[esSJay]

I forgot to mention our bee attack in my thread about our cottage weekend! While we were hiking the new property, we all stopped for a second as we heard this huge humming noise. As the Canadian International Airshow was on in Toronto (2 hours away), they were using the nearby Muskoka airport as a staging airport, and we all looked up to watch for an aircraft overhead.

Next thing we know, it's getting louder and Molson starts jumping around, freaking out, running in circles and trying to bite backwards at his side. I started running after him to look as Jay let out a loud "Oww!" and then I feel this excrutiating pain on my hand - we all got stung by bees!

We started running through the forest to get away from them and when we got far enough from the humming, I stopped to check Molson out. The (now dead) bee was still stuck in his fur so I flicked it off and felt in that area and he had quite a large welt, about 1.5" in diameter and 3/4" high.

We quickly made our way back to the cottage so I could see if the stinger was gone and my mom gave him some Benadryl. The welt went away within 30 minutes and he seems to be fine now, just a little bit itchy in that spot. I put some polysporin on it yesterday and there was no sign of itching this morning.

I'm so thankful that we only ended up with 1 sting each, as, judging by the volume of that humming above us, it could have been a heck of a lot worse!

Just wondering if it's common for dogs to have pretty severe allergies to bee stings? I know Molson's wasn't bad, but it got me thinking that it would probably be wise to carry an epi-pen when I go hiking next time!

 

[paula bedard]

Lucky you, it could have been worse. My sister's Golden was stung years ago. She ended up at the ER Vet and given a shot of benadryl. We don't know if she was stung in the mouth or on the face, or possibly swallowed the bee and her throat was involved, but her breathing was effected from the amount of swelling. Gotta love benadryl.

 

[BeauShel]

I remember years ago, my yorkie was stung by a bee and she had an allergic reaction and was really sick from it. She started having problems breathing, luckily the vet was open and able to get her all well. It was pretty scary.

 

[mm03gn]

Ouch!! I've never been stung by a bee (knock wood) so I am always afraid of situations like that - as I have no idea if I'm allergic! I don't think it's common for bee allergies in dogs - I'm pretty sure Bailey has been stung on her nose more than once. (You'd think that would teach her to keep her nose out of strange places! :doh

I don't know what it is with the bees this year, but they were CRAZY at my cottage this year too! Usually it is sand flies, mosquitoes or blackflies that are the annoyances, but this year it was the BEES! YUCK!

 

[esSJay]

Ouch!! I've never been stung by a bee (knock wood) so I am always afraid of situations like that - as I have no idea if I'm allergic! I don't think it's common for bee allergies in dogs - I'm pretty sure Bailey has been stung on her nose more than once. (You'd think that would teach her to keep her nose out of strange places! :doh

I don't know what it is with the bees this year, but they were CRAZY at my cottage this year too! Usually it is sand flies, mosquitoes or blackflies that are the annoyances, but this year it was the BEES! YUCK!

Yeah everyone's saying they have been crazy this year. A coworker of mine said that it's because our winter wasn't cold enough to kill most of the queen bees, so now there are even more queen bees in force, making new ba-bees (haha)!

 

[The_Artful_Dodger]

I tripped over a wasp nest yesterday while walking Dodger. I think maybe someone had sprayed it and then tossed it over their fence into the walking path (I don't know how else it could have gotten there). I only saw a couple wasps fly out of it but we ran away anyway. I'm just glad Dodger didnt see it and try to eat it.

 

[Oaklys Dad]

Ouch...Sorry you had to witness that very small scale air show of bees. I've had a dog in the past that blew up like a balloon when stung by bees. Benedryl always worked like a charm.

 

[coppers-mom]

first note: be VERY careful of using an epi-pen. I'm not even sure you can use it on a dog (I thought you meant for Molson). An epi-pen can cause your heart rate to soar and actually hurt you worse than the stings - even kill you. You only use it if you are having a lot of trouble breathing and cannot reach help without using it.

I was cleaning out the hay shed a couple of months and got into yellow jackets. The dern things were on a rampage. I got stung 25 - 30 times; copper got stung a few times and so did my BAssettX Jack. It's bad enough to get me, but way worse to get my dog.
I gave the dogs a couple of benadryl and headed off to Urgent Care. A couple of shots and prescriptions later I was good to go! I am hyper reactive, but so far have had no trouble breathing when being stung. I am supposed to carry an epi-pen when I go riding since I will be far from help if I get into trouble.

I got stung 3 times the next weekend. I haven't been back in that hay shed since.
Soon the frost will come and the little boogers will die for the winter. Hooray!