The Great Sandbur Incident of 2010!

Field sandbur (grassbur) is a summer annual grassy weed that can be found in home lawns, sports fields, parks and along roadsides. This weed is especially adapted to dry, sandy soils but can be found growing in other types of soils as well. The big problem with this weed is the sharp, spiny burs that are part of the inflorescence. These burs can be painful and are difficult to remove from clothing material. 

 I hate sandburs! Friday my cat came home covered in these nasty little guys. I mean covered. From time to time my big fat orange cat will have a few in his tail but Friday it was horrible. I heard him crying on the back porch, and he wouldn't stand up or make any movements to come inside. As I got closer to pick him up I saw...I cried. He was in so much pain. I put a towel over him and carefully picked him up and brought him inside. I grabbed the scissors and kitty comb and went to work. The easiest way to get them out was to pick them out, but the problem was they were in his skin, not just his long fur. I worked for about a half an hour and my fingers were puffy, itchy and swelling up. I noticed my cats face was swelling up and quickly called the vet. He advised me to bring him in and have him tranquilized and shaved, but not having an extra $200.00 around left me with option two. Give the cat a Benadryl (vet gave dosage amount) and shave him myself. Let me tell you, shoving a Benadryl down a cat's throat is NOT fun. Within about 40 minutes he was groggy and we spent the next 3 hours cutting, pulling and shaving bits of our cat.

Well, it is Monday and my fingers still have the sandbur spines in them and still hurt! My cat is better and has stayed really close to home the last couple of days. I am not sure if it is because his "neither region" is shaved and he is embarrassed or the thought of being drugged and shaved is still prominent in his mind.
I hate snadburs!

 Mr Sparkles McGee