# Possible foxtail inhaled!



## Newf (Jul 13, 2010)

I think my dog may have inhaled some foxtail seeds. Unfortunately I cant get him into the vet until 5pm. However the girl at the desk said a round of anti inflammitorys(sp?) usually does the trick. Or if I want they can go straight to a scope to look for it but they didnt think it was necessary. 

Any of you folks have any experience with foxtail? What do you recommend?

Im thinking to go straight to scope and see if they can find the seed and pull it out before it migrates somewhere and causes more trouble.


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## Pete (Dec 24, 2005)

The girl at the desk is she a blonde

I take the dogs in every time they run over the stuff and have a sneeze that doesn't entirely cease. So far foxtail,cheat,or squirrel have been removed each time..
They have to put the dog under a little . I am very fortunate ,my vet is so reasonable I no longer dread the amount of trips needed through out the season.

Get it checked


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## labguy (Jan 17, 2006)

I had a dog inhale a foxtail spear at a trial when he picked up the go bird. He started violently sneezing to the point where he couldn't finish picking up the rest of the birds.

I was walking him off line and another trialer told me to pour Pepsi (any kind of soft drink that has carbonation) into his nostrils.

I held his nose upright and another person administered the Pepsi. We did this two or three times and each time he snorted a bunch of material out. 

I took him immmediately to the vet who scoped him and nothing remained lodged in his sinuses.

The theory with the carbonated soft drink is that it somehow binds the barbs on the foxtail back onto the shaft so that the dog can expel it through sneezing etc.

I was told that for this treatment to be effective you needed to do it immediately after the dog inhaled the object before it went too far into the sinus cavity.

Maybe some of the Veterinarians on the site will add light to this.

Good luck with the dog................I'd get him scoped right now.


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## Russ (Jan 3, 2003)

I know it sounds gross, but we always have a small can of pepsi in the car and if we think a dog has inhaled a foxtail, we put the Pepsi in our mouths and blow it down the nostrils. Generally, Florence has been around and does the honors


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## kjrice (May 19, 2003)

Russ said:


> I know it sounds gross, but we always have a small can of pepsi in the car and if we think a dog has inhaled a foxtail, we put the Pepsi in our mouths and blow it down the nostrils. Generally, Florence has been around and does the honors


The Pepsi Challenge?


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## savage25xtreme (Dec 4, 2009)

Russ said:


> I know it sounds gross, but we always have a small can of pepsi in the car and if we think a dog has inhaled a foxtail, we put the Pepsi in our mouths and blow it down the nostrils. Generally, Florence has been around and does the honors


Had to do this up at Jayhawk this year. I don't see how you could get the coke in there with_*out*_ a mouth to snout injection.


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## pupaloo (Jan 6, 2006)

Absolutely have them scope. You want that thing out of your dog. Our dog inhaled a seed of some kind upland hunting. By the time we got him to the vet (maybe 10 hours? we were far out into the bush) it was already so far into him they could not get it out, even with a flush of his lungs. It worked it's way out at the end of his ribs and he had a huge abscess. Fortunately he survived. Friends' dogs have not been so lucky. Nothing to fool around with!


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## JusticeDog (Jul 3, 2003)

The anti inflammatories are a good idea. I had a tracking dog that got a bunch of stuff up her nose. She started sneezing repetitively. But, by the time we got to the vet, it was swollen to the point we couldn't get a scope down her nose, or into the cavity from any direction. We had to medicate to get the swelling down. Then, she had another round of sneezing, and sneezed a barbed grass thing onto my bed.... sneezing stopped. No more issues.


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## Kelly Greenwood (Dec 18, 2008)

typically the dog goes into a sneezing fit that will last quite a while .... not just 5 or 10 minutes, after the coke or pepsi they will continue to sneeze for 5-10 minutes then taper to a stop. Taking the dog to a vet right away can give them time to scope and retrieve, waiting till 5pm may then require surgery, the nasal passages of dogs are very very convoluted which is what gives the dog the surface area for all those scent receptors. It may be too late to scope it at 5pm Foxtails can move very quickly in the respritory tract or it may imbed itself in the nasal cavity and you may get lucky.


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## Billie (Sep 19, 2004)

Have not heard of the pepsi idea. Would think that shooting fluid in there could be inhaled into the lungs-. I have baby oil in the trucks . A few drops f that in the nostril lubes it up and softens the FT. I"ve run this by a vet and he concurred it to be a good idea.


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## Keith Stroyan (Sep 22, 2005)

Newf said:


> Im thinking to go straight to scope and see if they can find the seed and pull it out before it migrates somewhere and causes more trouble.


Better safe than sorry. (See AVATAR - second surgery after 7 months of various treatments.)


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## Newf (Jul 13, 2010)

Quick update-
Vet didnt find any seeds/awns. However his throat is scratched and blistered so the vet thinks he may have swallowed the stuff. Doing a round of anti inflammatories anyway. But if he starts sneezing or anything its straight back to the vet again.


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## Rodney (Sep 16, 2012)

Is foxtail a problem on the east coast of the US ?


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## DogsandHorses (Sep 30, 2012)

Is foxtail a problem in the deep South? I'm in Louisiana, near south Arkansas and East Texas. The foxtail issue sounds AWFUL!


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## Terri (May 28, 2008)

I have my dog's foxtail hanging on the frig. It is the most expensive art work I own. She got a foxtail while she was airing before a training day. She was sneezing and blood was everywhere. I did not know where the vet was located since I was out of town. Lucky for us I found a nice Beagle owner who showed me the way to his Vet. I'm glad I got her in because that thing is big and could of cost much more than what it did.

Terri


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## wayne anderson (Oct 16, 2007)

I also have heard that saline solution works well, squirted into nostrils. Keep a bottle of it and smail "squirt" bottle in my truck.


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## 3blackdogs (Aug 23, 2004)

I have a sterile vial tucked up in a kitchen cupboard containing what I not-so-fondly refer to as the world's most expensive grass awn. I went through this a couple of years ago with Blaze, much of the story has been posted on the board. 

The synopsis: Blaze apparently inhaled a grass awn (so we were able to conclude much later after gadzillion blood, urine, tick and other exotic panels, spinal and joint taps, and ultimately major abdominal surgery to remove and flush the oversize abscess that had formed.) After CT confirmed it, it was shown that the awn had traveled through lung, diagphram, and set up shop in the long abdominal muscle, intraperitoneal, ran along aorta, around ureter, over hill and dale until it hit the end of the trail at the back end. 

Symptoms: Blaze was intermittently sick for several months, fevers, stiffness, elevated white count, would go away with antibiotics and recur when treatment finished. He ultimately crashed and almost died, rushed to UW Vet, hours of surgery to locate and flush/remove an enormous abdominal abscess caused by a grass awn - and because it stayed "internal", his intermittent illness lingered, made diagnosis very difficult and he kept getting a little worse with each episode. And would have killed him if we hadn't been aggressive in getting a diagnosis. Okay, read that as Lydia being a giant pain about wanting to find a root cause. And it almost killed him anyway. 

Between the time he started getting sick to diagnosis was several months. But the surgeons estimated, given the size and length/track of the abscess, that it had been going on for 4-6 months prior. So add in the surgery recuperation and slow steady therapy and PT to get him back to even thinking about training.... it was at least 10 months lost - but at least I didn't lose him. Training can be replaced, Blaze can't be. 

Foxtails aren't the only enemy. We in the upper midwest (and far beyond that) have to deal with Canada Wild Rye - unfortunately a cover crop that is very popular amongst wildlife preserves, prairie restorations, etc. It is a wonderful cover crop that will grow in just about all soil types and climates, and is very inexpensive. Unfortunately it has the insidious characteristics that make foxtails so dangerous - the micro spiny barbs that allow the awn to go only in one direction: forward. 

It's been posted before but worth noting again, there is a website, www.meanseeds.com, that chronicles The Grass Awn project. There is some good information regarding identification of the culprit botanicals, what to look for, treatment etc. If your vet doesn't see a lot of field dogs, make sure he/she is aware of the potential danger of an invading grass awn. Jeff tells people to watch for what he calls "the head banging sneezing" - where the dog is sneezing so violently and frequently, that they're almost (or are) hitting their head on the floor. That's a big warning sign and not to be ignored.

I carry eye flush and wound flush with me, and make it a routine activity to flush the dogs eyes after running in training or trials, especially this time of year. Doesn't make me popular with the herd when they see me approaching with the walgreens generic eye flush bottle. But they have learned that my squeeze bottle and I will not be denied, so surrender is the better part of valor. 

Hadn't heard of the cola treatment.... Do I dare close this well-intended post by wondering about the merits of making my dog snort coke??? (groaner......)


Good luck.


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## EdA (May 13, 2003)

DogsandHorses said:


> Is foxtail a problem in the deep South? I'm in Louisiana, near south Arkansas and East Texas. The foxtail issue sounds AWFUL!


The worst offenders are the Western foxtail and Canadian ryegrass, the former found in California the latter in many states, especially the upper Midwest. Additionally there are many grass seeds which dogs can inhale and while not migratory they can cause local problems in the eyes, ears, nose, throat, and lungs. In the south problems occur most often with cool season grasses that mature and shed seeds in May and June.

For more information visit www.meanseeds.com


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## Jamee Strange (Jul 24, 2010)

Dr. Ed- what do you think of the coke or carbonated beverage in the nose remedy that people have mentioned???


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## EdA (May 13, 2003)

Jamee Strange said:


> Dr. Ed- what do you think of the coke or carbonated beverage in the nose remedy that people have mentioned???


I've blown in air and flushed with saline but never heard of the carbonated beverage cure. It would certainly be worth trying although I might use club soda rather Coke or Pepsi.


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## Kelly Greenwood (Dec 18, 2008)

The reason for coke is it does several things, it collapses the foxtail because it contains water, it keeps it collapsed because once something is coated in coke it is very hard to get off, it contains bubbles (CO2) that help move th9ings around in the nose and also help with the sneeze reflex, and it has a PH of about 3 (it is an acid), which helps start breaking down the fibers in the foxtail and making them a bit more pliable. It is also pretty free of bacteria due to how they make and bottle/can it.

Club soda is a much less acidic drink but varies depending on how much salt or sodium bicarbonate is added which reduces (up numerically) the acidity of it. Club soda also does not coat things well.


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## Codatango (Aug 2, 2009)

I hate Pepsi because it seems more carbonated than Coke. (Best use for a Pepsi in my opinion!)
If hospitality people buy it for clubs, we can't seem get rid of all the leftovers, even for free.

But in a pinch, any carbonation right away is better. Just blowing in the dog's nose also makes them continue to sneeze. Right at the line, asap, soda, blowing, whatever, looks like the thing to do!
I appreciate the descriptions as to what the soda does to the foxtail !

Would using mineral oil be a good or bad idea if the dog is still sneezing after using the blowing/soda 'method'?

Debbie Tandoc, CA


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## Codatango (Aug 2, 2009)

Before I ever started field work, I had to visit a vet in the foothills of northern CA during an agility camp (ear hematoma issue) and was thoroughly IMPRESSED at the display of about *12 types of foxtails* in a frame behind glass in the vet room! 

Living in suburbia, and doing nice clean sports like obedience and agility, I never had my dogs in foxtails, even to air. (They were show goldens with lots of coat and I wouldn't want nasty stuff sticking to their coats, so it was natural to stay away from weedy areas!)

Debbie


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## Kelly Greenwood (Dec 18, 2008)

One thing that is helpful if in an area with any foxtails and you need to air is to give the dog a bumper to hold while they are airing, the obvious is to not air where there are any foxtails. Also when any are around have a cotton loop type beach towel in the dog box/crate, foxtails tend to be attracted to this type of material (if you have ever walked through a field of foxtails wearing sport socks you know just how well).


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## JS (Oct 27, 2003)

So what is the exact technique for blowing Coke into a dog's nose? Do you take a mouthful and just force it in mouth-to-nose or do you pour it in and then blow?

Would it work to just squirt in in the nose via a squirt bottle?

JS


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## Codatango (Aug 2, 2009)

Thanks for giving me a another reason to have a towel on top of my golden's bed in the crate! I usually tell people it's to help him dry in the 1.5 hours it takes to get home. Now I won't sound like a weeny. It does help me mentally connect that if I see debris that's fallen out, that there is probably more nasty stuff stuck still.
Esp. a cockle burr that he's pulled out - I may as well check for the 'other' one he that hasn't bothered him yet.

Debbie Tandoc


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## labguy (Jan 17, 2006)

JS said:


> So what is the exact technique for blowing Coke into a dog's nose? Do you take a mouthful and just force it in mouth-to-nose or do you pour it in and then blow?
> 
> Would it work to just squirt in in the nose via a squirt bottle?
> 
> JS


I held the dogs nose upright and had someone else pour liberally. I did this two or three times just to make sure. The dog typically shakes and tries to avoid but inhales enough to do the job. Good thing it was a Lab or I mighta got bit.

It's messy but it seemed to do the trick in my case.

Don't know if this the "correct" technique or not. If I had no one else around I would take a mouthful and blow it up the dogs nose. I'm sure a squirt bottle would do the trick as well.


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## Russ (Jan 3, 2003)

We put the cola in our mouths and blow it into the nostrils with our lips sealing the snout. I think it gives more pressure to the cola and moves the fox tail around while coating it. I do not if a squeeze bottle would have the same effect.


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## EdA (May 13, 2003)

New additions to my medical stuff, one turkey baster and one bottle of club soda


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