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Bee attack!

2K views 33 replies 21 participants last post by  mooselips 
#1 ·
Bayne went into the neighbors yard and ran through their sprinkler and was having a great time biting the water and getting soaking wet. Bryan (hubby) went over to get him away put his leash on and was about to walk away when suddenly he started swatting and yelling that there were bees all over them, then Bayne was on the ground pawing at his face. We ran home, grabbed the hose and started hosing Bayne down and rubbing him looking for bees, they had burrowed into his fur. There were quite a few of them, I'm so glad that Bayne's fur is thin and flat, if he was thicker then we would have had a hard time finding them and he was not staying still for us to find them. Finally I got him into the house to dry off and keep and eye on him, he suddenly got so mellow almost dazed like. He started shaking his head, I thought maybe a bee had crawled into his ear and started looking, he wasn't letting me touch that ear. So I called for hubby again to help me to check his ear and area. We got Bayne on the kitchen floor and to stop him fidgeting I gave him belly rubs while Bryan looked closer and finally found a spot with a stinger, we were trying to figure out the best way to get that thing out and I was trying to remember what we were supposed to do, not squeeze it out, not pull it out, didn't want to squeeze the poison into Bayne. We finally got the stinger out, I got Bayne up on the chair so I could go over his head and neck again with the brush, he had a couple of little mats under his ears so I cut them off with the scissors he was being so cooperative... WOW. I let him off the chair to watch him then he ran over to his ball and was all perky again. I fed him his supper and then he started licking his left paw and area, a bite of supper then a lick, another bite another lick. Strange, so we looked again at his paw and couldn't see anything. About an hour later I noticed him limping a little and then sitting holding his paw up. I called him over to me and asked for his paw and he gave me his sore one first so I looked it over, then hubby looked it over and can't see a thing.

He's sleeping now so we'll see how he is tomorrow. What an experience, a hornets nest in the ground at the neighbors.
 
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#4 ·
Thanks for the comments, Bayne appears his normal self this morning, no limping when I let him outside he just ran out like usual. Thank goodness.

I may just have to have Benadryl on hand but I'm unsure what to get, usually first time bites don't get a reaction if there is an allergy but second or third time may show up. Btw, hubby got stung about 3 times on the back of the arm all around the same spot and he was hurting and burning last night. The last time I was stung that I can remember was when I was a child at day camp and my arm swelled up and was sore and burning too.
 
#8 ·
Wow, how awful and scary. I'm glad to hear Bayne seems alright this a.m.

I have to agree with the others about keeping Benadryl on hand. How's your DH doing today? I keep an "after bite stick" handy for insect bites and stings, it works great and quickly. You can pick them up at most drug stores or places like Walmart, Target, etc.
 
#10 ·
Thanks all for your concern, Bayne is doing just fine, kept an eye on him all morning and it's like nothing happened, hubby on the other hand has a very sore arm but he's ok, that guy has a very high pain threshold (broke his back twice).

What type of Benadryl do you guys get, I see so many boxes on the shelf that I don't have a clue which one to get?
 
#11 ·
We use the basic benadryl allergy. In tablet form 25 mg each. You don't want to use the ones that have any added plus to it. Such as Benadryl sinus etc.

The usual dossage is 1 mg per pound. The liquid can also be used but then you have to measure it out.

The main ingredient is Diphendydramine HCI is what you are looking for. There are generic brands out there.

I am glad to hear that Bayne is doing well but I will keep both your husband and him in my thoughts.
 
#13 ·
We keep liquid Benadryl, generic with no color or flavor. I have a kids oral syringe for each of the dogs, with the dosage marked.

Call your vet tomorrow about the benadryl dosage and the possibility of needing an EpiPen (they aren't cheap, but they do save lives). Depending on how far you are from an emergency vet, I would consider having two of them (you can get them in a double pack). They are heat and light sensitive. If you use an EpiPen, even if they then seem to be okay, you must immediately go to the vet/emergency vet. The Epi wears off in 8-12 hours, so they need to start on prednisone.

And talk to your neighbor about getting rid of the nest. :)
 
#14 ·
What an experience, a hornets nest in the ground at the neighbors.
Had the same thing happen at our campsite in Maine in '06. Got Tucker in the van fast, killed a few that followed us in. Gave him a few benedryl straight off, he never swelled up.

I got sweet revenge on that nest :samurail: another camper happened to have wasp spray.


What type of Benadryl do you guys get, I see so many boxes on the shelf that I don't have a clue which one to get?
I use the generic Diphendydramine HCI 25mg pills. It is also marketed as a sleep aid.
 
#16 ·
The dazed look was a reaction to the sting. I would keep Benadryl on hand just in case. If he has a swelling reaction you want to give it to him immediately so you don't run the risk of of swollen breathing passages, or swollen tongue. Even if he gets stung again in the future and doesn't have a reaction, you don't want to run the risk he might and you don't have the benadryl available if he needs it.
 
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#18 ·
Db

Deb

How TERRIFYING!!! WAS It a bee's nest or a hornet's nest and you said it was in the ground? I got bit by a bee once and I immediately took a BENADRYL pill (25 mg.) JUST IN CASE. GLAD BAYNE is o.k. and hope your hubby is, too. I would keep a close eye on them and if in doubt, give them a benadryl.
 
#20 ·
I keep children's Benadryl on hand for that type of thing...
*Half of a dose to start... by weight...
They can get drowsy from this...keep close eye on them.

Document the incident...
time, amount of stings, location of stings,
amount of Benadryl given and what time...
and reaction after Benadryl has been given...

ex: 1tsp given of children's Benadryl at 2pm
2:30 drowsy

I know this sounds silly...
But if you have to rush to vets or vet ER...you can just grab the bottle of
Children's Benadryl and notes...
 
#21 ·
How on earth do you find all the stings? We only saw the one behind his ear because it was red and the black dot in the middle we knew was the stinger.

I'm not sure if they were hornets or yellow jackets, even later I found one embedded in his fur and got it out, should have kept it and looked up what it was. I'm sure the neighbor will get rid of the nest she is older and works in her yard a lot.
 
#24 ·

Yep, it was a yellow jacket nest Tuck got into also. I have tried to find what type of wasp we have that burrow into cracks in the driveway, no luck. These things are huge 5x the size of a yellow jacket. I was in battle using spray undercoating for a car with one. It hovered right in front of me 2' away, gave it a full blast for 10 seconds or so, never fazed it. Just hovered in front of me, quite disconcerting. Spawn of satan wasp.
 
#23 ·
I would also like to suggest that everyone switch from tablets to liquid. The liquid is absorbed quicker than the tablets - and that means it starts working quicker. For most reactions, that's not a big deal - but it's that one that starts progressing quickly.

I have a wonderful list at work - shows various signs/symptoms of an allergic reaction. You can talk with your vet on what action he/she would recommend for each sign/symptom.
 
#27 ·
I'd second the recommendations on keeping Benadryl available. We learned about giving it after our Zeke had a serious reaction to an apparent insect bite. He came in from being outside briefly and was acting very agitated. His whole snout (muzzle or whatever you call that) was swollen to the shape of a boxer's and the white's of his eyes were red. On the way to the Emergency Vet he started to experience difficulty breathing. They gave him an injection and medication as soon as we arrived and the problems resolved quickly. We never did find out what bit him, how many etc. but were told to give the Benadryl at the first sign of an allergic reaction.
 
#29 ·
I'd second the recommendations on keeping Benadryl available. We learned about giving it after our Zeke had a serious reaction to an apparent insect bite. He came in from being outside briefly and was acting very agitated. His whole snout (muzzle or whatever you call that) was swollen to the shape of a boxer's and the white's of his eyes were red. On the way to the Emergency Vet he started to experience difficulty breathing. They gave him an injection and medication as soon as we arrived and the problems resolved quickly. We never did find out what bit him, how many etc. but were told to give the Benadryl at the first sign of an allergic reaction.
We had almost the identical experience with Chance a few summers ago. Very frightening. Chance passed out for a few seconds on the way to the Emergency Vets but was fine after he got an injection. Now I keep Benedryl with me whenever we are out. An epi-pen is not a good option for Chance due to him having heart surgery as a puppy - I checked with his cardiologist.

BajaOklahoma - thank you for the suggestion about the liquid form. I will get that. Especially important now that we are in bee season.
 
#28 ·
Now that you mention the eyes, Bayne's eyes were slightly bloodshot, makes me more aware that we need to check our beloved pets more often just to know the difference between normal and not normal. We tend to take for granted that our pets are protected through us, but that's not always the case.
 
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