Grass seeds!

[Leo0106]

So Leo's had an eventful day at the vets after presumably inhaling a grass seed or something similar last night. He spent the evening sneezing constantly and this morning it was still as bad so took him to the vets.

Vets put him under sedation to try and find a foreign object, of which they could not find but said his nostril was extremely irritated. They've told me to watch out! Incase the seed is still there... Question is what do I watch out for?! Obviously sneezing. But anything else? I've heard horror stories of the seed going to their lungs etc...

And on the note of sedation. Is it normal for them to whine consistently after sedation? it's been 2.5 hours since I picked him up and 4 hours since he came round from sedation  and if he's not sleeping, he's whining with every breath...

[its.sme]

The affects of sedation can last a lot longer than we think,  it can make them feel disorientated for a while and this might be why he is wining.

Not sure of what to look out for other then his sneezing getting worse or discharge,  a little light dinner of Chicken and rice should make him feel better, I'm sure he will be back to his usual self very soon  and wondering what all the fuss is about.

Get well soon Leo.

[bizzylizzy]

  ***** grass seeds !!! They‘re a worse plague than ticks!!
When Humphrey had one in his ear, it caused an infection and swelling and was very painful , so presumably if it is still in his nose, the effects would be the same and I don‘t think you‘d miss the symptoms and if it was causing problems breathing, he‘d most certainly be distressed.
Humphrey poked his nose in somewhere where it didn‘t belong last year and had a lot of swelling and blisters - we never did find the cause but then there‘re so many possibilities ranging from fungus spores, insect bites, etc etc, so its feasible it could be something similar (he doesn‘t sound any less inquisitve than Humph‘  ) Vet took a smear, detected an infection and gave him one antibiotic injection and it cleared up in a couple of days.
I agree that the whining could indeed be the anasthaetic but if he‘s still like it tomorrow, then I‘d perhaps go back.
Try not to worry about grass seeds in the lung - all things are possible and it has no doubt happened but I‘d imagine its a one in a million chance!!
Hope Leo‘s feeling better tomorrow! Do keep us posted!

[Leo0106]

Thanks guys. I'm pleased to say he seems a lot better this morning, he's definatly still a little off colour but he's currently at my partner's base acting as therapy dog and lapping up all the attention so he can't be feeling too terrible.

Yes bloody grass seeds indeed, I've heard so many horror stories and literally said last week how lucky we were that we hadn't had any problems yet as he loves running in long grass and sticking his head in places it dosnt belong!!!

No sneezing this morning so I'm hoping everything is all clear. They do like to make us worry!!!

[Jaysmumagain]

big hugs to Leo 

[its.sme]

Good boy Leo

[Leo0106]

What do they say about bad things coming in threes?
So after the grass seed up the nose last week, he was fine all weekend.

Last night he comes back from day care and is shaking his head non stop!! Took him to the vets this morning and a grass seed was stuck in his ear drum!! So they quickly sedated him as he was quite poorly by this point. All ok, they took out the seed and reversed the sedation... Popped him in the car and by the time I got him home (5minute drive) he was unconscious. Turned the car round. Called the vet on the way and they rushed out to meet me and whisked him away for further sedation reversal and to bring him round.

Possibly the most scary thing I've had to experience!!

Thankfully he is now breathing normally and having a very very deep sleep.

Grass seeds... Blooming grass seeds!!!!!

[bizzylizzy]

  Oh good heavens!! poor Leo and poor you!!!
Have you mentioned it to the day care centre? I know the ***** things are everywhere and its hard to avoid but if they have a place where there’s a lot of that sort of grass, perhaps they could mow it or try and keep the dogs off there....
For anyone who has experienced it, it is a constant worry as it nearly always involves anasthaetic. I trimmed the inside of Humphrey‘s ears this weekend, mainly to keep the air circulating this hot weather but I do wonder sometimes if its a good idea as it leaves them unprotected against seeds and co, - the hair does at least act as a bit of a barrier. Would be interesting to hear what others think?

  to both you and Leo!!

P.s. Did the vet know what caused him to fall unconcious again? Was the reversal not strong enough or was it just an adverse reaction? It must have been very scarey!

[Leo0106]

Oh good heavens!! poor Leo and poor you!!!
Have you mentioned it to the day care centre? I know the ***** things are everywhere and its hard to avoid but if they have a place where there’s a lot of that sort of grass, perhaps they could mow it or try and keep the dogs off there....
For anyone who has experienced it, it is a constant worry as it nearly always involves anasthaetic. I trimmed the inside of Humphrey‘s ears this weekend, mainly to keep the air circulating this hot weather but I do wonder sometimes if its a good idea as it leaves them unprotected against seeds and co, - the hair does at least act as a bit of a barrier. Would be interesting to hear what others think?

  to both you and Leo!!

P.s. Did the vet know what caused him to fall unconcious again? Was the reversal not strong enough or was it just an adverse reaction? It must have been very scarey!

Thanks bizzylizzy. His day care is actually not a formal dog care. It's our dog trainer that we've been working with since 5 months old. He basically goes every Monday as the socialisation is good for him but theyre not In a centre he basically just joins the trainer on all the dog walks etc for the day and they go anywhere and everywhere in the countryside.
Totally difficult as I guess we can never fully protect them from these kinds of things.

Ive never really had to worry about grass seeds before this past week but I have definatly considered trimming Leo's ears now. As my logic is that the seed probably got stuck in the hair around his ears initially and then was pushed into his ear when he went swimming or something... I don't know.

Vet didn't really seem to know, I have always told them that I don't think he reacts well to anesthetic etc but he's obviously never fallen unconcious with it before. I'm hoping it was just not enough reversal but it was odd because he walked from the vets to the car fine. And the minute he led down in the car he fell unconcious. He was barley breathing at one point so it was all a bit scary. And something I will be keeping an eye on in future if he does need to be sedated again for any reason!!

[Jaysmumagain]

Oh poor Leo, what an ordeal for you, glad he is ok, these cocker ears can be problematic
  to Leo

[Emilyoliver]

I trimmed the inside of Humphrey‘s ears this weekend, mainly to keep the air circulating this hot weather but I do wonder sometimes if its a good idea as it leaves them unprotected against seeds and co, - the hair does at least act as a bit of a barrier. Would be interesting to hear what others think?

My theory is that particularly with foxtail seeds, they have little barb-like bits on the seeds that grip the hair and move along the hair starnds topwards the skin as the dog moves (if that makes sense).  If the hair is short - a) you have a better chance of seeing them before they get in too deep, and b) they have less length of hair to use for getting embedded.  When i had show cockers, I clipped the inside of their ears with a no. 10 blade against the direction of growth and that definitely helped.  I also clipped under the pads and scissored the hair out from between their toes.  With the workers, I trim under the pads and between the toes.

Leo0106 - how scary!  Hope Leo is all recovered now and doesn't have any more seed encounters this summer!  I'm expecting to have a couple of vet visits with mine this summer  as my cockers are bonkers and love hunting and i can't keep them out of all and any grass all the time.  It's a nightmare.  2 visits last year, but luckily spotted the head tilt early both times and my vet was able to get them out without sedation.

[Leo0106]

Review at the vets yesterday. Leo's eardrum is still burst but not infected so a further week of metacam and no swimming. Pray for no sunshine for the week please as leo cannot bear not having a chance to swim in the sun!!!

[bizzylizzy]

Poor little fella!!! Just this second been reading a post by my vet on fb about the problems with grass seeds!! Hope Leo can go swimming soon! (n.b. remember to dry ears well afterwards aswell , another tip from our vet after Humphrey had problems after being in the water!  )
 

[PennyB]

Not just ears and nose - its under armpits and in Bosley's case last year he had one down his willy sheath - it decided to make 3 tracts trying to do whatever a seed does when it migrates and poor Boz had to have an op to remove it in the end.

Hope its all now done with

[PaulJ]

I am paranoid about grass seeds...can’t wait for Zennor’s first one