Help. My dog has been stung by bees.

if you’re out in the sticks and can’t get to a vet, have a look at this:

Marko: Always our pleasure and happy July 4th, Dr. Lee. Dr. Lee is nice enough to even do this on Independence Day, so thanks very much. So, I’m going to get right into the question and it’s a question on bee stings and the question is as follows. “Last night, my girl Currie was stung by several bees and went into anaphylactic shock. It was so scary. She could not breathe. Her face was swollen, her eyes closed, her underside and ears went bright pink and her gums very pale. I called the emergency vet and they told me to give her 25 mg of Benadryl every 6 hours (3 doses in total) and she was fine. I urge all of you to have that on hand as it saved her life. My husband is allergic to bees and we did have an EpiPen, but the dose was too strong for the dog, but you can get an EpiPen from the vet for dogs. I set my alarm for 3:30 a.m. for her second dose. We did not sleep all night. I was so worried about her, but this morning she was fine and ready to take on the day.” So, I guess Dr. Lee, I wonder if you could give us tips in general on bee stings for both cats and dogs. How important is it to be aware of this phenomenon that I’m sure occurs all the time?

Dr. Christopher Lee: Bee stings can range from being mild, painful irritant up to a life-threatening problem. The difficulty is that if the dog, cat or human is sensitive to the bee sting and has an allergic reaction. An anaphylactic reaction can kill dogs, cats or even humans with just as little as one sting. So, the problem with bee stings is that death and serious complication can arise from as little as one bee sting if the patient is sensitive to it. Also, multiple bee stings, you can have a level of venom inside of the patient, which can cause a serious problem. It can lead to heart problems such as [unintelligible], kidney problems, liver problems, and overall systemic reaction. While sometimes we can get one bee sting, it’s also not uncommon to have multiple bee stings. When a bee stings a dog or cat, they actually release enough pheromone that triggers other bees in the area to become more aggressive. Also, carbon dioxide and dark colors will enhance the aggressiveness of the bees. So, when you mix that all together, you can have quite a number of bee stings in a very short period of time. As far as treatment, Benadryl is important, but may not be the only thing that’s necessary. There are five proteins inside a bee venom and only one of them is going to be directly affected by the Benadryl. So, Benadryl is important, but certainly if the patient is having systemic reaction such as something above and beyond just the isolated sting type, a trip to the veterinarian may well be warranted. If the dog or cat is having anaphylactic reaction, death can occur usually within one hour, so getting the patient to the emergency hospital is important thing to do.

snipped at:
http://www.pets.ca/newsletter/pet-podcast-trans21.htm

This time of year... it’s ground hornets.
And yeah, everything everyone else said...

Sounds like Africanized bees. Get the dog to the vet ASAP.

Benadryl according to weight and a vet.

Pee on the effected areas. The amonia will help reduce the pain (works for sea anenomie stings) and get him to a vet as soon as possible.

he has thick fur... ican’t find the stingers

Get to a vet or an emergency vet clinic NOW! Do not wait.

If it’s a smaller dog, I’d get him to the nearest 24hr emergency vet immediately.

Marko: Always our pleasure and happy July 4th, Dr. Lee. Dr. Lee is nice enough to even do this on Independence Day, so thanks very much. So, I’m going to get right into the question and it’s a question on bee stings and the question is as follows. “Last night, my girl Currie was stung by several bees and went into anaphylactic shock. It was so scary. She could not breathe. Her face was swollen, her eyes closed, her underside and ears went bright pink and her gums very pale. I called the emergency vet and they told me to give her 25 mg of Benadryl every 6 hours (3 doses in total) and she was fine. I urge all of you to have that on hand as it saved her life. My husband is allergic to bees and we did have an EpiPen, but the dose was too strong for the dog, but you can get an EpiPen from the vet for dogs. I set my alarm for 3:30 a.m. for her second dose. We did not sleep all night. I was so worried about her, but this morning she was fine and ready to take on the day.” So, I guess Dr. Lee, I wonder if you could give us tips in general on bee stings for both cats and dogs. How important is it to be aware of this phenomenon that I’m sure occurs all the time?

Dr. Christopher Lee: Bee stings can range from being mild, painful irritant up to a life-threatening problem. The difficulty is that if the dog, cat or human is sensitive to the bee sting and has an allergic reaction. An anaphylactic reaction can kill dogs, cats or even humans with just as little as one sting. So, the problem with bee stings is that death and serious complication can arise from as little as one bee sting if the patient is sensitive to it. Also, multiple bee stings, you can have a level of venom inside of the patient, which can cause a serious problem. It can lead to heart problems such as [unintelligible], kidney problems, liver problems, and overall systemic reaction. While sometimes we can get one bee sting, it’s also not uncommon to have multiple bee stings. When a bee stings a dog or cat, they actually release enough pheromone that triggers other bees in the area to become more aggressive. Also, carbon dioxide and dark colors will enhance the aggressiveness of the bees. So, when you mix that all together, you can have quite a number of bee stings in a very short period of time. As far as treatment, Benadryl is important, but may not be the only thing that’s necessary. There are five proteins inside a bee venom and only one of them is going to be directly affected by the Benadryl. So, Benadryl is important, but certainly if the patient is having systemic reaction such as something above and beyond just the isolated sting type, a trip to the veterinarian may well be warranted. If the dog or cat is having anaphylactic reaction, death can occur usually within one hour, so getting the patient to the emergency hospital is important thing to do.

Marko: I’m sorry to interject. For those listeners that may not know what anaphylactic shock is, can you give us like a 10-word definition kind of thing?

Dr. Christopher Lee: Anaphylaxis is a rapid allergic reaction, which is going to include a number of systemic overall body changes. You can have pale gums, weakness, lethargy, difficulty breathing, overall hives where you’re having a breakout across the entire body, things like that.

Marko: Excellent. Thank you. So, I got a quick question for you, Dr. Lee. You know, humans get bit by bees occasionally. I’ve been bitten once or twice. I know lots of people have and I know lots of pets have also been bitten once or twice by a couple of bee stings. First off, if your pet is not allergic to bee stings, a one or two bee stings on a dog or cat going to be a serious matter for your pet?

Dr. Christopher Lee: Not necessarily. A lot of it does have to do with signs. The more stings, the worse it’s going to be. In general, there have been some studies that suggest that you need 14 to 20 stings per kilogram in order to get into a life-threatening situation. The problem is that with five different proteins that are being injected into the pet, the more things that are available [unintelligible] patient and their individual sensitivity all have to be factored in. I think the importance is that if your pet has been stung by a bee, one, it is a serious issue; two, if there are any signs above and beyond that, well, that is a problem.

Marko: Okay, excellent. Do you know offhand or is there any data that you’re aware of that suggests the percentage of let’s say cats and dogs that are naturally allergic to bees?

Dr. Christopher Lee: No, there is not any data that I’m aware of as far as exact numbers that may be out there. Certainly, I see patients that are allergic to other things, dogs that have history of allergies seem to have a higher percentage of having adverse reactions to other allergens such as bee stings.

Marko: Okay. Let’s say people live in an area that really have a lot of bees and there are bee problems year after year and people are concerned about this, that perhaps their pets are indeed allergic to bees. Is there a specific test that a pet owner can take through their veterinarian that will say, “Yes, indeed. You are allergic to bee stings. Be very careful.”

Dr. Christopher Lee: In general, the test is going to be when they get stung by the bee. It is important to know that once there is a known allergy to the bee sting, subsequent bee stings are going to only make matters worse.

Marko: Okay, but there’s no specific test? If I’m a beekeeper and I got three sheepdogs and I want to know if my sheepdogs are allergic to bees, there is no test I can take beforehand?

Dr. Christopher Lee: Other than getting your pets stung by the bee, not that I’m aware of.

Marko: Very good. It’s actually very good to know. I guess I’d like to ask now, what about EpiPens? Is that something that people should carry all the time? When should pet owners get an EpiPen? I guess that EpiPen, if they are going to get one, it needs to be specific for dogs or cats and it shouldn’t be a human one.

Dr. Christopher Lee: Correct. That medication is going to be based off of signs. I think that, again, dogs that had prior anaphylaxis to a bee sting, owners that are worried or people and pets that live in an area of high bees, that may be a great option for you. I think the important thing is to get the EpiPen and run it by your veterinarian first so they can show you how to use it, what dosing, and when to use it.

Marko: Excellent. I guess I just have one more quick question. I was curious to know the difference between let’s say bees and wasps, bees, wasps, hornets. Are they all similar? Are they all different?

Dr. Christopher Lee: When you’re looking at bees versus wasps, bumblebees, bees, and killer bees, those are all going to be in the general same type of toxins. The difference between killer bees and non-killer bees is actually their aggression has nothing to do with venom. So, being stung by a normal bee is just as dangerous as being stung by an African Bee.

Marko: And just as dangerous as being stung by a wasp or a hornet?

Dr. Christopher Lee: They seem to have less signs of anaphylaxis with wasps and the toxins are a little bit different.

Marko: Okay. I guess for our last question perhaps. I was curious if you could let us know about Benadryl. What dose should we use? How should we decide when to administer Benadryl in case our pets are bitten by bees?

Dr. Christopher Lee: Benadryl is a great medication. One thing is that with the five different proteins that are inside of the bee venom, it is important to know that the Benadryl only addresses C-peptide 41, so the other proteins are not going to be affected by the Benadryl. Benadryl is a wonderful medication and overall very safe. The important thing is to make sure that it does not have any other active ingredient. Benadryl Sinus, Benadryl Cold will commonly have Tylenol mixed in. It’s not something you want to give your pets, especially cats.

Marko: Such an excellent point. Some people might hear this podcast and think, “Oh, I have Benadryl,” and give the wrong type of Benadryl. Again, it needs to be plain Benadryl that they are giving. Is that correct?

Dr. Christopher Lee: Plain Benadryl, there’s a little bit range on the dose depending on which dose you need for your pet. I would recommend that you ask your vet.

Marko: Right. So, if your pet does get bitten by bees and you are concerned, don’t just go shoving Benadryl down their throats. Call your vet and found out the appropriate dose for the size of your pet.

Dr. Christopher Lee: Correct and an even better way of going is to ask your vet before the bee sting at your next visit. That way, when it does happen, you can be prepared in case you won’t be able to get access to your veterinarian immediately because, again, majority of the serious anaphylactic signs are going to occur within one hour.

http://www.pets.ca/newsletter/pet-podcast-trans21.htm

Sorry about the duplicate posting of Vn_s’s info.

Hope all goes well for you and your dog.

Thank you everyone.

I talked to the vet, she says he sounds ok.

Son in going out for benadryl.

He’s about 60 lbs.

Quit wasting your dog’s health and time by being here.

Get him to a vet NOW!

Do you have an IQ problem?

Because we live a long way from the vet, and my hubby thinks I’m over reacting.

:-(

Okay.

I read your post #31.

I take back the IQ remark.

Keep us posted.

"Pee on the effected areas."

LOL....if you're out in the middle of the woods fine. If you're at home, Windex or other glass cleaner is better, has more ammonia, and is less likely to get you arrested as a sexual offender than peeing on your dog.

Help?

You just say “my dog.”

How about some more details? Starting with the weight of the dog, where the dog was stung, etc?

If it is a big dog (> 80lbs), it might not need any more attention than cortisone cream or something to reduce the swelling.

If it is a toy breed, you might need to get to a vet ASAP.

dog+”bee stings”+emergency

betcha you typed that or something close, to get the hit :)

hope the pooch is OK

I should spray him with windex?

Benedryl and quick trip to the vet.