PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – They might look harmless, but those bushy, wheat-like seeds waving in the wind this time of year on stalks of foxtail grass can be incredibly dangerous to pets.
The seeds, called grass awns, are pointy and have barbs on them that can easily stick to fur. If they’re not discovered early enough, they can push their way into the skin and, in severe cases, they can even travel all the way into a dog or cat’s body.
“They can step on these little barbs, get them embedded in their fur. We can also see them go in other areas of the body, up the nose is not uncommon. As a dermatologist, I’ve taken quite a few out of ear canals,” Dr. Ashley Bourgeois, a board certified veterinary dermatologist in Portland told Nexstar’s KOIN.
Grass awns tend to be a more common problem for dogs, but can also affect cats. In certain cases, pets suffering from embedded awns can require serious veterinary care that can cost owners thousands of dollars.
That’s why Bourgeois wants pet owners to know there are things they can do early to help prevent a serious injury.
Foxtail grasses most commonly impact working dogs or hunting dogs that spend a lot of time off trails and sidewalks. However, the grasses have been found throughout the U.S. and their seeds can blow anywhere, which means even city-dwelling dogs can get them in their fur, paws, or ears while going on a walk.
To help protect dogs, Bourgeois said it’s important to be proactive. Owners should comb their pet’s fur, look in between their toes and flip back their ears after to find any awns.
They can also look for redness and signs of irritation on their pet’s ears, or watch for dogs licking or chewing their paws. These are other indicators that something might be wrong.
“Do they start sneezing all of a sudden?” Bourgeois said. “If they get a grass awn up their nose, one of the signs that we’ll hear of is very abrupt sneezing. So, also just looking for things that aren’t normal.”
If an owner finds signs of serious irritation, Bourgeois said it’s important to see a veterinarian as soon as possible. The sooner a veterinarian has a chance to look at it, the better the chances of avoiding a major procedure.
Sometimes, doctors can remove the grass awn, flush the area and the dog will be fine. It doesn’t always have to be a huge surgical procedure, especially if they act quickly. Even in these situations, Bourgeois said veterinarians will still monitor the animal after the grass awn is removed.
“I have had cases where I remove something. I think it’s looking pretty good, and then we’ll find out a week or two later there is some infection that kind of got embedded with that foreign body, so then we will have to address it,” she said.
If the seed does get embedded in the ear or paw, sometimes surgery will be necessary. Bourgeois said it’s possible one of these seeds can break open a dog’s eardrum.
In extreme cases, some grass awns have entered through the skin, ear or nose and migrated internally in the body. Bourgeois said some veterinarians have found them in lung lobes.
This might sound scary to pet owners, but Bourgeois stresses that it’s easy to avoid these situations.
“If we’re being proactive, preventative, seeking care early if it’s not getting better or something acutely is happening, then you’re really going to prevent a lot of those extreme things from occurring,” she said.
