Poor Porter

Porter had a rough day yesterday.

We had a play date with his brother, Addison (yes, his true litter mate) at Fort Funston, the massive doggie play place at the beach. We were there for no longer than 10 minutes when Porter launched into a violent sneezing frenzy. It looked painful and he didn't look like he was stopping anytime soon.

Addison's padre quickly looked our direction and said, "That doesn't look too good. It's probably a foxtail."

Oh the dreaded foxtail. They don't mention this in the doggie user manual when you adopt a pup, but apparently it's doggie cryptonite.

Wikipedia says, "...foxtails can become irreversibly lodged [and] can also enter the nostrils and ear canals of many mammals. In all these cases, the foxtail can physically enter the body. Muscular movements (or air flow, in the case of nostrils) can cause the foxtails to continue to burrow through soft tissues and organs, causing infection and physical disruption, which in some cases can result in death."

Death? Great. Not only was Porter on his way to dislocating his skull from the wicked sneezing fit, this lethal grass was working its way to who-knows-where.

A six hour vet visit and $450 later, Porter came back to us sleepy, shaven, definitely a bit loopy...but foxtail-free.