Grass Awns Making an Early Presence in North Texas Lawns - Protect Your Pet

Another victim of "grass awns" today.... It seems that some of these guys have already started to dry and are attacking pets again. While in the Western United States, pets and veterinarians deal with these on a daily basis, we only see them occasionally.  Most commonly, they affect pets' interdigital spaces.

But they can literally show up ANYWHERE as seen in this patient today in which they were in her armpits.... OUCH!!

Sometimes we are able to pull them out easily in the exam room and sometimes a short surgical procedure is indicated to locate them.

These photos are from my iPhone of the awns after they were removed.

I honestly don't know what these awns look like in the "field" even though I have a strong interest in gardening and plants in general. I did find the below website that details those found in the West and given the common characteristics of grass, I bet ours look similar.

http://www.csupomona.edu/~jcclark/dogs/foxtails.html

http://www.meanseeds.com/the-bad-grass-list/

If you have time to research the topic, try a web search for "MRI, grass awns, dog" for an entertaining few minutes....

Animal Hospital of Rowlett