Glad our video helped you! We’ve had a few times where a quill or two was missed, they do abscess over time making them easier to find. One was inside of our older huskies mouth and ended up working its way out by his nose on its own. They will continue traveling, but even an x-ray won’t show where they are because they are made from keratin, like fingernails. It’s kind of a waiting game once they break off, but in the lip I’d expect them to move in a way you could pull them eventually. I’m glad your pup is okay!

Thank you for the video, your huskies handled the removal like champs! Our golden was recently quilled on our backcountry ski trip. I was able to get most of them out of his paw and face in the field and removed the rest with pliers. There are two quills that broke off in his lower lip. In your experience, how have you handled broken tips that are no longer visible and embedded? I’m thinking they might abscess over time and then the vet will be able to pinpoint the embedded locations. The vet wasn’t able to see anything so is it just a waiting game after they’ve been embedded?

Broken quills will only go deeper, due to the barbs on the ends of the quill. Unfortunately quills are also made of keratin, like fingernails, and thus won’t show on an x-ray if they migrate. I’ve seen quills migrate through paws and lips of dogs when they have been broken off. That’s why it’s best to have a vet remove them, except when a vet cannot be reached in a timely manner.