Gardening season? More like grass seed season for our furry family members. There is a wonderfully warm feeling we all experience when we are outside in the beautiful sunshine, smelling some freshly cut grass and walking around the neighbourhood. Particularly in the spring and summer months, there is an increase in grass seed inflicted problems. While the notion of grass seeds does not sound threatening, these small horrors can attach to your pet’s fur and quickly travel into their skin and beyond. Once they have entered the skin, they can penetrate your pet’s body and cause detrimental damage, including infection and in serious cases, fatality. There are a few things we need to be aware of when it comes to these deceivingly small dangers!
The seeds to keep a particularly careful eye out for are shaped like small darts and found at the end of grass heads. Due to their very sharp point and long tail, they can easily attach to your pet and migrate through their body. Some can travel many inches, reaching the animal's internal organs if they are not removed immediately. The most common places that grass seeds are found include your pet’s eye/eyelids, toes, coat/skin, ears, nose and prepuce (male anatomical part closest to the ground!). If a grass seed contacts your pet’s body, you may shortly see redness and inflammation around the area, and possibly pus. A change in their behaviour may be observed. Infection will likely develop within hours and the area will become painful to touch.
The symptoms to look out for depend on the location of the grass seed. These symptoms can include:
Symptoms: Sneezing, nasal discharge, pawing nose, difficulty breathing.
Long-term effects: Pain, internal tissue damage, airway blockage and lung infection.
There are some ways that you can protect your pet from these sneaky seeds. You can:
You can try to remove the seed with tweezers, if you are unsuccessful, call the clinic immediately. This is because the seed will bury deeper and become harder to remove. Often once it is lodged or difficult to find, surgery will be required. Especially if there is a possibility there is more than one grass seed effecting your pet. Antibiotics are then essential and can be vital for long periods of time to fight off the infections that develop.
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Pets Health is a full service animal hospital with clinics located in Hilton and O’Halloran Hill. We are dedicated to helping you keep your best mate happy and healthy through each stage of their life with compassionate and reassuring veterinary care.
A well-behaved puppy will bring many years of joy and many moments of laughter!