The Fatal Plant You Should Avoid on a Dog Walk To Protect Your Pet's Life

Love letting your dog run loose on a trip to the park or a hiking trail during the summer?

As invigorating as it may be to allow your dog to roam free, you'll want to be sure your pup does not accidentally come into contact with a certain plant that could be life-threatening—the foxtail.

Foxtails—named for being shaped like the tail of a fox with its seeds arranged along a tip in spiky clusters—are an annual summer grass that can be found anywhere in the U.S., but especially on the West Coast.

Dr. Gary Richter, a California-based veterinary health expert with Rover, told Newsweek: "This topic is very near and dear to me, geographically speaking, because it's very much a West Coast problem [and the plant's] high season is the summer."

The dangers of the foxtail plant were also recently highlighted in a viral TikTok video posted on June 27 by @holisticpetradio, which had 1.8 million views at the time of writing.

Foxtails are also known as grass seed awns, mean seeds, timothy, cheatgrass, June grass, Downy Brome and other local names, as explained by veterinarian Dr. Christina Fernandez in a June 2020 article for PetMD.

They are most often found on hiking trails, parks, flatlands, meadows and open grassy fields. "While they are less common in urban areas, they can still be found in areas where grass is allowed to grow uncontrolled," Fernandez added.

What Happens When Dogs Come Into Contact With Foxtails?

Dr. Linda Simon, a senior veterinarian at U.K.-based Fetched, told Newsweek: "Foxtails are rife when the weather gets warmer and I see dogs with foxtails every other day in my clinic in summertime. Most often this is a dog with a red paw lump they've been licking due to a foxtail that has been stood on and migrated into the skin."

It could also see a dog shake their head and yelp "due to a foxtail that's gone deep into their ear canal," she noted.

Richter explained that foxtail grass seeds can burrow anywhere on a dog, including the nose, ears and feet.

He said: "It takes a while for the seeds to burrow into the skin, but if your dog's all of a sudden violently sneezing or squinting an eye, that could be a sign that your dog has a foxtail and should be looked at by a veterinarian immediately."

Can Dogs That Have Touched Foxtails Be Treated?

Richter said foxtail can be "very challenging" to remove. Depending on where the foxtail is found, the pup may need to be sedated and brought into surgery.

"On rare occasions, an infected foxtail can even become life-threatening," Richter warned.

Simon noted that the arrow shape of the foxtail plant means "they can go in very far once on the 'right track'."

She said most dogs need to be sedated "to safely remove awns and may also require antibiotics and anti-inflammatories."

How To Protect Your Dog From Foxtails

Richter advised generally avoiding places where foxtail grasses are growing. If your dog has been running around where you believe foxtail may be, you should check their feet, between their paw pads, and elsewhere, he said.

Apart from avoiding the plant itself, the "OutFox Field Guard, a protective netting that goes over a dog's head, is another option," he added.

Other Plants That Are Toxic for Dogs

Richter warned that lots of houseplants and outdoor plants are toxic for our canine friends. "Frequently, plants used for landscaping are toxic as well," he added.

Azaleas, daffodils, elderberry trees, foxgloves, lilies of the valley and poinsettias "can all be at least slightly toxic to dogs," he noted.

Simon said: "Nettles are another plant to watch for as they can cause intense itching and discomfort wherever they touch."

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