WickAndArtoo Posted June 30, 2016 Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 Anyone here have any issues with Foxtails? We had an incident today they are everywhere here. Artoo got one up his nose, had to have it removed at the vet, very scary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riika Posted June 30, 2016 Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 Yep! Here it's called cheat grass, but same thing. I just had a foster dog get one burrowed into the his paw between his toes, and had to have the vet remove it. Duke had three different visits last year to get it out of his ear. I have a great vet that taught and allows me to use her tools when I need to pull it out. The goats have gotten it in their eyes, (which is pretty easy to remove) but mostly they get it in their mouth, where it forms a hard, little bump that stays pretty much forever. I check the dogs' toes regularly and pull it all out before it burrows into their legs. Look at these pictures.... https://www.facebook.com/BrentwoodVeterinaryHospital/photos/a.636389583117504.1073741830.451706884919109/829263543830106/?type=3&theater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WickAndArtoo Posted June 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 Yep! Here it's called cheat grass, but same thing. I just had a foster dog get one burrowed into the his paw between his toes, and had to have the vet remove it. Duke had three different visits last year to get it out of his ear. I have a great vet that taught and allows me to use her tools when I need to pull it out. The goats have gotten it in their eyes, (which is pretty easy to remove) but mostly they get it in their mouth, where it forms a hard, little bump that stays pretty much forever. I check the dogs' toes regularly and pull it all out before it burrows into their legs. Look at these pictures.... https://www.facebook.com/BrentwoodVeterinaryHospital/photos/a.636389583117504.1073741830.451706884919109/829263543830106/?type=3&theater How frustrating! Yeah the vet is a pricey visit :-( but totally worth it! I have seen that some people have bought the face shields for walks and hikes. I am getting booties for Wick because he has long fine fur between his toes (which I have also been trimming) it's just so annoying! Poor Duke, did you realize it right away each time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooper2 Posted June 30, 2016 Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 It took an entire summer and two surgeries to finally get a cheatgrass-induced abscess between the toes of one of my dogs under control. For the second surgery the vet warned me that it might require amputating a toe, or possibly worse. Fortunately he was able to find and remove the offending piece of grass without having to remove body parts on the second try. A friend of mine lost a corgi when a piece of cheatgrass migrated into the dog's spinal cord. Different types of grasses are called foxtails in different parts of the country. Everyone should at least be aware of what Hordeum jubatum and Bromus tectorum (aka cheatgrass) look like (Google-images is your friend) and avoid areas infested with those grasses if possible. If it's not possible to avoid infestations, check between toes every day during the months that the grass seed heads are "blooming", and be alert for any signs of ears having trapped a seed (head shaking, tilting head, pawing at ear) and get to a vet ASAP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligande Posted June 30, 2016 Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 Where I live we have two types of evil grass, one that is like the foxtails and gets stuck into the skin, I also had one go up a nose last year, I got him straight to the vet and she really struggled to get it out. The other type is like a small drill and works it's way in. I think the double coat and the long slinky coat do provide protection, although getting all the small round sticky burrs out is a pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riika Posted June 30, 2016 Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 How frustrating! Yeah the vet is a pricey visit :-( but totally worth it! I have seen that some people have bought the face shields for walks and hikes. I am getting booties for Wick because he has long fine fur between his toes (which I have also been trimming) it's just so annoying! Poor Duke, did you realize it right away each time? Our dogs are farm/outdoor dogs so that's not possible for us. The first time was when he got in a fight with a badger and was holding his head funny, and the vet happened to look in there as she was checking him over. The other two times he was shaking his head, and yelped when I massaged his ear, so yes, I knew right away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted July 1, 2016 Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 I've been scrubbed into two surgeries that were attempts to remove a grass awn from a dog's chest. It was horrible. They migrated all over, leaving paths of destruction. You can't get those sorts of images out of your head. That has made me paranoid ever since.I've seen then in noses, between toes, in ears and in eyes. Nasty things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShoresDog Posted July 1, 2016 Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 Honestly, foxtails (and goatheads, and filaree which are the little drills) are so awful in southern California. I summer in Oregon now, and it is quite wonderful to be away from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WickAndArtoo Posted July 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 Honestly, foxtails (and goatheads, and filaree which are the little drills) are so awful in southern California. I summer in Oregon now, and it is quite wonderful to be away from them. Yeah we are Southern California, they are terrible! We just came from GA the land of lush green green never ending grass ... but everywhere has its drawbacks I suppose! Happy to be on the west coast again... Just need to get used to being scared of grass. Oregon sounds AMAZING! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloria Atwater Posted July 2, 2016 Report Share Posted July 2, 2016 Foxtails are the work of the devil. Over the past umpteen years I've pulled them out of my dogs' ears, toes, neck fur and chest furr, and once I had a dog get a foxtail in a tiny little wire cut on her chest - the thing migrated all the way down to her belly button and the vet had to do an excavation to find the blasted thing! Plus I've heard any number of horror story surgeries. Nasty, evil, horrible things! We don't have them bad right where we live, but we have a few and it was a very wet spring, so everything grew like crazy. ~ Gloria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted July 2, 2016 Report Share Posted July 2, 2016 A friend lost a dog when a foxtail burrowed into the body cavity and then into a vital organ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Elle Posted July 3, 2016 Report Share Posted July 3, 2016 Well, reading this makes me remember to be grateful. Here it is desert. We have jumping cactus and poisonous reptiles and recluse spiders and colorado river frogs that will kill your dog. The summer grass is as sharp as needles and comes into the house on the dog's fur and then gets into clothing, furniture and rugs, emerging to pierce the sole of an unsuspecting foot. Sometimes I long to be somewhere where everything outdoors doesn't want to pierce, spike, bite, sting, or poison you. BUT we do not have foxtails, and to me they sound worse than jumping cactus or needle grass because those things at least don't burrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnLloydJones Posted July 3, 2016 Report Share Posted July 3, 2016 Well, reading this makes me remember to be grateful. Here it is desert. ... BUT we do not have foxtails, and to me they sound worse than jumping cactus or needle grass because those things at least don't burrow. Maybe you don't, but we are not so far from you and we certainly have foxtails. One friend's aussie had one that had to be removed by the vet. Fortunately, none of my dogs have had them embed, but I have removed countless foxtails from their fur. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Elle Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 Maybe you don't, but we are not so far from you and we certainly have foxtails. One friend's aussie had one that had to be removed by the vet. Fortunately, none of my dogs have had them embed, but I have removed countless foxtails from their fur. Yikes. I didn't know that. thanks, I will keep my eye out for them when I am in more northern parts of the state! I guess there's nowhere you can live where there isn't something obnoxious that nature has decided to put there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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