goldielover Posted November 5, 2005 Share Posted November 5, 2005 Hi guys, I found out this afternoon that my young Golden puppy is allergic to bee stings.... she decided she'd have a munch on one, the bee decided it would sting her. Within several minutes she vomited, had diarrhea started getting drowsy and wobbly on her feet and then collapsed, unable to stand. She lost colour in her gums and her breathing was quite rapid. We are around 1/2 hour from our vet (who is open until 4 on a Sat, and this happened at 3.30) and her condition worsened in the car, so we made for the nearest Emergency Hospital where they saw her straight away and gave her a cortisone injection, a antihistamine injection, took bloods, gave her oxygen and then she stayed a few hours for some IV fluids until she had stabilised. She's now fine and headed for the food bowl as soon as we got home! Does anyone have any experience with this? Obviously we are trying to get rid of the particular weed that is attracting the bee's in our yard, but what drugs do you have handy in case of an emergency? Antihistamine - oral or injectable? Adrenaline injection? Thanks for any info! Jenny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellz Posted November 5, 2005 Share Posted November 5, 2005 I'd certainly check with your regular vet. Certainly injectables get into the system quicker than oral meds. And you saw how quickly she went downhill. The problem is that you don't know now if the beesting was enough to desensitise her (the latest "buzzword" in allergies) or if it is enough that next time could be fatal. Either way, be prepared. Better to be safe than sorry. Glad she's ok now. It would have been frightening for you all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldielover Posted November 6, 2005 Author Share Posted November 6, 2005 Thanks for that Ellz. She's as bright as a button today, but i'll be going to our regular vet tomorrow to see what medication i can keep handy just in case! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverblue Posted November 6, 2005 Share Posted November 6, 2005 As I posted in another thread, I too have seen this happen to one of my dogs, by the time we got him to the vets his system was shutting down, You need something to give as soon as it happens. It is amazing how quick they bounce back with the right medication, we were in Adelaide at The Royal when mine happened, I showed him 2 days later, after almost dying Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffyluv Posted November 6, 2005 Share Posted November 6, 2005 Scary isn't it... We nearly lost our boy the same way a few years ago.. I have anithistamine on hand and give it to him if he is stung but that really does not give us that much more time... Ollie had to have an adrenalin injection, then antihistamine, then cortisone... The little buggar still won't leave bees alone... We have been through this 3 times now... Ollies reaction is not as rapid as it was the first time, so hopefully he will become desensitised to the bee sting... Jodie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted November 6, 2005 Share Posted November 6, 2005 My 2 showdogs are both bee reactive & as such i carry injectables from my vet everywhere,just returned from melbourne & they where on hand there too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgan Posted November 6, 2005 Share Posted November 6, 2005 Also keep on hand the homoeopathic remedy "Apis" which is made from bee venom. Discuss with the homoeopath which strength would be best for your situation. This remedy is squirted on the gums and gets into the system in less than 60 seconds. I am extremely allergic to bee stings myself, and have had occasion to use this a couple of times. Haven't needed other medication by the time I reached the doctor luckily! (But still rush to the vet) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bald Vinnie Posted November 6, 2005 Share Posted November 6, 2005 We get alot of dog in over the spring/summer time with bad reactions to bee stings. It's not uncommon for dogs to have bad reactions to them, more common then in humans anyway. My cav's have had many stings. Usually it's there foot as they try to play with them and paw at them (stupid breed) lol You would think that after a couple of times they would steer clear but they don't. We've had many a swollen paw because of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
booboo Posted November 6, 2005 Share Posted November 6, 2005 (edited) * Edited March 12, 2009 by booboo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldielover Posted November 6, 2005 Author Share Posted November 6, 2005 Hi guys, Well after thinking we were going to lose her in the car on the way to the vets' yesterday, she's bounced right back and is running around like a maniac today. I think she realises somehow that she was really lucky... she was super affectionate and clingy this morning after a long sleep. Will have to see the vet tomorrow to see what i can keep on hand for emergencies as oral antihistamines would be useless for her. She was barely rousable within less than 5 minutes of the sting. Anyway i guess the good thing is that we know and are more prepared in case of another emergency. I have all the local and emergency vets numbers stored in our phones now and business cards in our wallets, cars and on the fridge! Thanks for the homeopathic suggestion Morgan.. i'll look into that!! From the sound of it though, they don't learn their lesson... silly buggers!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldoop Posted November 7, 2005 Share Posted November 7, 2005 OMG Jenny Poor Chelsea, I'm glad to hear she is Ok now, give her a big hug for me thats so scary how did you cope? I guess you do when it happens to you, now I'm worried about Minx, hope I never find out whether she is allergic to bee's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldielover Posted November 7, 2005 Author Share Posted November 7, 2005 Hi Lisa, It certainly gave us a fright... and very scary to realise that she would be dead if we weren't home. I'm so glad we could get her to the emergency vet in Hallam in minutes and they saw her straight away. Also, i'm lucky that i'm a Registered Nurse and pretty much knew what was happening and knew i had to get her somewhere fast. Within 5 minutes she was barely rousable, her pulse was weak and her gums were blue. Even the vet admitted that she'd seen bee allergies such as swollen faces and hives, but she'd never seen a dog go into anaphylactic shock. Very, very scary... so everybody, make sure you have some contact numbers with you at all times for your vet and the closest emergency vet!! I was just astonished at how quickly it all happened and while i've had to deal with lots of medical emergencies with people, i've never seen a dog collapse like that. My current problem is.. how to kill the capeweed in the backyard that is attracting the bee's. I'm at my wits end with that. We sprayed the entire yard yesterday morning and managed to kill all the grass around and under the weeds, but the weeds are alive and well!! I've been busy researching online and phoning around companies to see what products they have. Poor Chelsea has had to stay inside unless someone is with her, and then we're mainly taking her out the front. So we've had a few accidents inside now as well, but anyway ,hopefully i'll find something that actually does kill the weeds! It's reealllyyy frustrating! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malleerr Posted November 7, 2005 Share Posted November 7, 2005 We had the same thing happen to our pup only about a month ago - and it is sooooo scary!!!!!!! Lucky for us she didn't go into shock but within 5 mins of the sting (which was on her bottom lip) her face had swollen so much her eyes were shut, she was vomiting everywhere, and had lumps and bumps all over her....our specialist said she is allergic and too get somesort of injection pen similar to what diabetics have and carry that with you with adrenalin, you will need to get a script though from your vet!!! As for your capeweed problem not to sure about that one, we have been trying to do the same thing in our backyard, gettting rid of all the flowering things that attract bees. I actually think that capeweed (if thats the clover type weed) has to be dug out, as sprays will not kill it ......GOOD LUCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldielover Posted November 7, 2005 Author Share Posted November 7, 2005 Hi malleerr, It's amazing how quickly things happen isn't it? I've been to my vet today and he's given me 1 syringe loaded with dexamethasone and another with antihistamine. I spoke to him about Adrenaline and he said he'd prefer not to give that as if you accidentally give it intravenously instead of IM it could be fatal. I didn't realise that they had pen-style contraptions as well, but i guess he'd be aware of them. It just worries me that something will happen when i'm not home - scary! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malleerr Posted November 7, 2005 Share Posted November 7, 2005 Hi Goldielover - the pen injection is actually a human thing i think they are around $80 and you can get them from the chemist according to what our vets says....i suppose they take the worry out of giving an injection with a needle - you just stick it in somewhere! Good luck with getting rid of all your capeweed, hopefully the bees will be dewindling in numbers soon and we will not have to worry as much, but it definatley is a worry when you are working or not at home as to what could happen!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldoop Posted November 7, 2005 Share Posted November 7, 2005 (edited) Jenny we had to get rid of the cape weed at our horses paddock aswell, if it takes hold its a bugger to get rid of, I use here at home a garden tool..(dont know what its called..sorry) but it has two prongs and a 'U' shape under the handle and you push the prongs into the base of the cape weed and push the handle to the ground and the 'U' bit under levers the weed out of the ground....hope you understand me here ;) and it takes roots and all out and I haven't had any cape weeds for awhile now, as soon as I see a small one starting to grow, I pull it out, dont know if this will help you, but it has me and I'm no gardener Also can you PM me the emergency vet in Hallam as I really should have it incase. Thanks Edited November 7, 2005 by kittyhawklee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldielover Posted November 8, 2005 Author Share Posted November 8, 2005 Hey Lisa, I'll have to invest in one of those tools. I was so peeved about the bee's and so worried about Chelsea yesterday as i'm working a lot this week that i was trying to whack the capeweed & it's roots out with the metal pooper scooper . I'm sure we have a shovel somewhere but the pooper scooper was handier. I'll PM you the Hallam emergency vet details. Cheers, Jenny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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