# Vet Question - grass awn inhalation



## tracyw (Aug 28, 2008)

My lab ran through a stand of yellow foxtail about 4 days ago. She came out sneezing super hard for about 30 minutes so I know that a seed or awn entered her nose. 

2 nights later she woke me up with a horrible weezing air cough (seal bark) with a wretch at the end like she has something stuck in her throat. I kept her on the hard floor so I could see if she coughed anything up...nothing. The coughing lasted about 15 minutes with no success.

She did it again last night (twice) with nothing coming up. She has only coughed at night and has no fever and plenty of energy. (No, she doesn't have kennel cough.)

I have read about all of the complications of grass awns and foreign body infections and it has me scared to death. So, if you know your dog inhaled something, what can/should be done medically? At this point it could be stuck in her throat, windpipe, lungs, or not at all but just scratched it.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


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## ErinsEdge (Feb 14, 2003)

Why aren't you going to the vet before it becomes more serious? They can scope them and see what you can't see.


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## Jeannie Greenlee (Apr 15, 2009)

From what I have read about grass awns on this forum, it seems like the biggest danger from the grass awn is and infection. If I knew my dog had inhale one I would at least get him on some antibiotics and consult with my vet or a vet familiar with this issue right away.


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## pupaloo (Jan 6, 2006)

Go to a vet who can scope your dog and try to retrieve the awn, or flush it out if it is already in her lungs. At a minimum you will need lots of antibiotics for a long time-but if you don't get the awn out, it will likely migrate and abscess somewhere-hopefully close enough to the surface that you can see it. I know a dog who had one migrate to his heart, and it eventually killed him. Do not wait any longer-the farther they go, the harder they are to find and treat.


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## Byron Musick (Sep 19, 2008)

I sure hope your pup is okay!! Hopefully its found/removed or will come out on its own and all will be good!


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## pupaloo (Jan 6, 2006)

By the time the coughing lasts two days, it's not coming out on it's own anymore...IMO the dog should have been seen by a vet after the sneezing episode...time is NOT your friend in these cases!


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## José Nijssen (Feb 4, 2008)

Please go see your vet. A couple of weeks ago we received a message from someone who bought a pup from us. Rose had just had an operation to remove a wheat awn she had inhaled which had ended up in her lungs! Incident happened during hunting, 6 weeks! before. The same story, coughing, sneezing, got worse in the end, vet couldn't find anything, antibiotics didn't work, of course. Finally she was referred to a specialist at the vet-school. Rose is fine now, thank God. 

Will post the picture the vet took below, WARNING: it is not a nice picture, I hope you can stomach it. The awn, it was 6 cm long. After seeing that, you will definitely know what action to take. I hope your dog will recover very soon.

All the best,

José


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## dogcommand (May 22, 2003)

Personally I would have had my dog at the vet that first day. One of my dogs scooped up a bumper and in the process picked up some awns that had been mowed. Off to the emergency vet and fortunately they were caught in his tonsils.

Hope your pup is ok.


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## tracyw (Aug 28, 2008)

We spent all of Friday at the vet's office. It was a pretty scary day for all of us. The vet told me that it was too soon to see the awn or seed on an X-Ray because it will not show up until an absess forms around it. However, that is where we started. The X-Rays revealed that phenomia has already set in. 

Zucker was then anesthetized and scoped. The scope revealed a very irritated and ripped up nasal cavity; however, everything else (tonsils, throat, epiglottis, and trachea) was clear and undamaged. The conclusion was that either the object left through the nasal passage or is in her lungs. 

She was put on 2 anitibiotics and a steroid and complete rest to clear the phenomia. It will be a waiting game to see if the awn/seed forms an absess or was already coughed or sneezed out.

I do appreciate the advice but still do not feel that every time my dog sneezes during training I should rush her in to get scoped. Sneezing, even for 20 minutes, to clear an obect is not too unnormal and happened a few times a year for us. I became alarmed when the wheezing and coughing occurred after the sneezing (2 days later). I was trying to prepare myself for what the vet would do with experience from others who have been through it. I do appreciate the advice I received and the picture of the removed awn. Thank you all.


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## Byron Musick (Sep 19, 2008)

Tracy, Prayer's and well wishes sent for Zucker!! Get well!!


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## MooseGooser (May 11, 2003)

I'm glad things seem to be OK, but keep a close eye on her.
I agree you cant run off to the Vet each and every time a dog sneezes, but what you can do is not put the dog in a situation where she is can pick up dangerous grass awns.

We out here, avoid cheat grass and foxtail like the plague. Never train where it is prevelent. Hunting, I understand is a different story, but YOU still have the responsiblity to watch the dog

Glad things are better, and you went to the vet. 
My dog Bailey and I just went through this same thing. We almost lost her. Huge abcess, Major weight loss. It happened in a matter of less that 1 minute. I was watching her also, but took my eye of her for just a secondat the truck, and She found a patch of cheat grass and decided to roll in it. 3 days later her Face was the size of a cantalope!! Took three weeks for the abcess to break the skin, and luckly the vet found the seed when he lanced it.

Gooser


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## Lynn Moore (May 30, 2005)

Tracy, people are just trying to help. If you know the dogs have been through foxtails, and then are sneezing, the vet can help. 
Our dog, Brook, went through several cases of what was thought to be pneumonia, before an MRI at UC Davis (God bless that school!) revealed that the foreign object was in fluid around her pericardium. Open chest six hour surgery, and they pulled out a pound and a half of nodules and a lot of fluid. She did have a full recovery, and has gone on to great things. 
There is no more rolling around in the grasses allowed anymore though.
Better to be safe than sorry, and spend a lot of money!


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## Montview (Dec 20, 2007)

I actually had an interesting case earlier this year at the hospital where I was working- a 1.5 year old rottie came in a week prior to his scheduled neuter due to constant sneezing, though it had stopped about an hour after it began. The owners didn't want the dog to have to be put under twice so opted to monitor him closely and have us check his nostrils out while he was under for his neuter. A week later, after his surgery, I poked an otoscope cone up his nostrils and removed 5 foxtail awns out of his left nostril. The dog hadn't sneezed at all after his initial episode, and it had been a week! It makes me wonder what would have happened if they were left up there, as may happen with other dogs whose signs disappear. I know of one case from back in vet school (Pullman, WA- land of grass awns, wheat, and hunting dogs) where a dog came in with severe seizures and had to be euthanized. On necropsy, they found a grass awn in his brain with a visible tract travelling back to his nasal passages. Very sad- It certainly scared me about what grass awns can do! BTW, in the rottie's case, he picked these up in his own yard.

I think it is important to know, as owners of hunting breeds, just how serious grass awns/foxtails can be. It is scary but we really need to be aware of what can happen.

Tracy, I'm glad that you got her in for testing and that her pneumonia is being treated. Prayers for a quick and thorough recovery! Please keep us updated.


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## Byron Musick (Sep 19, 2008)

I just took pictures of a new training grounds I went to today, I was so pumped. Then after spending some time I realized how challenging it would be to train there without possibly having the very same thing happen with awns, etc?? It is so hard for the first timer to know which things are dangerous and what are inoculous (sp)... The whole thing makes me afraid to train and hunt, I need a better education of all the things that go sticking to ya, what is cool and what can kill.... Is there a school??


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## Keven (Oct 25, 2003)

Oh, Tracy - thoughts and prayers to you and Zucker. I am so sorry to hear about this and hope she is through the worst and is all well and back to normal in no time.


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## jackh (Oct 14, 2010)

sorry but what is an awn? is it a seed head from a particular kind of grass?


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## Montview (Dec 20, 2007)

http://www.bouldervet.com/site/view/156563_PlantAwns.pml


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## Marissa E. (May 13, 2009)

Sorry to be reading this; I sure hope Zucker is doing well and continues to improve by leaps and bounds.


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## Steve Hester (Apr 14, 2005)

Thoughts and prayers for you and Zucker coming from Texas!!


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## tracyw (Aug 28, 2008)

Thanks everyone! Today, Monday morning, appears to be a much better day! She seems to look like her old self again. Fingers crossed for continued improvement!


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