Blue Bottle Jellyfish...

[maachine]

Hi,

Just a query more than anything as I cannot find anything specific on the net. Do dogs require treatment if they come into contact with Blue Bottle jellyfish? What type of treatment is needed if they pick one up in their mouth?

We were at the beach on the weekend, first trip to the beach for Jett (Finnish Lapphund, 7 months) and he was very curious of the washed up blue bottles. I had him on an extended lead and could guide him away from them but I had to keep my eyes peeled.

Thanks...

[Jigsaw]

Hi,

Just a query more than anything as I cannot find anything specific on the net. Do dogs require treatment if they come into contact with Blue Bottle jellyfish? What type of treatment is needed if they pick one up in their mouth?

We were at the beach on the weekend, first trip to the beach for Jett (Finnish Lapphund, 7 months) and he was very curious of the washed up blue bottles. I had him on an extended lead and could guide him away from them but I had to keep my eyes peeled.

Thanks...

My dog ate a blue bottle about 4 weeks ago at the beach!!! The only effect she had was a bit of excess drooling. I was quite concerned as she goes into analphylactic shock with bee stings. But she was running around quite happily after eating it although drooling a bit. She was initially reluctant to have her ball in her mouth but she recovered quite quickly from that though. We had a 40 min walk back from the beach to the car and then to home. Once home I rang the emergency vet who said to bring her in and they thought about pumping her stomach. They didn't pump her stomach but gave me some Peptosyl to give her for a few days in case the bluebottle was decomposing and contained unhealthy bacteria.

The vet did a search and as far as he could see there were no reports (anywhere in the world) of dogs being affected by bluebottles - either eating or coming in contact. He said the biggest problem was for humans removing the bluebottle from the dog as they could be envenomated then! But it would be something I will try and keep her from doing again!

They must have an interesting smell as my dog ran past the bluebottle with the ball in her mouth, dropped the ball and then ran back and picked up the bluebottle - while we watched in horror! No "leave it" was working either, so they must be pretty interesting as she's reasonably good at "leave it".

[KateM]

My dog likes to eat the bluebottles washed up on the beach too - wonder what it is about them that is so appealing? She has never had any ill effects.