05/21/2026
Lets talk Porcupines!!!
This time of year, veterinary clinics in our area get a lot of calls and visits for porcupine quill removal. This year, we’ve noticed more & more people trying to remove the quills themselves.
Careful consideration of the risks should be taken, as this option may lead to unforeseen complications and often enough, you'll end up visiting your veterinarian anyway. Unless there are only a few quills, it’s usually not possible to safely remove all of them at home.
The black part of the quill, the part that's imbedded in your dog, has barbs on the end (think fishing lure). As you are pulling the quill out, those barbs are pulling upwards through the dogs tissues. This process causes significant pain. *** Dog's who are in pain may bite!
Sedation & pain medications are given to your dog to help prevent all of that. PLUS, sedation allows us to remove them safely, quickly & completey!
When removal is attempted at home, you may inadvertaly break them or force them in deeper. If you wait too long, your dogs saliva soaks the quills & the quill ends up squishy. Both of these scenerios causes removal very difficult. You also may be decieved how many there actually are! They may be inside the mouth, down the palate, in between teeth, under the tongue, near the throat, in their paws, pretty much anywhere on the dogs body. If any of these are left behind, there are risks of them migrating through the body & causing severe damage.
Myth buster time!
MYTH:
It is best to cut the tip of the quill to release the air and make quills easier to remove.
FACT:
PLEASE DO NOT CUT THOSE QUILLS! The only thing cutting them does is make them shorter which makes removal much more difficult. Sometimes they are cut so short that a tiny incision must be made to retreive it.
MYTH:
It is best to soak the quills and allow them to fall out on their own.
FACT:
No. Please don't. Making the quill softer only makes it more difficult for us to remove.
MYTH:
Porcupines shoot their quills.
FACT:
How scary would that be?! I remember being told this as a kid & was terrified of coming across one! Truth is, the only way to get "quilled" is if you make contact with it (and these guys are like the slowest moving animal in the world which makes them an easy target). The barbs on the end of each quill will attach to anything it comes in contact with. When dogs press or bite on the porcupine, those quills sink deep into the dogs tissue. As the dog let's go, those quills go along w/ them. Rememeber - The white part of the quill is nice & smooth & they easily come out of the porky. The black barbed part is not. Those tiny barbs prevent it from sliding backward as the dog lifts their head away.
MYTH:
Once a dog has been quilled, it will learn its lesson and never attack a porcupine again.
FACT:
Actually it's the opposite! We have several repeat offenders!
MYTH:
Once a porky looses their quills they don't grow back
FACT:
Wrong. They absolutely will grow back. We promise.
The best thing to do if your dog gets quilled is to bring them to your veterinarian.
