Dog's mystery lump was grass seed growing inside him

Vets were baffled by the mysterious lump growing on Riley the springer spaniel's side – and they were even more 
surprised when they discovered the cause. Vicky Betts of Hadleigh, Suffolk, noticed the lump on her pet last month and, being a 
veterinary nursing assistant, she decided to take him to work for some expert advice. The 25-year-old, who works at Highcliff Veterinary Practice in Hadleigh, said: “The vet had a feel and took a biopsy and gave Riley some anti-inflammatories.”

She added: “It just looked like he had knocked himself but when the drugs didn’t work and the lump got even bigger, I brought him back into work.” Veterinary surgeon Sarah Tavener decided the best option was to remove the lump from the two-year-old. It was not until Riley was on the operating table that the vet realized the full extent of what had happened. She said: “After considerable 
probing, I found a tract leading in towards the chest which indicated that it was likely to be a foreign body.

“I managed to free the lump from the body wall and stitch up the dog’s wound. The lump was cut in half and seemed to have pockets of pus, but when we squeezed it a tiny grass seed popped out from its center.” She said Riley must have inhaled the grass seed last 
summer and since then it had been migrating through his body, causing a reaction under the skin. He effectively had grass growing inside him.

Mrs Betts said while it was rare for cases like Riley’s to be seen at the practice, they did see a lot of dogs with grass seeds stuck in between their paws in long hair. It is very common to see dogs, 
particularly springer spaniels, with grass seeds that have worked their way into the skin around paws or ears, but this was quite unusual,” she added.