb covered in grass awns. Poor thing just was covered in them. I hope you're vet can find that darned thing soon and give you all some relief.

[Doglover1988]

Poor guy. I can't believe they can't find the thing. I hope they can one day. He is a beautiful boy. Luckily I don't think we have those things in my yard. I am going to be extra paranoid now though. lol