Recently in foxtails Category

They're starting to crop up in my yard again -- they're the horror of spring for dog owners everywhere, California's foxtails.

These weeds -- that can enter your dog's body through noses or ears or mouths or paws or just the skin in general -- can cause serious and even fatal injury to your pet, and cost you hundreds of dollars in vet bills.

Fritz, one of my terriers years ago, sniffed a couple up his nose one night, requiring an emergency vet visit after I noticed he was violently sneezing and spraying blood all over the kitchen floor.

There's no easy way to get rid of these nasty weeds once they take root in your yard. Around Southern California and in other western states, they are one of the few dreaded hallmarks of spring and summer.

Pulling them out by their roots -- preferably while they're still green -- is the most effective way to rid your yard of them. But it can be a painstaking (and back-breaking) chore.






Here are some helpful links about foxtails and the particular danger they pose to pets:

Foxtails: A Deadly Summertime Danger

A Dog Owner's Guide to California Foxtails

Foxtails Can be Hazardous to Your Pet's Health

Foxtails (which includes a description of symptoms your dog may display if one of these stickers invades his body)


And here's an earlier post from June 2009 that we did at South Bay Pets on the topic.

I did hear from a reader recently about a creative way  to protect pets from foxtails by way of a new product. But I'm not sure my dogs would go for such a thing.

It's called the the OutFox Field Guard (patent pending), a "high-tech mesh" hood that fits around your dog's head. Guess you'd still have to manually check their paws and, on long-haired dogs, the rest of their bodies for stray stickers.

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Comments welcome -- as well as any stories you have of foxtails. They're a special pet peeve of mine every year.

 

Have I mentioned recently how much I loathe foxtails?

Those little dry thistles that can wreak havoc with dogs, especially long-haired dogs, when they burrow into their skin, toes, ears, eyes or nose?

I spent this morning pulling and raking and bagging several clusters of the evil stickers to get them out of my backyard. I confess that I'd waited too long, I should have done this a good month ago when they were still green and attached to plants that can be pulled out whole.

A gardener helped me rid my backyard of the things two years ago and last year we had no recurrence. But several days ago, I began noticing them being traipsed into the house by Tess and Cowboy, who love nothing more than to hang out in the backyard all day. (Carried by the wind, they can get rooted again very easily.) It was time to take action.

 

 

I formally declared war this morning. The 90-minute battle left me with five blisters and a sore back, but with considerably fewer foxtails in the yard.

I got most of them, I think, but even a sprig or seed of one left behind is enough to cause trouble so I'll have to head out there again..Also called "wild barley," the stickers are a real hazard to dogs. They have sharp points and microscopic barbs. They bore in, not out. I hate them, hate them, hate them. They are evil.

As for amunition, what I really need at this stage is a monster outdoor vacuum that would suck all the remaining loose, whispy things up. But I'm not sure such a thing is available.

Any experiences out there with foxtails? Either with your dogs or in having found good (efficient?) ways to get rid of them? Without slashing and burning the entire yard?  

Meanwhile, I'm trying to check my long-haired dogs' coats frequently to make sure none of the weeds are lodged in there. It's especially important to check in between their toes as well, and that's not always easy. The long hair makes it tough.

But missing one could spell big trouble. I still remember the couple I met in my vet's waiting room last year whose Lab had been through all kinds of horror as doctors tried to track a foxtail that had gotten into their dog's bloodstream and kept moving when they tried to surgically extract it. Foxtails can literally be fatal to a dog if they lodge in the heart or another vital organ.

I've been lucky. So far only one of my former dogs, a little terrier mix named Fritz who has been gone several years now, has been nailed by foxtails. He sniffed two of them up his nose one evening. When he came into the kitchen sneezing violently and spraying blood, I immediately gathered him up and headed for the animal ER in Torrance where a couple hours (and lots of money) later, the vet showed me the two foxtails they'd gotten out of his nose.

My own vet tells me the best way to get rid of foxtails is to pull them out of the ground by their roots. But once they dry out and detach from their plants, as they're doing right around this time of year, it all becomes much more complicated.

I found a lot of good information on the Web about foxtails and their dangers to dogs. Read them and shudder:

• Foxtail dangers for dogs
• Dog Owners' Guide to California Foxtails
• Foxtails Are Dangerous to Dogs!
• Protect Your Dog from Cheatgrass & Foxtails
• Foxtails in California are a danger to dogs
• Foxtails (includes a good run-down of symptoms your dog may exhibit)