Grass Awn
Grass awns are deadly dangerous for your dog.
Grass awn. The height of many dogs lines up well with the location of the seed pods on the grasses and contact with the grass allows the sharp lightweight grass awns to stick to the dog. Grass awns from weeds like cheatgrass and foxtail first become attached to a dog s coat while running or walking through these tall grasses. Awns are characteristic of various plant families including geraniaceae and many grasses. An awn is a hairy or bristle like appendage growing from the ear or flower of barley rye and many types of widely growing grasses.
Aristida is distinguished by having three awns bristles on each lemma of each floret. The problem with grass awns is that they are difficult to be located. Some patients will present with swelling and pain just behind the last rib which is a common location for abscess formation. If the grass awn passes through the chest or abdomen clinical signs can be vague such as decreased performance exercise intolerance lethargy fever and weight loss.
The signs associated with grass seeds and awns depend upon the location of the grass seed. If grass awns are not removed in a timely fashion they will lead to the formation of painful abscesses which need regular drainage of fluids. The name aristida is derived from the latin. In grasses awns typically extend from the lemmas of the florets this often makes the hairy appearance of the grass synfloresce.
As nouns the difference between grass and awn is that grass is countable uncountable any plant of the family poaceae characterized by leaves that arise from nodes in the stem and leaf bases that wrap around the stem especially those grown as ground cover rather than for grain while awn is the bristle or beard of barley oats grasses etc or any similar bristlelike appendage. The genus includes about 300 species found worldwide often in arid warm regions. Oftentimes once grass seeds and awns penetrate the skin they will continue to migrate deeper into the pet s tissues. This can result in the formation of abscesses and even life threatening infections inside the body cavities.
The awn may carry bacteria as it enters the dog s body and or it may carry bacteria that are normal inhabitants of one part of the body. Whether you call them awns mean seeds timothy foxtails cheat grass june grass downy brome or any other number of colloquial names to dogs they generally mean one thing and that s trouble. In botany an awn is either a hair or bristle like appendage on a larger structure or in the case of the asteraceae a stiff needle like element of the pappus. This genus is among those colloquially called three awns wiregrasses speargrasses and needlegrasses.
Grass awns are grass seeds which are sharp sometimes barbed and have the capability to burrow into the skin of our dogs. Grass awns can be inhaled swallowed and even penetrate the dog s skin.