Yep, it’s that time of the year when grass seeds and awns attach!
Because of their structure, grass seeds or awns just love attaching to dogs’ fur and unfortunately they can go on to cause all sorts of problems by penetrating the skin and working their way in.
Common places we find them are down ear canals and under the skin in feet, but we’ve also recently retrieved them from a swelling under the tongue and an unusual swelling of the skin on the flank of a dog.
They can also get stuck under the eyelids and cause pain and huge irritation to the eye.
Grass seeds can even be inhaled and can get stuck in the nasal cavity or, even more worryingly, in the lungs.
Reduce the chances of problems
The best thing to do, is after a walk check your dog over thoroughly, where you should be able to easily remove any that you can see.
Check down the legs and paws, behind ears and the scruff of the neck and under-carriage as these are the most likely places you’ll find them.
It can be helpful to keep hair shorter around the feet and ears during the summer months and brushing regularly will also help.
If you’re concerned
If your dog develops a sudden pain or swelling around their toes, or a sudden onset irritated ear, it could be a grass seed.
Shaking of the head, weeping of the eyes, or swollen feet are all signs and it’s better to get these symptoms looked at sooner rather than later.
You should make an appointment to see your vet for a check over who can go on to treat the problem.
Quite often in these cases, we will need to sedate the patient in order to check the swelling or inside the ear canal as it can be painful to remove.
Recovery is normally successful and quite quick.
