With summer fast approaching I thought that I would write about a subject which comes up each year.  I am talking about grass seeds and the problems they can cause. I don’t know if all owners are aware that dogs can have grass seeds pierce their skin and end up travelling through their body. 

I am writing this to share my experience in the hope that it might make a few more people aware of the damage they can do. I’m sure you have all come back from either a walk or a days working with your dogs and noticed spear grasses caught up in there coat.  This is obviously soon rectified by either taking it off or coming it out, but are you also aware that some spear grasses and grass seeds can pierce the skin and travel through the body?.

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On Vacation!

The Pet Travel Scheme (PETS) is the system that allows pet dogs (also cats and ferrets) from certain countries to enter the UK without quarantine as long as they meet the rules.   It also means that people in the UK can take their dogs (also cats and ferrets) to other European Union (EU) countries, and return with them to the UK.  They can also, having taken their dogs to certain non-EU countries, bring them back to the UK without the need for quarantine.  These rules are to keep the UK free from rabies and certain other diseases.

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Urinary incontinence, or ‘urinary sphincter mechanism incompetence’,is the involuntary passage of urine and is most commonly seen in bitches.   There are many reasons for incontinence, and these are most simply grouped under two headings – ‘congenital incontinence’ affecting juvenile dogs and bitches and ‘acquired incontinence’ affecting the more mature animal.

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This is a topic that is hard to swallow.  Sorry!

Coprophagia– isthe scientific term for a dog eating its own or another animals stools!   There are thought to be two main reasons for this behaviour – one is the adult dogs eating the puppies faeces to keep the communal den clean and to prevent scent attracting predators;  the other is the belief (not shared by everyone) that the stools may contain the valuable nutritional vitamins B and K.

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Parvovirus is a viral disease that was recognised for the first time in 1978.  There are two types of Parvovirus.

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PSS is a congenital disorder which means “born with”.

At or around the time of whelping the blood vessels within the foetus must close. 

The puppies’ liver should then start to work normally. 

If the blood vessels fail to close then the blood is shunted around the liver rather than through it, hence the name “liver shunt”.

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Tottie was always a little bit “nice but dim”, she had a bad start with a Mum that was careless to say the least. Some bitches just never really settle into the maternal role and Tottie’s Mum certainly resented the time spent cleaning and feeding the squirmy little babies. I went to visit the litter five days after they had been born, to cut a long story short, I came home with three tiny Spinoni wrapped in a blanket in an apple box……

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Please take time to check your dogs over thoroughly every day for grass seeds. Quite a few dogs have been reported in the last couple of weeks with grass seed injuries.  These can quickly enter the body and cause swelling and pain for your dog, not to mention a large vet bill if surgery is needed to locate and remove them.  Feet, legs and ears are particularly susceptible.

Read what happened Lisa Thompson’s Beryl last year by clicking on the Read More button . . .

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Tina Scott owns Luna (Hochopepa Bette Davis Eyes at Doucamtia) and she has written to ask us to alert other owners of the danger of dogs ingesting pine needles.  So if you walk in an area where pine trees grow or have one in your garden, please be aware of the dangers.

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