Grass Seeds

[Nellie]

Cool - might stock up just in case our girls get any more!

thanks!!

[entity]

hi all,

my 15 month old greyhound got a seed or something simular in his side ,

a lump devloped like a small ball ,

took him to the vet had it operated on couldnt find anything , stitched up sent home ,

a few week later lump up again , back to the vet , yet another operation in the same area ,

result still nothing found , back home he comes , a few weeks later the lump comes back ,

by now i have the shits , with the vet ,

so we are off again , this time to a different vet , one of the best greyhound vets here in vic ,

operation number three , again in roughly in the same area he is cut open , again nothing found ,

sent home , each time he has been given anti biotics etc ,

some three weeks later the lump is back again , and bursts open , starts to heal , a little ,

i then give it a course of antirobe tablets , it heals up looks ok now ,

last week it swells up again , and again bursts open with a weeping small hole in his side ,

i just dont know what to do now , i cant spend money on a pup for ever ,

i have tried to help him , but seems like im fighting a loosing battle ,

any more ideas would be appreciated ,

entity

[Toohey]

Hi Entity,

there is something lodged in there still by the sound of it.

I had something similar happen with one of my dogs. Developed a swelling, had surgery and they could not find anything.

The wound continued to weep and I took her back. This time they opened it right up and left drains in and still didn't find anything.

I thought it had healed, then 6 weeks later noticed it was weeping again. I had a look and a poke and almost immediately a huge soggy brown grass seed fell out of the wound. It had worked itself out from where ever it was hiding. The wound of course healed, and no more problems.

If your boy's abcess has been thoroughly explored and washed out, I think you may have to just wait it out and see if the same thing will happen. I would not put him through any more surgery. If he tolerates it, try to clean the wound every day with some salt water or betadine, and wipe the hole opening to keep it open so it can drain. Perhaps some sort of poultice might help as well.

Is he sore at all?

[sheree_e4]

Hate to scare you but I am a vet nurse and we had a dog come in with what we thought was most likely a grass seed,we opened up the lump but could not find anything.We then rang the owner for permission to take x-rays which she agreed to.

After devoloping the x-rays I saw the strangest thing I have ever seen - It was not a grass seed but a sewing needle!

It had travelled from near his elbow to near the shoulder,we actually had to "look" for it as it had travelled so far.

My advice is find a way to get the dog to the vet,maybe arrange a payment plan...........I know GE money do credit cards for pets.

[entity]

shree,

its not a matter of getting him to the vet ,

he has been there quite often lol

but with out any results ,

entity

[entity]

hi toohey,

no he is not sore , and still likes to run every day ,

he is easy to handle , and put what ever on the wound ,

its just frustrating not being able to fix it ,

all the others in his litter are now ready to race , and he hasnt even been broken in yet ,

ill try what you have suggested ,

but there must still be some thing in his system causing the problem

entity

[Poodle wrangler]

I used a warm flannel with salty water for our dog's abscess on the face.

For foot, I'd soak the whole paw in an ice cream container with warm, salty water. Squeeze it gently if there's pus/fluid.

If it's an abscess, keep it moist and open. If a scab forms it only hides the developing infection underneath and as it gets worse, you just don't see it.

Perhaps muzzle the dog if it's so painful for him.

Betadine probably hurts like hell.

[Gomez the Norfolk]

What does a grass seed look like?

Anyone have a photo?

[Toohey]

Betadine probably hurts like hell.

Betadine is the antiseptic of choice for open wounds, and as someone who as dressed many open wounds using it, I can tell you it is not painful.

Entity, if you can get a syringe, you could even try flushing out the wound with some betadine or salt water. It might help dislodge whatever is in there.

Let us know how he goes please?

[Silverblue]

I too was going to suggest flushing it out with warm salty water.

When one of mine had a grass seed the vet told me to open up the lump & syringe salty water into it.

After a couple of days the grass seed came out.

[Sheridan]

Old thread but wanted to add that bear in mind the grass seed might already have travelled away from the lump area by the time the lump comes up.