These plant elements have the annoying ability to end up sheltering in some natural hole of our best friend, they are even capable of going through healthy tissues and end up “residing” under the dermal structure of the animal.
The spikes have preferential destination points, among which we can point out:
1. Ear canals
The animal shakes its head frequently due to the discomfort caused by the spike inside the ear canal; the shakes, far from expelling the foreign body, cause a greater fixation of the plant structure inside, making it necessary to extract it at the veterinary clinic. If action is not taken properly and promptly, the spike can seriously injure structures such as the eardrum .
2. nostrils
The animal that suffers the entry of a spike in one or both nostrils, will present sneezes more or less continuously, with or without expulsion of mucus, with or without blood.
As in the case of the ear canal, sneezing, far from expelling the foreign body, tends to entrench it more in the convoluted structures of the nasal turbinates.
3. Ocular adnexa
Continuous blinking , rubbing the eye area with the extremities, or rubbing the face against walls or furniture, may be the main manifestation that a spike has lodged under one of the animal’s eyelids.
This situation can lead to ocular alterations of varying degrees depending on whether or not there are injuries to the cornea, and depending on the degree of incision and depth that the plant fragment reaches.
The removal of the pin must be carried out in the clinic, it is a location where it is possible to access the problem, but, due to the possibility of affecting the eyeball, it should not be acted upon without the means and capacity of the healthcare environment.
4. Interdigital zones
We are, perhaps, facing the most common location. The interdigital spikes are usually appreciated directly by the body’s reaction to try to contain the aggression (nodule), by certain levels of lameness , by compulsive licking of the area…
In many cases, extraction is possible without sedating the animal and without the need for surgical intervention in the area, but it is fair to say that, on many occasions, as we also mentioned at the beginning, the “movement” of the ear from its interdigital entrance it may require the professional to follow the fistulous tract created by the body in an attempt to expel the foreign body, and which may take the practitioner an unusual distance from the point of entry.
5. Genital areas
They are not the most common areas, but both the penis of the male and the vulva of the female are places of destination for the spikes.
In the male it is common to find spikes under the foreskin, with greater or lesser involvement depending on the number of spikes and whether or not they have penetrated the underlying tissues; In the female’s vulva we can find some reactive nodules at the entrance or the actions of the sharp spikes along the vaginal tract.
6. Any organic territory
That it can come into contact with the spike: and yes, although the natural holes that we have mentioned are the target areas of the spikes, any puncture of one of them, in any organic territory of the animal can cause its entry and the effects that we have already commented: nodules, fistulas, infections…
In these cases, locating the foreign body is usually more complicated, since there is no channel, duct or structure through which the spike runs; As happens in interdigital spikes, those that affect other organic territories will take a random path depending on the penetration capacity of the spike and the efforts of the organism to expel the foreign body through the formation of fistulous pathways.
Unfortunately, the fistulas, although they try to expel the spike, do not always succeed, and in the process, instead of taking the plant fragment out, they manage to penetrate to areas that we could hardly imagine.
We know the places of preference of the spikes, we know the symptoms that the dog can present when it enters the various points, we are clear that we must go to the clinic to solve it, but… can we avoid it?
These would be the points to take into account and minimize the risk of being affected by spikes:
- The dog groomer is one of the greatest allies to prevent the penetration of spikes in any of the aforementioned territories:
- Making “gloves”: this is what is called the haircut of the dog’s hands and feet, eliminating most of the interdigital areas; With this simple method we manage to minimize the deposit of spikes and their subsequent penetration, as well as facilitating visualization when returning from walks.
- Haircut of the internal face of the auricle: the reduction of hair in this area largely prevents the deposit of spikes for their subsequent entry into the auditory canal.
- Haircut in the areas surrounding the genitals with the same function as in the cases of “gloves” and inner face of the ear.
- And although tedious, the most important thing when returning from our walks through areas where the animal has been able to contact spikes, is to thoroughly review the most problematic areas, without forgetting a review of the rest of the organism.
Any action we take to search for and locate possible spikes will save the animal suffering and a substantial investment in clinical care.
