[pyrnet] Porcupine advice please

[Mary Delmage <mary@ericnagler.com>]

Hi Everyone,

My one year old male Pyr just had his first (and dare I hope, last) close
encounter of the painful kind with a porcupine.

I pulled out all the quills that I could see (mouth, chest, foot) and
apart from being sore he seems fine.  However I can feel a number of
unreachable quills embedded under the skin in his chest area.

I've heard two schools of thought from various sources.  First:
leave the quills alone and they will eventually work themselves
out.  Second: Leave the quills alone and they will burrow themselves
deeper into his body, eventually reaching his heart/brain/lungs and could
kill him.

Being a foreigner (where I come from we only have hedgehogs) I'm not very
au-fait with porcupines. Any one else have experiences of this happening
and any advice to offer?

Thanks,
Mary.

Mary Delmage

RR#3

Shelburne ON

L0N 1S7

Canada