Seed In Paw

[YOLO]

Jasper, our ~7yr old Flattie, suddenly developed a sore rear paw. It was evident that it was very painful for him to walk on it, and he was licking it vigorously. Inspection revealed that an area around one pad, the webbing, and side of one toe was bright red. As he had just been to the beach, a blue-bottle was suspected.

We trimmed the area as best we could, however could not see any puncture wounds or foreign bodies.

After consulting a vet, we treated with sting-goes and an appropriate anti-histamine.

After a couple of days, he was walking on it fine, and the redness had gone. However his toes was visibly swollen.

After 3~4 days, the swelling had developed into a volcano shape on TOP of his toe, and developed a head. We removed some puss and cleaned the wound.

The following day, whilst it was somewhat less swollen overall, it had developed a peculiar tented appearance. This time, with slight encouragement, it erupted and ejected not only copious puss, but a HUGE seed.

I imagine it is wild grass seed of some description, but by comparison it most resembles a Caraway seed. Without exaggeration it was 8~9mm long, ~2mm at its widest and very hard.

Let be clear, this was INSIDE his toe. In fact, it appears that it may have initially penetrated underneath, and migrated. However there was and is no sign of an entry wound.

Whilst I knew that such seeds and burrs were dangerous to the skin, I did not realise one could puncture the paw completely and disappear. Had we not shaved his paw looking for a wound I doubt we would have spotted the volcano, and if we hadn't helped the eruption I wonder how long it would have remained under his skin.

[sheena]

The last BC we had, had a seed puncture his paw & travel right up to his shoulder

[persephone]

Grass seeds can be horrible. ... they travel under the skin , cause nasty abscesses like your boy had ... ..and get in ears/throats/feet/toes...

A friend has an orphan lamb who has been very ill and not able to suck .. this little one has been treated for grass seed abscesses on her jaw, her chin, and in one ear !

Glad your boy will now have relief :)

[Guest crazydoglady99]

Geez!!! Scary stuff!

[curly]

This is super common. All dog owners should check feet daily during late spring/early summer when the grass is seeding. Actually, not just feet. Check ears regularly and any area the dog is licking at. Seeds can penetrate the skin very quickly and do travel a long way under the skin.

And without wanting to sound nasty, how is this news to any dog owner? Surely everyone knows by now that grass seeds and dogs don't mix?

[Stressmagnet]

I didn't know. Thanks for the heads up.

[sheena]

This is super common. All dog owners should check feet daily during late spring/early summer when the grass is seeding. Actually, not just feet. Check ears regularly and any area the dog is licking at. Seeds can penetrate the skin very quickly and do travel a long way under the skin.

And without wanting to sound nasty, how is this news to any dog owner? Surely everyone knows by now that grass seeds and dogs don't mix?

I would estimate that about 95% of dog owners would not be aware of the dangers of grass seeds, unless they experience it themselves or hear about it from someone else who had the experience with their dog. So.....no....not everyone knows :)

[persephone]

This is super common. All dog owners should check feet daily during late spring/early summer when the grass is seeding. Actually, not just feet. Check ears regularly and any area the dog is licking at. Seeds can penetrate the skin very quickly and do travel a long way under the skin.

And without wanting to sound nasty, how is this news to any dog owner? Surely everyone knows by now that grass seeds and dogs don't mix?

I would estimate that about 95% of dog owners would not be aware of the dangers of grass seeds, unless they experience it themselves or hear about it from someone else who had the experience with their dog. So.....no....not everyone knows :)

I agree - there a lot of dogs who never get near any grass with awns, like barley grass, etc .

[cavNrott]

This is super common. All dog owners should check feet daily during late spring/early summer when the grass is seeding. Actually, not just feet. Check ears regularly and any area the dog is licking at. Seeds can penetrate the skin very quickly and do travel a long way under the skin.

And without wanting to sound nasty, how is this news to any dog owner? Surely everyone knows by now that grass seeds and dogs don't mix?

WTF? Was that really necessary? Not everyone knows the danger of grass seeds. Thank you Big D for the heads up.

Sheesh! They're out there in the last 24 hours. Is Halloween the cause of this behaviour?

[denali]

This is super common. All dog owners should check feet daily during late spring/early summer when the grass is seeding. Actually, not just feet. Check ears regularly and any area the dog is licking at. Seeds can penetrate the skin very quickly and do travel a long way under the skin.

And without wanting to sound nasty, how is this news to any dog owner? Surely everyone knows by now that grass seeds and dogs don't mix?

I knew about grass seeds and to check feet and ears. HOWEVER, i did not know they could so easily penetrate and migrate. So thank you OP for posting, and Sheena Cant believe it went all the way to his shoulder- couldnt imagine that!

Also you'd be surprised about how little some dog owners know- not so much on this forum - but the general population is often not greatly informed on such things.

[persephone]

This is super common. All dog owners should check feet daily during late spring/early summer when the grass is seeding. Actually, not just feet. Check ears regularly and any area the dog is licking at. Seeds can penetrate the skin very quickly and do travel a long way under the skin.

And without wanting to sound nasty, how is this news to any dog owner? Surely everyone knows by now that grass seeds and dogs don't mix?

I knew about grass seeds and to check feet and ears. HOWEVER, i did not know they could so easily penetrate and migrate. So thank you OP for posting, and Sheena Cant believe it went all the way to his shoulder- couldnt imagine that!

Also you'd be surprised about how little some dog owners know- not so much on this forum - but the general population is often not greatly informed on such things.

the barley grass ones do travel fairly fast .. many times I remember helping the vet poke into a long tunnel travelling from in between pads to along the foot /up the leg . Once, a dog of ourse must have got one in her mouth .. it abscessed the salivary gland , and was not pretty . Healed up fine though :)

[Jemmy]

I also didn't know. Common sense says it would cause some discomfort, but I had no idea about it travelling. I would have expected it to be similar to a splinter... Sore and then comes out the same way it went in.

[piper]

My advice is to check all over if they have been anywhere with grass seeds. I have always been religious about checking feet at this time of year and a quick general feel over that over the years has become more thorough as i have found yet another hiding spot for them. The 1s my dogs have had break skin/abscess have all been in odd places.

I have had issues with them in the underarm and with the friction from skin moving while they walk they had broken the skin very quickly. My first male BC had long coat and they must have got in that and worked their way up - he had 1 go in his belly button. My other make had 1 in his thigh - most likely sat on it and had it get stuck in his pants. When I found it on a Saturday night I could just grab the end but not enough to be able to get it out. By Monday morning it had travelled several inches. He also had 1 removed from his abdomen that was totally encapsulated the vet was expecting a tumour when he removed it and then on cutting into the lump found an old grass seed. We have no idea where it entered or when. And with girls check their vulvas - Cinna kept licking last year and had 1 there irritating her.

[VizslaMomma]

This is super common. All dog owners should check feet daily during late spring/early summer when the grass is seeding. Actually, not just feet. Check ears regularly and any area the dog is licking at. Seeds can penetrate the skin very quickly and do travel a long way under the skin.

And without wanting to sound nasty, how is this news to any dog owner? Surely everyone knows by now that grass seeds and dogs don't mix?

Why?

Mum & Dad buy a dog for the family.

Neither parent had dogs growing up.

Explain why they should know.

[kelpiecuddles]

Grass seeds are actually designed to spiral down in to the soil, it's a pretty clever trick but also explains why they ae so good at travelling once they get stuck in the skin.

[VizslaMomma]

I also didn't know. Common sense says it would cause some discomfort, but I had no idea about it travelling. I would have expected it to be similar to a splinter... Sore and then comes out the same way it went in.

Paws, feet, skin AND eyes can all have issues with grass seeds.

Gabor had grass seeds in a paw & an eye two different times over one summer.

Lawn was under control & well trimmed.

Being a Vizsla his webbed foot made checking difficult. His eye only manifested when the discharge worsened. ( in the space of 4 hours). By the time we got to the Vet, the discharge was full of pus. Dratted seed was under his eye-lid.

[Daisys Mum]

I check my two dogs everyday for grass seeds ... They don't actually mind it because it feels good that someone is running their hands through their fur :) my Kelpie had to get one removed after sniffing the grass and it travelling up her nasal passage... They are nasty

[Teebs]

I can understand how owners dint know to look.

I've had 6 dogs in my life, they all have lived in the same yard, walked the same walks... Only one ever got grass seeds, if it wasn't for him I probably wouldn't have known how bad they could be.

[Mercedes]

Are there certain types of grasses that are worse and should be avoided? Is it only dry grass that is a concern? Thanks all.

Edited November 2, 2014 by Mercedes

[kelpiecuddles]

The hard seeded types with very pointy tips are specifically good at the spiral action. Google stipa grass for an example of the sort of seed head

Edited November 2, 2014 by kelpiecuddles