You might remember last week I was moaning about foxtails and pets? To refresh your memory, here is what a foxtail looks like:
Why are foxtails so dangerous for animals? Because it attaches itself to the hair or fur, then corkscrews up the hair shaft and the sharp tip on the end will easily penetrate the animal’s skin. It continues to travel inside the animal’s body and can eventually be fatal.
Despite a daily grooming regimine of all my pets to avoid this, one got by me and embedded itself into poor Rex in a dangerous location near his abdomen:
So, off to the vet we go once again. Unfortunately, our house is completely surrounded by billions of foxtails. We eradicated them near the house, but Rex still manages to find them.
Rex will need to be on antibiotics. Then we get to play the game with Rex about how to get him to take it. After years of practice, I now use hot dogs to hide them in, and even then, I will give him 3 pieces that are ok and when his guard is down, I slip it into the 4th one.
I’ll let you know how Rex does later today. If someone know how to eradicate foxtails, or which pre-emergent works the best on them, I am all ears!
Rex Update: Good news and Reason #235 why I’m not a vet: It wasn’t a foxtail, instead the wound was caused by a stick (meaning Rex plopped his large body on a sharp stick). Once the vet shaved the area, you could see clearly that it was more like a tear than a foxtail hole. Good news!! This meant no surgery- only a $65 dollar vet bill- and antibiotics. Poor Rex is recuperating and so is the vet. It took 4 of us to hold him down, did I mention he weighs over 100 lbs?
PS: I still HATE foxtails, though…. LOL!
regards, Carla
Carla Barrett 
Poor Rex! He was just trying to have a little fun.
Poor Rex! hope he does well thru surgery and after. As for the foxtail….hope you find a way to permanently get rid of it.
My poor pup is sick with a local mosquito born illness, which will be with him forever…what I do with the pills works well for him…you see he is very very greedy, so I stuff the pill WAY back on his tongue, where it is almost swallowed, then close his mouth. The instant his mouth is closed I put a nice smelly treat up against his nose. He forgets all about the pill, swallows so he can open his mouth then gets the treat. Works every time, for now! Sorry about the foxtails…
Check with a farm supply store and see what they would recommend for the foxtails. What I could suggest to use here in IA, may not be legal for use in CA.
I use the hot dog trick with my babies too!
Wishing Rex a speedy recovery!