Foxtail season is approaching
Foxtails are annual grasses that are common in weedy areas around roads, paths, and fields. They are soft and green January thru March or early April. In late spring however, the heads begin to dry and that’s when the danger begins, lasting throughout summer and fall. There are more than 40 species of foxtails around North America. Most species have dense, cylindrical, often brush-like flower clusters that resemble foxes tails. These structures have sharp points at one end and microscopic barbs, so that they easily move in the direction of the point, but not the other way. Foxtails slip easily into holes, but their tiny barbs make them difficult to pull out.
Foxtails cause problems for all breeds. If your dog has thick wooly hair, foxtails embedded in the coat will eventually burrow through the skin and into his body. For dogs with short hair, foxtails get started in between the toes and burrow into the feet. The following are common foxtail problems:
Nose foxtails: pawing at the nose, severe sneezing, and possible bleeding from the nose. Symptoms sometimes diminish after several hours, becoming intermittent.
Ear foxtails: tilting and shaking the head, pawing at the ear, crying and moving stiffly.
Eye foxtails: squinting the eye, redness and swelling, and mucous discharge.
Throat foxtails: swallowing repeatedly, stretching the neck, gagging and coughing.
Feet foxtails: licking excessively, redness of the toe web, possibly a bump or draining tract.
If your dog shows any of the above symptoms, schedule an appointment immediately. In addition to causing pain, localized abscesses, and infection, foxtails can migrate and lodge in the lungs and other internal organs making major surgery necessary. Even then, foxtails don’t show up on x-rays and are sometimes impossible to surgically locate and remove.
Prevention goes a long way
v Keep your dog out of fields with long grass.
v Keep your lawn trimmed, and free of weeds and brush.
v Examine your dog daily. Brush its hair, feeling for any raised areas out of the ordinary that may be harboring a foxtail.
v Check the ears, armpits, and groin area daily.
v Have long-haired dogs clipped short in the spring & summer and keep the hair between the toes clipped short, making it easier to locate foxtails.