“Dogs who are curious about other animals or protective of their people or territory are most likely to get quilled,” Gorman tells The Dodo. The North American porcupine has over 30,000 quills and about 700-800 barbs (a hook-like formation at the top of the quill). The mantra that is quietly repeated around a group of vets working on a quill dog is “Please, dog, do not have opened your mouth”. It was one of the scariest things Peggy Gamblin had ever experienced. Once at the hospital, the dog will most likely be sedated or anesthetized, as well as given medication for the pain. Because of this fact, it is highly recommended that dog owners avoid walking their canine companions in locations where porcupines are known to frequent or are commonly sighted. Records show that quills left untreated for over 24 hours may increase the risk of an abscess that requires drainage. An abscess is a localized buildup of pus that occurs in a dog or cat when bacteria penetrate tissue — usually as a result of a fight or minor injury. Repeat encounters are common. Porcupine Quills and Dogs - How To Treat Your Dog - YouTube An abscess pocket is filled with pus, which is in essence an accumulation of dead bacteria and dead white blood cells that have been mobilized by the body to the area in order to inhibit and eliminate bacterial growth. Porcupine quills are large, stiff hairs and are hollow, like a feather. In this VETgirl online veterinary CE video, we discuss the use of a Pleur-evac in a dog with spontaneous pneumothorax. Many instances of porcupine quills in dogs can require a follow-up visit. A porcupine may have up to 30,000 quills. Porcupines don't throw their quills, but the spines are held only loosely in the skin and drop out when ejected by agitated skin or a lashing tail. “He is doing better.”. ©2020 Group Nine Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. If any piece of quill is left behind, the body will respond to it and likely create an abscess. If your pooch tangles with one of these spiky critters and ends up covered in quills, take him to the vet. A porcupine has over 30,000 quills covering the body. Porcupine Quill Removal. Those silly enough to bite down on the poor porcupine get a MOUTHFUL of quills. If you discover quills sticking out your dog's muzzle, it’s best to seek veterinary help immediately. Longer daylight hours and mild evening temperatures mean that dogs often stay outside later, explains Dr. Jennifer Gorman, a veterinarian at DoveLewis Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Hospital in Portland, Oregon. Records show that quills left untreated for over 24 hours may increase the risk of an abscess that requires drainage. Sometimes they abscess, which sounds like what is happening with you. The proper removal of porcupine quills, which can become embedded in the face and body of your canine, is best done by your veterinarian while your pet is under anesthesia. Sometimes all the quills can't be safely removed, and a doctor will have to monitor the dog afterwards to watch for signs of infection. If your pet escaped with only a few external (outside the mouth) quills, you may be able to remove them yourself.. First restrain your pet, then, using hemostats or pliers, grab a quill as close to the skin as possible and steadily pull the quill out. may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. “Since quills carry bacteria, infection and abscesses are a serious risk,” Gorman says. And last but not least: Make sure your dog is up to date on his rabies vaccination! Granuloma or abscess formation would most likely cause delayed clinical signs, while direct organ trauma would generally be observed as an acute presentation. We have 4 dogs who just tussled with a porcupine much to their detriment. There were a couple that are under the mucosa completely or one or two that have broken off and are unable to be completely removed. This factor allows for a thorough check of the body and an easier removal process. Items are sold by the retailer, not Wag!. “But if a dog approaches a porcupine, the animal may defend itself with the swipe of a tail. However, Gorman recommends keeping an eye on your pet even after the vet has given the “all-clear.”. Either just rooting about in the wrong place or truly spurred on by the prey drive, dogs usually get whacked in the muzzle with the quills. Quill injuries caused by the African porcupine, Hystrix africaeaustralis, are not unusual in southern Africa. It should be noted though, that dogs often do not learn from the first encounter with this animal that porcupines are best avoided. Geometrical features of the North American porcupine quill and analysis of the penetration and removal forces with muscle tissue. Secondary complications can result with improper or incomplete removal. Cases of abscess, unknown migration of a quill, or multiple visits due to the sheer number of quills received are not common, but possible. A pet who is under a general anesthesia will be completely relaxed and pain free. 1995; Yanofsky, Bonneau & Breton 1986). the quills are hairs with barbed tips on the end. To keep your pets safe this summer, make sure your dogs stay on their leash during walks in the evening and monitor any outside playtime. “Quills can also get stuck in various dangerous locations around the body, including the pet’s eyes, joints or organs. And don’t worry about the porcupine who had the run-in with Bullwinkle — she can regrow her quills. Many instances of porcupine quills in dogs can require a follow-up visit. Porcupines can carry rabies and transmit it to dogs. The past three days i have found a total of three under his chin! When your dog has been quilled by a porcupine you will generally hear them whining or see them licking the infected area. Will these just abscess and pop out like a splinter or do I need to be doing some thing else? An abscess is a collection of pus in any part of the body that, in most cases, causes swelling and inflammation around it. Fig. This dog had a plant foreign body granuloma in the medulla oblongata that was imaged on magnetic resonance. Most animals need to be sedated and the tissues removed semi-surgically to ensure the entire quill is out. If the abscess is not open and draining, surgery may be needed to allow the pus to drain out and for us to clean the wound thoroughly. If a curious dog happens to be on the receiving end of that tail, she will get a face full of quills, ranging in size from 1/2 inch to more than 4 inches long. DoveLewis Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Hospital. Porcupines may be seen on their search for nourishment out in open spaces, or can be discovered when a curious canine pokes his nose into a porcupine den. Symptoms. It will be helpful to the veterinarian if you can provide the time of the incident because a long delay in removal may have allowed some of the quills to become embedded in the skin, or to even have worked their way out of sight. Porcupine quills can be very difficult to remove, as they can burrow under the skin. While most porcupine-related injuries are not life-threatening, waiting too long to treat the situation can have unfortunate consequences. Dog owners who take their companions into forested areas of North America may encounter a porcupine on occasion. Don’t try to pull embedded quills from your dog’s mouth. So how do dogs actually get “quilled” by a porcupine? As Gamblin found out, it’s not uncommon for dogs to have run-ins with porcupines — especially in the summer. In order to avoid complications like loss of tissue, scarring,  and secondary infection, porcupine quills must be removed as soon as possible by a veterinarian. The trouble is, quills keep moving inward. I worry about the ones near the eye, as these may migrate closer to the eye, and cause some real problems. In addition, there may be cases where a small incision needs to be made in the skin in order to remove the quill. Dog Abscess Symptoms. What may not be easily seen is the path that a quill can take upon migration if not removed quickly. “It’s important to monitor your pet for behavior changes or discomfort several days after treatment, just in case any of the area becomes infected or any quills remain stuck under the skin," Gorman notes. “Contrary to popular belief, porcupines cannot ‘shoot’ quills from their body,” Gorman says. While it may be tempting to try removing them yourself or cutting the quills shorter, that can often do more harm than good. Thank you for your email. The quills come off very easily and usually end up sticking to the dog’s face.” The prickly rodent is pretty passive when it comes to defending herself. Even though a porcupine loses some of its quills, it can still strike again. Once your dog is under anesthesia, the veterinarian will be able to take a close look at the entire body to determine exactly where the quills are located. As you make your way to the hospital it will be helpful if a family member can accompany you or drive you there while you comfort your pet and prevent him from rubbing at his face. Use a firm tool like pliers. Stop the dog from pawing his face.. Identification of an intra-cranial intra-axial porcupine quill foreign body with computed tomography in a canine patient. 1. “Contrary to popular belief, porcupines cannot ‘shoot’ quills from their body,” Gorman says. Pressure on the quills can result in breakage, and this can cause the quills to be more difficult to remove or may enable the quills to migrate inward, deeper into the skin and tissue. Gamblin rushed her pups to the vet, where it took over an hour and a half to remove hundreds of quills. Saw the dog months later....he was fine. ANSWER: The best way to remove porcupine quills is simply to pull them out. Cellulitis typically results from deep pyoderma, which is any bacterial infection that affects the lowest layers of skin. *Wag! Depending on the condition of your pet when he arrives at the clinic, his age, and his health history, the veterinarian may do basic blood tests to evaluate your pet’s health condition and to guide the team as to what sort of anesthesia (local or general) will be used to facilitate the removal of the porcupine quills. Covered in soft hair, the quills are concentrated on their backsides where they lie flat, but if the little animal feels threatened, her spikes rise to attention. All dogs had a chronic draining tract or abscess. Bullwinkle, a Boston terrier, is on the mend, but he's still recovering from the unpleasant encounter. Contact your veterinarian for an appointment as soon as you realize that your dog has become the victim of porcupine quill exposure. It is common that a b ite wound, laceration, or other puncture that then becomes infected causes the abscess. It depends on the severity, but the quill removal can take several hours. “It was very scary and we are still going to the vet once a week because he got a staph infection,” Gamblin told The Dodo. I have removed almost all of the quills. “Quills have tiny barbs at the end, like a fishhook, which makes them difficult to remove and actually causes the quill to keep moving deeper into the dog’s skin tissue or muscle,” Gorman explains. Primarily nocturnal animals, it is not uncommon to see these animals during the day. I hope that Akil is okay. The quills he said would desolve in time. The pus inside the abscess is an accumulation of dead bacteria and dead white blood cells which the body releases to inhibit bacterial growth. Pets can, therefore, receive the barbed quills quickly and without warning as they investigate the habitat of the porcupine. When threatened, a porcupine usually just sweeps its tail, and the intruder ends up as a pincushion. As well, the likelihood of removing all of the quills is significantly higher if we are working on a cooperative sleeping patient that is not wiggling and squirming with anxiety and pain. Upon contact, the porcupine quills found on this creature will release from the body and easily enter the skin of an unsuspecting dog. 20 quils in the face with some broken off inside the face of the dog, how much would it be to get them out been in his face for 3-5 dayside is in pain and his face is also swelling. “But if a dog approaches a porcupine, the animal may defend itself with the swipe of a tail. Contrary to popular belief, the porcupine does not shoot his quills. If the dog has a mouth full of quills it is off to the vet. When Gamblin found her dogs cowering in pain the next morning, there was no question who won the fight. Prices for the cost of removing porcupine quills from the face of a dog vary widely from a few hundred dollars to a few thousands; the length of time since the injury will mean that there is more swelling than if you had rushed to an Emergency Veterinarian within an hour, plus possible complications from secondary infection etc… your location will also have a bearing on cost. Leaving the quills in for some time before making a veterinarian visit is not recommended either, for the same reason. ... (1991) Porcupine quill in the brain of a dog. The most common area for a dog to get quilled is — duh! Fortunately, most cases of porcupine quills in dogs will involve the straightforward removal of the quills under anesthesia. porcupine quill), neoplastic mass, etc. Porcupine quills can puncture the skin and move through muscle, ultimately penetrating into body cavities and internal organs. Prompt removal will be the goal as quills have the ability to migrate fairly quickly into the tissues of the skin, and are known to become more rigid as time passes, increasing the risk of breakage during removal. Cheap insurance to perhaps save your buddy's life. Surgical removal of an eye (enucleation) may be necessary if the porcupine quill has penetrated the eye and caused damage that can be dangerous. (B and C) FE-SEM images showing the microstructure of the quill tip and base, respectively. Tongue lesions in pets are typically not recognized unless acute injure results in bleeding or the inability to eat food normally. Cases of abscess, unknown migration of a quill, or multiple visits due to the sheer number of quills received are not common, but possible. Symptoms will vary depending on where the quill entered. Gorman recommended minimizing your dog's movement on the way to the veterinary hospital, and keeping his paws far away from the quills. Although radiographs were obtained in five of the six dogs, no foreign bodies were identified with this modality. You'd think one nose full of quills would be enough to put any dog off his curiosity about porcupines, but some dogs never learn. Drooling / Head Shaking / Mouth Salivation / Pain / Seizures / Shaking, Accumulation of Air Between Chest and Lungs, Bone Inflammation (Hypertrophic Osteodystrophy), Quills protruding from the eyes, nose, face, trunk, limbs, neck and oral cavity (palate, gingiva), Porcupines are known to be active typically at dawn and dusk, These animals forage for food and mate more often in the summer, The direction of the barbs makes it difficult to remove them, Quills can move into the brain, though a rare occurrence, The porcupine can release tens to hundreds of quills into the body of another animal, Improper removal of a quill can lead to tissue damage and further trauma. Porcupine quill removal must be done by a qualified veterinarian due to the difficulty of the procedure. Introduction. An abscess is an infection that opens up into a pus-filled pocket. From 344 quotes ranging from $800 - $3,000. He cut them off with wire cutters next to the surface. A porcupine quill … Immediate Action. The barbed nature of the quill will make it too difficult to pull out with your fingers. Be warned: The pus inside an abscess can be stinky stuff. Surgical treatment of a ruptured bullae is considered standard of care. Grasp the quill as close to the entry-point as possible. Because of those nasty barbs, you'll need to work firmly but delicately to prevent the quill from snapping off. It is very important that we get every single quill out! The porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) is a nocturnal quill-bearing rodent common throughout North America (1,2).Porcupines are often found in forests and shrubby ravines ().Quills cover the entire body of the porcupine ().When threatened a porcupine will face away from its aggressor with erect quills and slash at the attacker with its tail (). Keep an eye out for swelling, abscess, or signs of infection during the next few weeks. Regards Dr Callum Turner DVM. The quills come off very easily and usually end up sticking to the dog’s face.”. My uncle was a Bushman Hunter Trapper in northern Ontario. This is typically due to a bullae, mass, abscess, foreign body migration (e.g. Once your pet is home from the clinic, be certain to monitor him for days to weeks afterward, watching out for behavioral changes or discomfort, in the chance that a quill migrated within the body before removal took place, or in case a point of entry happens to become infected as a secondary complication. © 2020 Wag Labs, Inc. All rights reserved. (D) Fluorescence image enables visual delineation of the geometry of single barbs. Learn more about porcupines, quills, and dogs and what you need to do if your dog is "quilled" by a porcupine. The outside is coated with keratin, the same hard material in fingernails and scales, but they feel soft when laid back against the porcupine’s body. Acker has one patient who’s been in nine times for quill removal. Pet owners need to be aware that toys and other products that should be safe, can and do unfortunately result in tongue and oral injury to dogs, cats and other small animal pets. I basically paid two vets who billed me 180.00 to walk around half hammered and legit poke around and didn't care.. they yanked out what they only wanted and told me the bill and to go home and come back if there were more. “Trying to remove the quills without medical expertise, sedation and pain relief medication can be very painful for your dog and potentially result in an infection or abscess, as quills carry bacteria.”, Dog versus porcupine: dog 0 - porcupine 42 (give or take a few). I have heard that porcupines can throw or shoot their quills to defend themselves. Today I've just yanked out one and now am worried there might be more because there's a small bump. all wive's tales. Quill entry in an ocular location is possible as well; if this is the case with your dog, the veterinarian will be able to perform a thorough examination and call in a specialist if need be. Depending on the nature of the injury, it can result in serious complications, which is why it’s important to have your dog treated as soon as possible.”, A post shared by Casey (@casecase10) on May 5, 2016 at 12:13pm PDT, The good news is, once your pup is quill-free, recovery is usually fairly quick. Abcesses commonly occur on the skin as the result of a puncture wound and can also occur in the mouth at the base of a tooth. She will check all areas including inside the oral cavities, between the toes, the chest, and areas where the fur is thick. The quills have barbs that appear smooth upon entry but are designed by nature with backward barbs, making removal difficult at best. Pyoderma is a blanket term for bacterial skin infections. A single porcupine can have upwards of 30,000 quills, making the gentle herbivore a fierce enemy when frightened — and Gamblin’s dogs found out the hard way. The effects of porcupine quill removal can be felt immediately upon entry into the skin. When you arrive at the clinic, the veterinary team may ask questions pertaining to the health of your pet, such as recent illnesses or behavioral changes. Porcupine quills are commonly found embedded in the muzzle, face, head, and neck of dogs, but can be found anywhere. A dog with a pulmonary abscess might show signs like coughing or difficulty breathing. The needles are released as contact is made. One of his dogs got hit by a porcupine. Porcupines, on the other hand, have a much more severe weapon: quills. During the night, her two dogs, Bentley Nicole and Bullwinkle, had gone wandering around her property in Brown County, Texas, and encountered a porcupine on their turf. Because the quills carry bacteria with them, once they penetrate the skin they can serve as a source of infection and abscesses. Improper removal of quills can lead to secondary complications and also result in extreme pain for your dog. If your dog has a lot of quills or may try to bite as you remove them (it can be painful), then bring them in immediately to us or an emergency veterinarian for removal under anesthesia. An abscess is a collection of pus in … A review of the literature revealed that some other cases of intracranial foreign bodies, vegetable and nonvegetable, have been described, but in different locations. Addie, a beagle who ran into a porcupine on a hike near her Oregon home. Most country vets will sedate a dog, pull out all of the quills, look way, way, way down their throat and give a shot of antibiotics for under $100.00. 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