grass seeds or what else?

[silvia]

dear all

we have been silent for a while, because of few trips, etc but still following all beautiful pictures and discussions:)

I am writing for an advise. We have a problem with oberon since, from this morning, he's not putting his front paw down and he's not putting any weight on it. A trip to the vet this evening and they werent able to see anything, so just prescribed a couple of days of anti inflammatory and, if by friday there is no improvement, we are going back for an x-ray. they said it can be a small fracture on a finger, but, honestly, it looks very unlikely to me (he doesnt complaint about the same finger every time i touch him..)

the evening before we were just in our local garden, nothing too crazy, and in the morning he didnt put the paw down..

i have asked about a possible grass seed, or a piece of glass,  and they said that, if there was one, they should be able to see because of a swollen. however, i thought that often grass seeds are quite invisible from outside and very difficult to find.. what is your experience? i was looking in the past searches in this website, i remember several discussions but i cant find the posts..

thanks for any advise !! cheers

silvia

[Angela Clarke]

Last year Elsa had a grass seed that had gone in three inches up her leg, this sounds just how we went on for four days with anti-inframitarys.I took her back to the vets as it hadn`t got any better after this time and the vet opened it and found a horrid grass seed festering. Elsa was also tender in different parts. good luck let us know how you get on X

[silvia]

Thanks Angela

indeed, If I rememeber well I think you posted a  blog about that horrible story, did you? I cant find it.. Anyway: but how elsa was doing with the anti-inflammatorys? Was she better or remained the same?

Because Oberon is a bit better today,  with the pills, but I am not sure if this can be taken as an evidence that there is no grass seed (and all this is just a strain ) or no. Also: I cant see any swolling not tender at all: in the elsa case this started immediately or after a while? 

thanks a lot!!!! X

s

[Howard Glansfield]

If you enter 'Grass Seeds' in the box at the top of the home page(next to your name) you should get postings from before....well I do!

I hope Oberon continues to improve.

[Angela Clarke]

Silvia I got it wrong only 2 days not 4.This was my blog;

Elsa spent today at the vets, the past 2 days she had been licking her ankle, I looked at it and could see nothing wrong.Yesterday it started to swellup so took her to the vet, he drew of some poison and arranged to lance and clean it out today. I check for grass seeds on my dog with each visit to the fields in the summer but less fussy this time of the year.I was lucky this time in the fact that it had not moved on. She is home and back to normal ( she must keep her dressing clean and on till Monday HA HA yeh right )

[Christine Pullen]

Hi Silvia, my Merlin had a grass seed removed about three weeks ago now,,it took over a week to find out what it was..he just started to drool uncontrollably and stopped eating, then he stooped drinking..the grass seed had got lodged between his hard and soft palate, even after removal it took another week and strong antibiotics before he was back to normal...nasty things!!Hope Oberon improves soon xxx

[Sue Paterson]

Hi silvia.

We had a grass seed that travelled up the leg of one of our dogs. (I forget which one now). We got no symptoms until he started licking and making his leg sore. Eventually the vet X rayed and then operated and bingo there was the nasty blighter. He put it in a plastic pot which we kept for years as a reminder!!!!! Oh yes I think it was Rumor and it was a back leg...got nearly as far as the hock. He had to have some sort of laser treatment to help the skin heal.

Hope Oberon is ok soon and you find out what it is.

[silvia]

Thanks a lot everybody!!! Oberon has improved a lot with just two days of anti inflammatory, so I am prone to think (or, well, I hope;) that it was just a strain in the finger or so and that he's a good 'actor'.. no tender and swelling so far.

I am keeping a close eye in the next days, and thanks all of you for all  these information: if I see any of those symptoms or behaviour we know that we need to go ahead with an xray. .. quite nasty things! and, poor Merlin: can they go even in the palate?? OMG! 

thanks a lot to all you!! (as always !)

[Kimberly Simmons]

I'm confused as to what a "grass seed" is? Is it like a burr; sticker, or a parasite like what we refer to as ticks?

[Sue Paterson]

Hi Kimberley.

The grass seeds I think most people are referring to are those from Wall Barley or Barren Brome- types of grasses which commonly cause problems in summer and autumn. They have long spikey ends which are formed to always go in first and then barbs on the seed heads which prevent them dropping out and actually help move them forwards. If you look online there are pictures.

Whenever the dogs have been out in the fields its important to check between their toes, arm pits, ears, groin, well everywhere really. It can take as long to check them as it does to run them :) And still we got caught!

[Kimberly Simmons]

Gotcha! Thanks Sue : )

[silvia]

yes kimberly, they are very nasty indeed. Oberon is better so in the end it was just a strain in the finger i believe, and with a couple of days of anti inflammatories it looks as the problem is sorted. hopefully.

but these awful grass seeds are always a concern, so better to keep a close eye;)

as for us, now O. is walking normally... the vet said we have an actor, not a dog:) but they know how to make us worry, dont they? Oberon was acting as a huge problem was going on, limping and coming to us all day, asking  for help.. what u can do either than running to a vet in the late evening ? :)