Well, crud. Here I sit ... waiting ...

[Jane Hurl]

for Gravol to kick in so I can take probably 300 quills out of one of our dogs' face. He got it within an eighth of an inch of his eye, in his ear and a whole mouth full.

Drat! Just a few days ago I found a porky out in the yard and was having so much fun playing with it. Then I shooed it under the fence so it would go back to the ravine where it belonged. (Did you know that porcupines don't "shoo" very well? But they're quite amusing, if you're careful around them.)

So it's Grey Cup weekend ... the game starts in 40 minutes ... and here I sit ... waiting on Gravol. *sigh* No Grey Cup party for us this year!

Editing to add: PS...I'm using Gravol because a friend of Rose's said it works to knock them out. I've never tried this before ... and half an hour later, Bubba is still looking at me! If anyone has a better idea, please let me know.

[PattiB]

Save the quills and make jewelry out of them! Hopefully your dog learned a lesson not to mess with them again. Painful :cry:

[Jane Hurl]

This is Bubba's SECOND go 'round with the quills. First time, about two years ago, he got 171 quills ... and held still while I pulled each and every one out. This time he's got at LEAST twice that many ... and he is not in a mood to put up with me and the pliers!

He went into the ravine with one of our other "Great Whites", a male named "Shy Guy". Shy was quilled about 6 months ago and, obviously, he remembered because he came home clean this time!

Anybody got any other ideas for sedating?

[CarolU]

Reminds me of my Blue Heelers. They didn't learn...getting hurt only pi$$ed them off. They'd attack next time with a vengence...and again and again. I had one that would attack the blow torch. Not good at all.

I can't think of any anesthesia you can give a dog safely. Perhaps call your vet and see what you have on hand and the dossage they recommend. I keep Ace around, but not sure if/how much you would give a big dog.

Good luck!

[Bonnie LR]

Anbesol? If it can numb gums....
Caesar got a face full this summer--but I do believe he has learned his lesson like Shy Guy--lots of porkies around, and he is a chase it and catch it first kinda guy. I also just took each one out with needle nose pliers while he sat and waited. Hopefully the lesson takes. Good luck with Bubba! By the way, Eskies won anyway, lol.

[hast]

Ouch, poor guy :shock: hopefully he has learned this time.


HTTY

[PattiB]

We gave Ace to one of my Aussies during thunder storms, only took 1/2 cc for her. Gave her 1cc the first time but she was still groggy the next day.

[Jane Hurl]

Well, I'm here to tell you Gravol doesn't work. Bubba fought tooth and nail ... well, not quite, but it's difficult to pin down a squirming 125 lb dog! Bubba still has a face full of quills. The vet is coming by the door later this morning and will drop off a needle that I can give him to knock him out.

Poor Bubba. He's a sorry, sorry boy. (At least 'til next time!)

This must be the same porcupine that I was playing with the other day. They are interesting little critters. If you walk around to one's side and speak, it will shuffle its butt toward you. Walk to the other side and speak, it shuffles again. Touch the long guard hairs and it flips its little tail at you. I rather enjoyed playing with it...but I think I'll go find it today, box it up and move it further into the forest.

Editing to add: what is this "Ace" stuff? And where does one go to purchase it?

[sherry k t]

Good luck on getting your dog to leave them alone. my aunt had a large mixed breed who after got nailed the first time hated them all the more and ended up with quills a number of times. Lots of vet bills.

[Buffy111_99]

Did you cut the end off the quill? If you do, they will deflate and are easier to pull out.

[PattiB]

Ace is acepromazine. A tranquilizer usually used on horses.

[Jane Hurl]

I had to go to the vet on this one. Bubba was a mess. Vet gave me a sedative that didn't QUITE knock him out, but made him really, really dopey. He tried to fight the process, but he'd pass out, more or less, and then come back and twitch away for a while, then pass out again.

All in all, poor Bubba had 232 quills in his ear, cheek and mouth. That's a "personal best"! *grin* Last time it was "only" 171 quills! Hopefully this is the last time!

Now I think I'd better go find that porcupine and move him (her?) further into the forest!

[dana]

cutting off the end of a quill usually will only increase the problem. i had to call the vet before pulling them out of two horses.
by cutting the quill short, you are trying to break the suction in the hollow of the quill. but the problem with breaking the suction is you have to cut it very close to the skin most times to release it and you run into the problem of the quill being sucked deeper into the skin instead. was sure glad i only had to pull 20-30 on each horse. Ugly Job!

dana

[Buffy111_99]

Well this is certainly not my experience nor my Vet's experience. I had a young horse with 130 quills in her nose! You are not supposed to shorten them - just clip the end so the quill will release the air inside and they pull out easier! I was told to do this by my vet. It took us 3 hours to pull the quills from her nose. She was a 2 yr old and we never had to tranq her at all doing it this way.

[Barbwire]

232 quills!?!?! Cripes, that's a lot! That must be one sore doggy.

[Pasomom]

Good grief! Poor little guy! I can just imagine how sore he is!

YOU be CAREFUL moving the quill thrower! Although he may not have any more quills to throw right now! I don't know that much about porcupines since we don't have them down here that much.

[Jane Hurl]

*lol at PasoMom* "Poor LITTLE guy"!

Bubba is half Turkish Akbash, a quarter St. Bernard and a quarter Newfoundland. He is anything BUT little! Actually, he's almost the same size as my mini stallion! Gentle as a lamb, but HUGE! But, yes, he's a hurting unit. The skin around his ears is raw from all the quills. They were thick in there, like hair!

Porcupines aren't very swift moving. They don't have to be! *grin* When I was trying to herd that one out of our yard, it took forever to go a whole, whopping 40 feet! Then it hung around under a spruce tree for at least 5 hours! I'm thinking that sloths move slower ... but not much! Catching him (her?) won't be a problem.

[Pascale]

Ok, first of all, porcupines do not throw their quills - that is a myth. Quills are simply a modified hair, and they are loosely attached to the skin. When a porcupine flips it's tail, or whips around quickly, they can and do fall out, but they are not shot out. In order to get seriously quilled, you have to actually make physical contact with the animal (I worked with them for 14 years - I picked them up - I've had LOTS of experience and contact with these guys).

Also, with over 20,000 quills, they simply don't run out of quills. A porcupine is best moved by getting a large enough box (I prefer a dog crate, like a vari-kennel) and cornering it somewhere that it cannot climb. Then it's only choice is to go into the kennel. They'll spin around and make a fuss, but unless it catches you with it's tail, you aren't in too much danger. Jane, I know you know all this :)

Good thick leather gloves and very thick pants are not a bad idea (I worked gloveless and in shorts - not recommended, but my porky's were hand-raised and only flipped their tails or raised their hair if startled badly). I mostly got quilled when stupid people washed their food bowls in a soapy sink, and didn't remove quills from the dish first, and they would be laying at the bottom of a sink filled with water and I didn't see them (yes, I did rip people new ****'s for doing that - poor interns, but it HURTS! Interns were notorious for leaving knives in sinks in likewise fashion - let's just say they never did it twice).

The worst part of working with hand-raised porkys was when we had a male (Bob). Courting behaviour of a male porcupine included urinating on the female - and he used to try to do that to US! Nothing stinks quite like male porky urine (oh, it doesn't wash off well either).

And while porky's don't move all that fast, they can amble away at a speed that might be surprising to some, although they prefer to just hunker down and use their inborn weaponry.

Jane, I'm actually jealous a bit - I wish I could be there to help you wrangle it. I miss working with porcupines!!!! I wish I had some pictures of "Ouch" - the little female I first worked with. She lived 14 years - an amazing lifespan for a porcupine, in or out of the wild.

[Bonnie LR]

That is an amazing amount of quills--Caesar only had about 60 and thought he had suffered an attempted murder, lol. I think he is not likely to get that close again--he has a low pain tolerance and a good recall for a stupid idea that hurt previously, lol.

There are a lot of porcupines here, but it is really sad that there is also a lot run over on the roads. Since they "hunker down" when feeling threatened, they do not realize that defence just doesn't cut it with vehicles. Saw about 7 or 8 dead on local roads this year.

[Jane Hurl]

"Ouch"! *giggle. snort. lol.* What a PERFECT name for a porcupine!

But, Pascale, I don't think you really DO want to come wrangle this little fellah. It's only about 10F out today. Brr-r-r-r-r. If he doesn't come up to the yard, I'm NOT going down into the ravine after him!

And, a dog carrier, you say? I'd not thought of that. I was going to use a cardboard box. No, I think I'll still use the cardboard box because we have two sizes of carriers. One is big enough that I could crawl in and sit up straight once inside. The other is for a cat.

I had to laugh at the little porcupine's face. Cute as a button, even though he was annoyed with me annoying him!

[baileyholc]

I am sorry give him a hug for me.