Grass seeds with sharp hygroscopic seeds can be dangerous to dogs, causing inflammation, abscesses and even death. These grasses, which produce sharp, spiky seeds called awns, are common in South Africa during summer and early winter. These awns burrow into the dog’s skin, between toes, or are caught in the nose, eyes, ears, throat or may even enter the bloodstream. Undetected, they can lead to life-threatening infections.
Dogs are especially at risk if they have longer coats with a thick undercoat although any animal can be at risk. Remember how it feels when you return from a hike to find burrs and grass awns stuck in your socks? We can remove them with our fingers but when awns get stuck in your pet’s fur, they can’t lick or bite them out and rely on you to remove them.
Grass seeds: prevention
The best way to prevent the awn that is stuck in your dog’s fur from penetrating his skin, is to thoroughly check his coat after he’s been out. Gently untangle the grass awn and burn it so that it doesn’t spread to your own garden. If your dog keeps licking a part of its body all of a sudden, check for a seed that might already have penetrated the skin. The same goes for a dog that suddenly starts shaking its head or pawing at its nose or eyes. Look especially carefully between the foot pads, and under the arms . You might only notice a small wound, or that your dog is tilting his head or sneezing. Take your dog to your vet sooner rather than later.
A grass seed removed from behind a dog’s tonsil
What your vet will do
If the awns are no longer visible the pet needs sedation or even full general anaesthetic so that your vet can explore the little wound and extract the whole awn (often multi-pronged so we need to be careful of pieces breaking off). If left untreated these awns can migrate throughout the body and cause infection and damage, even penetrating internal organs. Death is possible.
A grass seed was tucked behind this tonsil, causing swelling, pain and infection
