You'd be hard pressed to find cactus around here in Owyhee. It exists, but not so's you'd find enough to stick your nose in it.
Except for Bodie. He found it, and stuck it where it hurts - his nose, which he uses for just about everything - eating, sniffing, feeling.
Even if the horse held still, you obviously don't want to try pulling it out with your bare hands, because the other spines will stick in your skin. You don't want to try pulling it out with gloves, because even if you get a grip on it, you'll probably poke it further in, or poke other spines in his nose.
Best is to use a comb, and rake it over the area quickly, flipping the whole cactus piece out. Fortunately I haven't found any single cactus spines in any of the horses. These can be a nightmare to remove, often requiring veterinary sedation and subsequent treatment, as many people living in Arizona have probably learned.
Bodie hardly knew what happened, and right after I swept the cactus off his nose, I gave him a good (much appreciated) scratch.
Ouchers! That looks painful. Lucky you discovered it before he did more damage trying to scrape it out himself and maybe pushing it in more.
ReplyDeleteOuch, that looks painful! Taking it out with a comb is an excellent idea. Doubt I would have thought of it.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have much trouble with cactus spines, but our dog did have one interesting porcupine incident. It took awhile to pull out all the spines with a hemostat.
porcupines - yeeouch!
DeleteOuch those things are painful. I know this from personal experience picking them out of my kids when they were small. One daughter actually sat on one and ...well you know what happened.
ReplyDeleteGlad you flipped them out and he's feeling better.
We've never found cactus in any of our horses. I think the dogs occasionally get a spine in their feet that they deal with themselves. I definitely watch where I'm walking.
ReplyDeleteThe dogs got some nasty stickers in their paws in Arizona. Cactus is a mess, I'll grant you! I think I'm going to pull out the roses in my yard and put in plastic flowers to avoid pricks. (I know. I said pricks.)
ReplyDeleteand now we know where the term prick came from!
DeleteThat's an Owyhee owie!
ReplyDeleteOK that's hilarious!
DeleteUgh... painful photo! Poor boy! We had a Scottish Terrier with us in AZ one year, my mother-in-law had put a cactus in a coffee can - he stuck his nose in... enuf said - trip to the vet etc. Glad you removed it so easily!
ReplyDeletepoor baby!
ReplyDeletePoor Bodie,I wonder where he found the cactus.
ReplyDeleteSarah Holloway