Dogs usually go out to take care of their body, they exercise and run about the place and they also go out to take care of their bathroom business.
But, while the dogs roam around they do not pay heed to the spiky material that lies around them. These items are burrs. Burrs are spiky balls attached to plants. Burrs are spiky and if a dog swallows them then they can be harmful to the dog. Even worse things can happen if the burr sticks to the dog’s fur. Stay hooked to know more about the effects of a Burr!
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What Should I Do If My Dog Ate a Burr?
After your dog eats a Burr, it will experience a lot of pain and discomfort in its throat. During that hard time, you should stay by your dog’s side.
It is at this time that your dog longs for companionship, assistance, care, and lots of love. Here are some tips you can follow after your dog swallows a burr.
1. Watch Your Pet Closely
If a dog eats a burr then it can be very troublesome for the animal as well as for the dog owner. However, it is not necessary to pay a visit to the veterinarian.
Take a close look at your furry friend and watch out for any wounds your dog might have sustained due to the burrs.
Look at how your dog deals with the wounds and how bad they look. Observe your dog closely for the next few hours.
Watch them carefully to notice if they are having any trouble while eating or drinking. If your dog looks fine despite the wounds then you should not worry.
In this case, do not take your dog to the veterinarian instead, wait for your dog’s wounds to heal on their own. If your dog shows visible signs of pain, then consider taking a proactive approach.
2. Take Your Dog to a Vet
After observing for a few hours, if you think that your dog’s condition isn’t improving, then it would become mandatory to take it to a veterinarian.
The vet might recommend one of the two solutions to this problem. First, if the case is less severe then the vet will prescribe a dose of antibiotics and painkillers.
This will help your dog to be comfortable while they recover. Once the burr comes out of their stomach, they’ll start behaving normally and won’t require medication.
But, this way of treatment does not always suffice for all types of cases. The burr can secretly damage the dog’s throat or other organs.
In such cases, your dog might need surgery to remove the burr along with the damaged tissue. The dog may even require antibiotic therapy.
3. Keep in Touch With the Vet Even After the Treatment
Removing the burr at once is very difficult. If the burr was huge then it would have been difficult to get rid of it at once.
To remove the burr completely, your veterinarian might ask you to visit more than once. Hence, you shouldn’t avoid those meetings.
Signs and Symptoms If a Dog Eats a Burr
If a dog eats a burr then it will certainly try to remove it from its digestive system or its fur. The dog often coughs out badly or tries to throw up in such a case.
Looking at the dog’s condition while it tries to get rid of the burr can look scary as they try to puke, cough, and can often choke while doing that.
Here, we have gathered a list of things that can happen to a dog if a burr gets stuck to its body or the dog swallows it.
1. Bleeding From the Dog’s Mouth
A burr is a spiky little ball attached to many plants and dogs often consume them unknowingly. But this spiky ball can inflict wounds on the dog’s mouth. This can lead to excessive bleeding.
2. Wounds on the Dog’s Faces
First of all, you might see some lesions appear on your dog’s face after they consume a burr. These wounds can appear on their whole face. These wounds vary in size.
3. Choking
If your dog has just swallowed a burr then it might get difficult for it to eat or drink anything. Your dog is likely to choke while it tries to drink or eat anything.
4. Discomfort During Drinking and Eating
Burr can cause a lot of wounds on the inside of a dog’s mouth making it difficult for the animal to chew onto food and drink anything.
You will be able to see the pain in their eyes when they try to swallow or drink anything. They might even hold off food and water for a while because of this pain.
5. Increase in Aggression
Whenever dogs are in pain, they are bound to get aggressive. It would be better if you stayed away from your dog after it has swallowed a burr.
Your dog may even growl or try to pounce upon you if you try to approach your furry friend after it has ingested the spiky ball.
But remember that they are behaving this way because they are in pain and are frustrated, and not angry.
How Do You Get a Burr Out of a Dog’s Throat?
A dog consumes a burr without being aware of the harmful consequences it can have on the animal. But, once they start to feel uncomfortable, they try to remove it.
Dogs often try to lick them out and remove them from their throat. During this process, they succeed in removing it from their fur and throat but often get some wounds.
You should take a small piece of bread that is dipped in olive oil or peanut butter. This helps to get rid of the hooks that get stuck in the dog’s throat while it tries to lick them out.
In such a case, this process is used by every dog owner to relieve their dog from the damage of the spiky balls. This process is authentic and it always works.
Can a Dog Still Eat if Something is Stuck in Its Throat?
After something gets stuck in a dog’s throat it becomes difficult for the little animal to swallow or drink anything. Any trauma that took place in a dog’s mouth can take time.
Spiky balls like burrs can make it hard for the dog to eat or drink anything according to their own choice. It can be very painful for your furry friend.
Hence, you should not force your dog to eat anything until it wants to. Your dog can even hold off food for some time so to avoid this you should blend their food.
You can blend the food with the help of warm water that will soften the normal diet of your dog and the dog will be able to swallow it with ease.
While your dog recovers, the veterinarian may recommend that you should provide your dog with pain relief which will help to quicken the healing process.
Can You Wash Burrs Out of Dog Fur?
Removing burrs from a dog’s fur is an easy task but it can take a lot of time. Burrs can get attached to the long hairs of your dog which can cause the fur to knot.
You will require many things in addition to water as burrs are sticky and cannot be removed by water alone. You would require a spray, a pair of gloves, combs, and more.
Now, we will be looking at the method by which you can remove burrs from your dog’s fur. Here are the steps.
Step 1: First of all, you should put on your protective gloves because burrs are spiky and they can wound you badly. Then spray a dog-safe detangler on the dog’s fur.
Step 2: Separate the tangles found in your dog’s fur with the help of your fingers. Then use a hairbrush or a wide-tooth comb to remove the burrs.
Step 3: Once the dog’s hair gets detangled, use a metal comb to remove the burrs from your dog’s hairs one at a time.
Step 4: Keep using the spray or the dog-safe detangler as and when you think that there is a need.
Step 5: This is a time-consuming process and you will have to continue with this process using gentle movements until all the burrs come out.
Step 6: After you’ve removed all the spiky balls successfully, use a slicker brush to comb the little dog’s hairs and done!
You can also check out this video for a better understanding.
Are Burrs Dangerous for Dogs?
For a dog burrs are less of a nuisance and more of a danger. Burrs can heavily injure dogs, especially their mouths and other internal organs.
1. Burrs Can Cause Sneezing (Dogs)
If your dog shows symptoms of sneezing excessively then your dog might have a burr stuck to its nose. This is also accompanied by the pawing of the nose.
However, the dog cannot get rid of the foreign material with the help of sneezing only. The dog might require help from its vet. Follow the vet’s advice.
2. Burrs Can Cause Infection
Burrs can get stuck to your dog’s skin easily and removing them is a time-consuming activity. Burrs can cause damage to delicate body parts like the nose, mouth, and eyes.
When these spiky balls penetrate the skin they cause a lesion and from there, pathogens develop and attack the body to cause an infection.
How Do You Prevent Burrs From Sticking to Your Dog?
1. Make Your Dog Wear Protective Clothes
This is the first and foremost step that you can take to prevent the sticking of burrs on your dog’s fur. Protective clothes can save your dog from burrs.
You can purchase a pair of shoes and a vest to keep your dog safe from a burr and other foreign materials.
2. Avoid Tall Grass Areas for Your Dog’s Walk
The most convenient way to prevent your dog from getting entangled in a bunch of burrs is by choosing the correct area for a dog’s walk.
Avoid walking your dog in areas where the grass is very tall as there is a high chance of burrs being around them.
Final Thoughts
We talked about the effects of spiky balls and burrs on a dog’s health and body. They can wound a dog’s mouth and other internal organs.
We should be careful with dogs and provide them protection as and when they require it. We hope that this article helped you!
