Cheatgrass: Grass Awns, Hunting Dogs, and Climate Change

Grass awns are sharp, barbed seeds that are dropped by annual grasses like cheatgrass, Canada wild rye, and foxtail that work their way into animals’ skin and continue to move inward. They can also be inhaled. If not caught soon enough, a seed can dig through the skin into the subcutaneous layers and will eventually work its way into the chest cavity or other parts of an animal’s body and do serious damage—sometimes killing the animal.

“Their sharp edges can lodge into tissues and they can cause local wounds that have obvious plant-foreign material in it, to actual deep infections under the skin to things such as infections along the spine and the muscles; to even infections within the chest where pus will set up and eventually cause enough inflammation to create fluid, and that fluid will eventually restrict their ability to breathe,” Vega explained. “Your dog isn’t going to look at you and tell you it can’t breathe. If there’s fluid preventing the lungs from expanding and getting enough oxygen, your dog’s respiratory rate and effort may be increased more than usual, it may be panting more frequently, and may become lethargic, restless, or less tolerant of exercise.”

Vega further explained that grass awns are a “zebra” or a rarity among differentials at her practice in West Virginia. This, however, can vary depending on the region the doctor is practicing in. An example is Dr. Joe Spoo, a veterinarian based in South Dakota, who sees the damage grass awns do frequently.