removing quills from a dog

This question is too late, I already spent $715 to get quills out of my dogs' chins. They both got into it with a poor porcupine (which I'm happy to report was fine when I extracted the stupid dogs). I chickened out and took them to the vet, who sent me to the emergency vet, to get the quills removed. Murphy had 14 quills in his chin, although the photo makes it look like less. Finn had a few more.
Murphy didn't handle the anesthesia very well, he was very cold to the touch, shivering, and cried ALL night long.
Has anybody extracted these things themselves? If this happens again (I have a feeling it will), can I do this myself?

there's no way you'd want to do it yourself. your dogs will scream and bite. sedation is a good thing. But yes; people DO extract quills from their dogs. I know I'd try giving it a tug or two and then I'd chicken out and take them to the vet.

You can do it yourself. It's not pleasant, but the sooner you pull them out the better. They will steadily work themselves deeper into your pup and lead to infection if left alone.A plain old pair of pliers and a firm grip is what it takes.IMO $715 was unethical.

Oooh, poor baby. He needs a hug!

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Originally Posted by r900

You can do it yourself. It's not pleasant, but the sooner you pull them out the better. They will steadily work themselves deeper into your pup and lead to infection if left alone.A plain old pair of pliers and a firm grip is what it takes.IMO $715 was unethical.

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Yeah, I thought the $715 was pretty steep. But, it was 7 pm ($100 was just an "emergency" fee) and there were 2 dogs involved, so $350 each, which maybe is OK.
I tried to pull one from the Murph and he was obviously in pain from my attempt.
Neither dog backed off on it's own, they weren't bothered by the quills until about 15 minutes after the event, so not sure they'd be smart enough to not get into it again. I love to walk them there, but I guess I won't. At least not at dusk, that was stupid on my part.
A web search has come up with the same answers I'm getting here - Yes you can, and no you can't at about 50:50.
I'm guessing for me "no you can't" is the right answer, just because I'm a coward.
thanks,

Oh, poor babies! :( I'm so sorry all of you had to go through this.
I remember when I was young, my dog got into a porcupine fight. He had a ridiculous number of quills in his chin (I think 50 or so). I remember dad pulling them out with pliers while he howled in pain. He never did it again, but that's not to say he didn't try.

I would've done the same thing as you. It would be too hard for me to tug and cause them more pain and to hear them howl and cry.

Ouch! Not sure if you'd want to try and do it yourself. It would really depend on how bad they were and how they handle the pain. If you had extracted them you'd still need to see the vet for antibiotics and a checkup but that would be much cheaper than the emergency vet.

I helped a vet remove quills before and some actually had to be pushed through the lip and pulled out from the inside. It was not fun and the dog did have to be sedated.

I hope they are both doing well today!

Lora

I think its best left to the vet

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from wiki:

Contrary to popular belief, porcupines are not capable of throwing their quills, but they detach very easily and will remain embedded in an attacker. Porcupine quills are as sharp as needles. Unlike needles, however, the quills of New World porcupines have microscopic, backwards-facing barbs on the tip that catch on the skin making them difficult and painful to extract. Quills are about 75 mm long and 2 mm wide. If a quill becomes lodged in the tissues of a would-be attacker, the barbs act to pull the quill further into the tissues with the normal muscle movements of the attacker, moving up to several millimeters in a day. Predators have been known to die as a result of quill penetration and infection.

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i thought the quills were barbed. And it can be very painful to remove. Yes you can do it; but, at what cost either way. Pain inflicted if you did it your self or $$ if you went to the ved and had the dog anethetized.

Geeze, rash of furry baby problems lately...

Well I hope they learned their lesson. And speedy recovery.
smilingcat

Oh poor baby! He's got such an "oh damn what did I do" look.

I remember your pooch as the force to be reckoned with aka. the coyote in the fall leaves thread. Poor baby.

It reminded me of a picture that I saw a few years back. This pooch didn't know when enough was enough! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

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Originally Posted by Flybye

I remember your pooch as the force to be reckoned with aka. the coyote in the fall leaves thread. Poor baby.

It reminded me of a picture that I saw a few years back. This pooch didn't know when enough was enough! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

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Holy cow!! I'm in pain just looking at that picture! :eek:

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Originally Posted by Flybye

I remember your pooch as the force to be reckoned with aka. the coyote in the fall leaves thread. Poor baby.

It reminded me of a picture that I saw a few years back. This pooch didn't know when enough was enough! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

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betcha it was a pitbull or a pit mix....look at the blocky head and the body...and that's what makes a terrier a terrier...never give up!

OUCHY...TsPoet...You did right to take them in...you don't want to do that; it's HARD! That's what we pay the professionals for...

Also, anytime sedation is involved, extra monitoring is necessary...thus higher prices...

Yeah, I agree. Think about what it costs to get minor surgery under general anesthesia for yourself, then you'll realize that $350 for a dog is a bargain. It's almost identical in terms of expertise, drugs and equipment.

I remember when I was a kid and my dad and my uncle pulled quills out of our dog. Yeah they did it, yeah the quills came out, no the dog didn't get infected.

Besides pliers, it takes two adults (one to hold the dog, one to pull the quills) who are physically strong enough to do the holding (IMO few women would qualify, and if you've ever tried to hold your dog for a mere nail trim you know what I mean), and emotionally strong enough to hang on and/or pull when the dog screams and struggles (IMO few MEN who are not ranchers or hunters would qualify).

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

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Originally Posted by elk

betcha it was a pitbull or a pit mix....look at the blocky head and the body...and that's what makes a terrier a terrier...never give up!

OUCHY...TsPoet...You did right to take them in...you don't want to do that; it's HARD! That's what we pay the professionals for...

Also, anytime sedation is involved, extra monitoring is necessary...thus higher prices...

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Nose is too long for a pit. If I remember right that pic is a bull terrier. That picture always makes me cringe!

Lora

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Originally Posted by ibcycling

Nose is too long for a pit. If I remember right that pic is a bull terrier. That picture always makes me cringe!

Lora

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But what about that red on the flank? I don't think I've ever seen a red and white Bully....The head is so swollen any breed would look like a BT!!! Makes sense either way...it's so extreme!!!

Found her on Snopes (I love snopes:p )

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/porcupinedog.asp

If their info is correct her name is Inca and she's a Bull Terrier. There's another picture there too. White seems to be the most recognized color (thanks to Spudz) but they come in tri, brindle, black, red, and fawn. Maybe she's a brindle with too much white or a white with a splash of brindle? Who knows, just hope she recovered ok.

How are your dog's doing TSPoet?

Lora

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Originally Posted by ibcycling

Found her on Snopes (I love snopes:p )

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/porcupinedog.asp

If their info is correct her name is Inca and she's a Bull Terrier.

How are your dog's doing TSPoet?

Lora

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Compared to Inca, they've don't have any problem at all!

Murphy was pretty thrown by the anesthesia. Poor dog, every time he quite shivering I poked him because I thought he'd died! Finn was OK by the next morning. They are both OK now - we had a nice 5 mile walk and ran into no critters on it at all, very nice.
If this ever happens again, I'm going to do the same thing - I don't think I could bare to pull the quills out myself and there is only 1 other person besides me that can touch Murphy, so I'd be dependent on her holding him.

thanks for all the replies.
I don't think I'll ever get the picture of that poor quill-infested head of Inca's out of my head!

Oh, the memories that brings. No pics, thankfully.

When we lived in the exact middle of nowhere, Solomon (the stupidest dog ever) BIT a porcupine. On two separate occasions. :eek: Neither time was as bad as the pit bull, but it was bad enough.

DH & I pulled quills - probably a couple hundred - from that dog the first time. They were between his teeth, in his tongue, on the roof of his mouth, in addition to all over the outside of his face. In the end, I had to gag him with a rolled-up sheet and literally lie on top of him so that DH could wield the pliers. It was quite a rodeo, and when we were done, there was literally blood on the walls and cowering children in the bedroom.

The second time (just as bad) we wimped out and took him 30 miles into town to the vet.

Probably the quills that required the most finesse were the two that worked their way all the way through the top of his mouth and came out, looking rather like horns, on the top of his nose. Oddly, Solomon didn't like us getting near his face at that point, so it took a bit of doing on my part to get rid of those two.

Yeah, my animals have had porcupine run-ins. We don't even want to talk about the horses who have gotten a face-full.

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Originally Posted by ibcycling

Found her on Snopes (I love snopes:p )

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/porcupinedog.asp

If their info is correct her name is Inca and she's a Bull Terrier. There's another picture there too. White seems to be the most recognized color (thanks to Spudz) but they come in tri, brindle, black, red, and fawn. Maybe she's a brindle with too much white or a white with a splash of brindle? Who knows, just hope she recovered ok.

How are your dog's doing TSPoet?

Lora

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Wow! That's a great site...and I stand humbly corrected... !!! I AM a fan of that breed....but like border collies...not for me!

Sorry, wasn't trying to humble or correct you. :o I just love researching stuff and thought I remembered seeing it on Snopes. You're right that terriers don't know when they should quit. Lotsa heart and determination!

Lora

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Originally Posted by ibcycling

Sorry, wasn't trying to humble or correct you. :o I just love researching stuff and thought I remembered seeing it on Snopes. You're right that terriers don't know when they should quit. Lotsa heart and determination!

Lora

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Gosh Lora...I know you weren't...and I'm really impressed that you were able to find the story! I love having the truth!
e

Poor bully!
I grew up with a bull terrier. At the time spuds mackenzie was popular, and he looked just like him. His name was J.R., but he somehow got the nickname "Larsy"??
He was such a cool dog. He had a pet rock that he would bat around the yard with his nose. It was a big flat river rock, and he loved that thing.

He also slept on my bed with me... sigh... I miss him.
Lot's of people mistake them for pit bulls, but they are nothing like them.
I used to hate when people would see him and recoil as they said " Is THAT a PIT BULL??!".... sigh... :confused:

Poor babies- and their momma- I think everyone needs cookies- Alpo Snaps for the babies- maybe pepperidge farm for mom.

I was always told that those quills have a suction. If you cut the tip off, the suction stops and the quills come out a lot better. I guess that wasn't true.