THE HAIRY HAIRY CATERPILLAR

Lars is the Vet. Not to be confused with the hungry hairy caterpillar.

The hair, or processionary caterpillar is one that residents are no doubt familiar with. The little blighters walk like a Parade of Elephants one behind the other, as they go from pine tree to pine tree.

Hairs from these little hirsute slugs imbed themselves in dog’s tongues, if they are picked up by overzealous hounds. Being dogs, the very curious ones will indeed try and pick up the caterpillars. This is where problems begin.These hairs set off a vicious reaction. The associated inflammation causes swelling and eventual gangrene to the tongue.

Affected dogs lose parts of their tongues and in extremis can die from the excessive reaction, especially if these hairs have entered the lungs of the dog (this is extremely rare, no need to get panicky about this situation).

Nests of these prickly adventurers can be seen in pine trees at the moment and this author has just seen that the little charmers have started emerging and being a temptation for dogs on the ground. Every year the time of emergence of these caterpillars will vary, but BE WARNED they are emerging now.

If you see your dog looking agitated with its mouth and drooling a lot after being on a walk near pine trees, we advise you to take a wet towel and thoroughly wipe ALL of the inside of the dogs mouth: The WHOLE tongue, under the tongue, the cheeks, the palate…the lot. Antihistamines are good to have at home in case of this situation. Any brand of human antihistamine will work…we suggest cetirizine, because it causes no sedation in the dog.

If you are worried, clean the mouth out and call your vet straight away. They can advise you on the dose of antihistamine for your dog (we recommend super high doses for these cases), then make your way to your vet for follow up injections, and a full examination.

Enjoy the coming springtime, no doubt by publication we will have lovely almond blossoms lining our country lanes. Much nicer than hairy caterpillars.