Grass Awns In Dogs Throat

Hacking gagging difficulty swallowing when eating or drinking.

Grass awns in dogs throat.

Many dogs develop a lump where the grass awn is located. Grass seeds and awns in dogs may sound quite harmless but in some cases the damage that they cause can be so severe that it will threaten the life of your dog. Foxtails in the mouth or throat. If the foxtail is visible you may pull it out by hand or with blunt tweezers.

However grass awns can also cause much more serious health problems when they enter through the mouth or nose of a dog and migrate through the respiratory or gastrointestinal tract. Pretty much any contact a dog has with grass awns is potentially hazardous. If swallowed grass awns may stick to the back of the throat near the tonsils and cause inflammation and swelling. When a grass awn is embedded the body responds with inflammation.

Can be inhaled into lung. How do grass awns injure dogs. Grass seeds and awns in dogs nose throat ears. Lungs and other organs inhalation or migration.

It is when they are not quickly removed by the owner or expelled by the animal that they become problematic. Grass awns have been known to migrate through the body wall and migrate to the chest and abdominal cavities. Most owners will confuse grass seeds and awns as freshly planted grass seed or the occasional awn that your dog comes in contact with in your yard. Cells begin to wall off the area to contain a potential infection forming an abscess.

Grass awns or foxtails are shaped like arrows and they can get attached to the skin of animals or your beloved pet and therefore they can spread among animals in your h. Grass awns can be inhaled become lodged in the ears swallowed or even just imbedded in the coat or skin. Grass awns in dogs and cats. Damage to periodontal pockets the tongue or throat.

Grass awns have backward pointing barbs that prevent retrograde movement making removal difficult aka painful and causing them to migrate deeper with normal motion.