This warning about foxtails is from Beach Drive neighbor, Sandi:
Last Friday our dog Tazi got into the foxtail plants across from La Rustica and got covered with Foxtail "spikelets". One of the "spikelets" got into his ear canal. He went absolutely CRAZY !!!
We didn’t know what was wrong as there was nothing visibly wrong so we initially thought he had been stung by a wasp or something. Then he went into a state where he just kept shaking his head and crying. We still thought it might be a bee or wasp sting. By about 5 pm, we decided to take him to the Vet and found out it was a Foxtail Spikelet that had worked it’s way down so far that the sharp "point" had contacted his ear drum. If we hadn’t gotten it removed it would have punctured his ear drum. It ended up costing over $350 to get it out of his ear and he had to be sedated because the pain was so bad and it was so close to his ear drum !!!! $85 of the cost was because we took him up Friday night to have it checked AFTER he had eaten, so we couldn’t get it removed that night because the wouldn’t sedate him with food in his stomach. We had to wait until the next day,
so there was an additional charge as well as the anti-inflammatory and pain killer medicine to get him through the night before we could take him back to the vet on Saturday Morning.
All Pet owners should be aware that this is a VERY DANGEROUS plant and it can KILL a dog or cat if it the spikelet gets into the wrong orifice (and Tazi is short hair). Sandi
Photos from Wikipedia. Click here for more information about Foxtails.
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