Doesn't it just figure that when you and your dog are out enjoying a walk, taking in the trees, blue sky, heavy underbrush…maybe a nice bank or culvert…that they are going to find something gross, smelly or dangerous! If you are lucky enough for that something to be a compact, slow moving rodent covered with spines we may be seeing you sooner than later. There is no comparison between pulling quills and having to wash something long dead off the dogs neck! This time of year we can see up to 5 or 6 dogs a week with varying degrees of "ABP" (Attacked By Porcupine) although usually the "attacking" is done by the dog.

Porcupines are commonly found rodents in the Western US and on the Palouse. They eat bark and plants and like to nest in dens on the ground. As other rodents can be, porcupines are opportunistic and can quickly turn into pests, eating garbage, undersides of cars and machinery and even terra cotta pots. The quills of the porcupine are actually modified hairs that have small back facing hairs on their tips that act as barbs. Porcupines cannot "throw" their quills but when threatened the quills stand on end. This is called piloerection, like a dog with its ruff up. They swing their heavily quill laden tails and usually effectively fill the nose or mouth of their attacker with sharp spines. Porcupines are most active in the spring when their babies are born and in the late summer during their mating season. Dogs of course can get into them anytime they see a slow moving creature that they think is an easy chase since most porcupines feel no need to try to escape. Some dogs will become very aggressive with the porcupines either from the pain of the quills or the thrill of actually catching something. These dogs can kill the porcupine but in the process become severely injured by its quills.

As vets on call, when we get a message stating "my dogs just got into a porcupine" it means a trip to the clinic. It does not matter if it is 2 am, the longer the dogs have the quills the more they suffer and the more difficult it can be to remove them. Once at the clinic we will sedate or anesthetize dogs for quill removal.

Many dogs with quills are traveling in to the clinic from rural areas and can be quite bloody and frantic by the time they get here. The pain of the quills causes the dog to paw and chew at them breaking off the ends and making them even harder to get out. There is a myth that cutting off the ends of the quills causes them to fall out. This is Not True! The quills have to be grabbed by the end with a hemostat or pair of pliers and pulled out. They are as painful coming out as they are going in due to the hairs that act as barbs and they will cause tiny lacerations that can bleed quite a bit especially in the nose, mouth and tongue. The challenge is restraining a dog with numerous spines protruding from its head, neck and body. Many a technician has suffered a quill prick or two in the struggle! It can take an hour or more to remove quills that are extensively in the mouth and face and even buried under the skin. The quills will migrate deeper into the tissues and can cause serious problems if they go into the chest or abdomen. Dogs typically get quills in their faces, mouths, throats, and feet but we have also removed them from eyes, legs, chests, knees and even inside the stomach! Once the visible quills are pulled, a careful palpation of the sleeping dogs mouth, feet and body can reveal quills hidden in the hair or under the skin. Anti-inflammatories and antibiotics are usually prescribed.

It can be very difficult to remove quills from a non-sedated dog although many people try before calling us. If they are just in the nose, it may be possible but most dogs (especially those in pain) will not open their mouths and say "ahh" for quills to be pulled out (or anything else for that matter!).

So when it happens to you, just hope that your canine friend is one of the SMART ones that is not a repeat offender! Some dogs really do learn from the painful experience to leave the prickly porky alone, and some literally go out looking for REVENGE!!