Remimax Posted December 14, 2020 Report Share Posted December 14, 2020 woke up to a limping spaniel sunday morning after a hard days rough shooting day before ,good inspection of paw showed no thorns or obvious puncture wound. she walked to the house fine night before and after the usual hose down ,drying and grub i had put her away. by dinner time sunday it was looking seriously swollen and she was off her food so called family friend whos a vet. he was home teatime so off we go to see whats going on .his examination revealed a puncture wound going in lower down and then coming out by the dew claw. infection had set in so the suitable medication was started. he thinks blackthorn is the cause never seen an infection get so aggressive in such a short length of time ,anybody else had this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agriv8 Posted December 14, 2020 Report Share Posted December 14, 2020 2 minutes ago, Remimax said: woke up to a limping spaniel sunday morning after a hard days rough shooting day before ,good inspection of paw showed no thorns or obvious puncture wound. she walked to the house fine night before and after the usual hose down ,drying and grub i had put her away. by dinner time sunday it was looking seriously swollen and she was off her food so called family friend whos a vet. he was home teatime so off we go to see whats going on .his examination revealed a puncture wound going in lower down and then coming out by the dew claw. infection had set in so the suitable medication was started. he thinks blackthorn is the cause never seen an infection get so aggressive in such a short length of time ,anybody else had this. Talking to the vet about pips scratches and sores see thread - Vet said blackthorn is particularly nasty and asked if there was any chance she had caught herself on any! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted December 14, 2020 Report Share Posted December 14, 2020 Black thorn punctures can lead to pretty awful infections. I have seen serious cases in dogs, horses and my own knee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remimax Posted December 14, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2020 everydays a school day ,if its not clearing by wednesday evening he's talking about opening it up to clean it out. got a decent size hole by the dew claw now so have been told to massage the **** out and keep bathing in warm salty water to keep it open. she's just thrown her tea up which i was warned about could happen with the antibiotics. fingers crossed we can get the better of it sharpish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agriv8 Posted December 14, 2020 Report Share Posted December 14, 2020 I had no idea until about this until 5:15 this evening - good luck for your dog. regards Agriv8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WalkedUp Posted December 14, 2020 Report Share Posted December 14, 2020 Happens a lot sadly, the dogs find them very painful. When badly swollen and you put pressure on the foot they pop and air with gunk flies out in a steady stream for some time. Mine end up on antibiotics frequently and lots of bathing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
London Best Posted December 14, 2020 Report Share Posted December 14, 2020 It’s so common, I don’t think I’ve ever had a dog that’s not had a blackthorn infection at some time or other. I have had a few myself too, and they really are the worst splinter you can get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remimax Posted December 14, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2020 thanks for the heads up, will hopefully be more on the ball if it happens again . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardigun Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 People used to die from Blackthorn infection, before antibiotics were invented. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 Only once. My old choccy lab started licking his front paw the day after a shoot and I had a look. Couldn't see anything untoward. Still doing it the next day so ran him into our local big animal vet and he had a look and found a 1 inch blackthorn stuck in between the dogs toes and by then it was swelling. A gentle probe with some tweezers and he pulled it out, gave him another jab and told me to keep and eye on it for the next week but it cleared up very quickly. He said I was sensible to bring him in as another few days and the foot would have turned septic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinj Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 Having read the above and my working dogs having had first hand experience with blackthorns it makes you wonder why any self respecting shoot would plant the stuff in the first place, this is one of my favourite gripes along with barbed wire fences (the bottom strand should be non-barbed.) With a little thought and no extra cost, a lot of this misery could be avoided. Agreed that it's a native plant and almost unavoidable but they still plant it in new hedgerows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 3 minutes ago, martinj said: Having read the above and my working dogs having had first hand experience with blackthorns it makes you wonder why any self respecting shoot would plant the stuff in the first place, this is one of my favourite gripes along with barbed wire fences (the bottom strand should be non-barbed.) With a little thought and no extra cost, a lot of this misery could be avoided. Agreed that it's a native plant and almost unavoidable but they still plant it in new hedgerows. Agreed. No one in their right minds includes Blackthorn in the planting list for hedgerows. Not only does it cause animals all sorts of illnesses but the plant throws out suckers at an enormous rate. These have the effect of widening the hedge and are virtually impossible to eradicate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinj Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 19 minutes ago, JDog said: Agreed. No one in their right minds includes Blackthorn in the planting list for hedgerows. Not only does it cause animals all sorts of illnesses but the plant throws out suckers at an enormous rate. These have the effect of widening the hedge and are virtually impossible to eradicate. And when they smash it with a flail you get spines all over footpaths and headlands, it's a real pain in the **** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
London Best Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 But sloe gin is sooo nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loriusgarrulus Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 The big problem is most fences and hedges are planted or built by the farmer, not the shoot. Designed to keep livestock in and trespassers out. Unfortunately it has the same effect on anyone legitimately using the land who doesn't necessarily use the gates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agriv8 Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 Second shout that in the right place fine as I have 3 large jars that would not be making sloe gin - The shoot I attend has none that I have seen in all the years and surprised I have never had a adverse reaction when picking But a Moscitoes bit me and my whole arm swells up ! how the patient ( dog ) ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agriv8 Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 A pint or two brewing ready for Christmas presents ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remimax Posted December 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 23 hours ago, Agriv8 said: I had no idea until about this until 5:15 this evening - good luck for your dog. regards Agriv8 thanks she's on the mend, infection under control and she's perked up a fair bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
figgy Posted December 16, 2020 Report Share Posted December 16, 2020 Got a thorn in my forearm of a hedge earlier this year. It swelled as they do sometimes, gave it a squeeze as I could see a black dot. Only got blood out, still got the dot, looks like a tattoo dot, every once in a while it gets a small lump and I try to squeeze it out. It will come out eventually, as it was a mixed hedge I was cutting not sure if Blackthorn it Hawthorn spiked me.. My dog got a hell of a lump on his head off a thorn where the skin kept growing. Nearly all was removed, still got a lump but it's not growing. This I was told is off a thorn. Some awful problems off them, espy when dirt and stuff gets into the puncture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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