Grass seeds are common foreign bodies that can penetrate between a dogs toes & sometimes anywhere on the body. Occurring mostly in summer, owners need to be checking vigilantly especially on dogs with long hair coats.

The sharp seeds or awls are often spiral shaped, so once they penetrate the skin, can spiral their way up through the tissues, often travelling a long distance up the leg.

The site of penetration will have a hole, surrounded by red, swollen and painful inflammed tissue. The dog, or cat, may be licking the paw constantly and may be reluctant to allow examination of the paw.

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So - what can you do? In many cases, especially if the seed has been there for awhile or has travelled up the leg, surgery will be required to remove the debris (seeds often break down), flush wounds, provide pain relief and antibiotics.

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However if you have noticed the problem early, you may be able to poultice the paw for 24-48 hours, changing every 12 hours, to draw the seed to the surface for removal. Quite often applying a poultice will draw the tip to the surface. With good light and tweezers, you may then be able to remove the awl. Once removed, flush the wound with dilute betadine solution.

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HOW TO APPLY A POULTICE TO ANIMAL PAW

Materials required:

• HoneyPro Vet Poultice

• Gauze pad & Cotton wool or Soffban padding

• Elastoplast or Vetwrap

Method:

• Clip away as much hair as possible and wash area with HoneyPro Vet Wound Wash

• Apply poultice to gauze and wriggle gauze down between toes to cover swelling

• ​Wrap paw with lots of padding - REPEAT: LOTS OF PADDING, then fix with elastoplast. DO NOT wrap too tight, just firmly.

• Finish with Vetwrap and stick piece of elastoplast to hair to stop bandage slipping

• Change every 12-24 hours for 2-3 changes. If no improvement, see us immediately

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