photo: Jess Beemouse
When we adopted puppies, we tried to prepare ourselves for being dog owners. We read books, watched television programs, and spoke with other dog owners. All in all, we thought we were prepared. And then we brought our bundles of barking, pooping, teething joy home and realized that we didn’t know squat about dogs.
I carry around a spiral notebook to make notes about You Name It. I had a puppy book the first 6 months we had our dogs. Every day I would write down questions, call the vet to ask for a good time to ask, and then rattle them off. They got a kick out of me, I got some peace of mind, and my boyfriend rolled his eyes.
I recently opened up Keep the Tail Wagging for readers to Suggest a Topic. I want my readers to help shape the direction of the site. I write for people like me – you. My first topic suggestion came from Linda McGrath-Cruz and it’s a great one and brought back memories of my meltdown when our dogs were stung and what I learned.
Bee Stings in Dogs
Just like us humans, dogs can have an allergic reaction to bee stings and we don’t know it until they’re actually stung. We live in a rural area on 5 acres of land and the first year on our property we noticed several hornets’ nests and we kept our eyes on them and the dogs. What we didn’t know about was the bees’ nest in the ground by one of the dogs’ favorite trees.
Bees in the ground? Yes. The sneaky bastards.
Sydney was playing around, got stung several times and ran to us. My boyfriend picked her up and carried her inside while I grabbed Rodrigo who was sniffing around the tree. Although I was freaking out, I knew what to do, because Bee Stings in Dogs was a question in my spiral notebook.
When one of our dogs is stung we do the following…
- Make sure they weren’t stung in or around the mouth, because the swelling can prevent them from breathing.
- We check the area to see if we can find the stinger and remove it (this is next to impossible, I’ve found, but I try anyway).
- We watch for signs of an allergic reaction (difficulty breathing, intense pain, nausea, vomiting, weakness, drooling, etc).
Bee Stings in Dogs | You Might Be Safe Treating at Home (but call your vet)
Swelling in the face, nose, mouth, muzzle – again, watch to make sure your dog’s breathing isn’t being obstructed.
Hives or large bumps on the body – Sydney experienced this in the areas where she was stung. We gave her Benedryl (1mg per body weight as prescribed by our veterinarian) to alleviate the itching.
Bee Stings in Dogs | Call the Vet and Grab Your Car Keys!
Severe symptoms include hives, difficulty breathing, intense scratching, weakness, diarrhea, crazy drooling, pale gums, mental confusion, or depression.
Your dog may be okay, but why take a chance. They can’t tell us how they’re feeling they can only show us.
Bee Sting Home Treatment We Use
We’ve been lucky to be able to treat a bee sting like it’s no big deal with our dogs, so our home treatment consists of…
- Benedryl, 1mg per the dog’s body weight (if there’s no sign of improvement within 30-45 minutes, please call the veterinarian)
- Some quiet time in the house.
- Lots of love and affection.
Each dog presents differently
Sydney developed hives in the area where she was stung. Rodrigo chased and stepped on a bee twice; he just whimpered and held his paw up each time. Lots of love and affection seemed to do him good. Blue is still a bee sting virgin and we don’t know how a bee sting will affect him.
Linda shared that all three of her dogs have been stung and each had 3 different reactions; one requiring a hospital stay. This goes to show us that bee stings in dogs need to be taken seriously.
If your dog has been stung by a bee, please share your experience with us. The more we know, the better prepared we’ll be.
November 21, 2012 at 2:20 pm
4 years ago on Christmas Day my 11 year old 10lb. Jack Russell Terrier was stung by a bee that entered the house through an open door. We had NO idea she was allergic to them.
Lucky, we saw her jump up and snap it up with her mouth, so we knew exactly what happened. My husband was able to pull the stinger out of her bottom lip and no more than 3 mins. later she began falling down and throwing up…her 3rd eyelids immediately covered her eyes, and her gums were pure white.
We grabbed her and jumped in the car and rushed her to the E-Vet. It took 10 mins. to get her there and when we arrived she was completely unresponsive.
They pumped her full of an antihistamine and she recovered very rapidly. They told us if we had waited another 10 mins. she would have been dead!! She is alive and healthy today due to our quick thinking. Needless to say, we are now very cautious and keep an eye on her every move when we see flying insects.
So, my advice is if your dog has any reaction to a sting…the best place to go is the vet IMMEDIATELY! DO NOT WAIT!!
November 22, 2012 at 6:58 pm
Lisa – thank you so much for sharing your story! It’s astounding how you can never know and I’m so happy that you were home and able to react. We know that two of our dogs aren’t allergic; we have to keep an eye on Blue.
Thanks again for sharing!
Twitter: thefurmom
November 21, 2012 at 6:57 pm
wow never thought about a dog getting stung, great info
February 13, 2013 at 3:13 am
My wilderness search and rescue dog, Cody, a female Labrador retriever is extremely allergic to bee stings. Like many dogs, when she was young, she enjoyed catching flying insects. I found this out one day when she came in from outside and the swelling of neck, throat and side of face had begun. It happened extremely fast. And was shocking to see. We’re talking the right side of her head and neck was 3x its normal size. Benadryl immediately, based on her weight, lights and sirens to the vet. This is a life-threatening event. Good news: as soon as the vet treated her, the swelling started to subside and all was well. Immediacy – like Lisa said – can save your dog’s life. When Cody and I were active in SAR, we would end up deep in wilderness areas where it could take hours to hike out. My vet provided me with prescription meds to carry in my pack in case she got stung far afield.
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Dee & Murphy recently published..Lipomas in Dogs: Tootsie’s Story
Twitter: deebogetti
February 13, 2013 at 6:11 am
I’m glad to know that there’s something that you can have on hand for future incidents. We know how two of our dogs react; we’re not sure about Blue so we’ll have to keep an eye on him. He loves to dig and I worry that he’ll dig up a hive (can you believe they can be under ground?). Luckily there aren’t any bees in their yard. I’ll have look for any hives left over from last year to make sure they’re dead. We get hornets nests around our house a lot.
Thanks for stopping by!
Kimberly
Twitter: thefurmom
May 3, 2013 at 8:57 am
My sister was stung on the paw as a puppy, mom says she flipped out contacted the vet but nothing happened. I got stung on the paw a year ago, I was a total baby. Mom had to carry my 40 pounds almost a mile to get us home while having my sister on a leash as well. Nothing happened to me either but I was just a baby about it, mom put some ice on it, I took a nap, she kept an eye on me and an hour later I forgot all about it. You just never know so you have to watch the dog closely!
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emma recently published..Thomas Lake Trails | GBGV | FitDog Friday
Twitter: mygbgvlife
May 3, 2013 at 1:54 pm
You have a great mom. Let her know I had the same thing with Rodrigo; it’s easy to forget how heavy 40 pounds can be, but he was fine too. Glad your sister (and you) are doing great!!!
Twitter: thefurmom