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Monday 2 April 2012

Bee-have

Hello

Please could you tell me if bee/wasp stings are poisonous to dogs?

My Springer keeps chasing them round the garden and trying to eat them! I do tell her to leave them alone and she does, but if she does manage to catch one and it stings her, should I call the vet straight away? And is there anything I can keep in my first aid kit for her?


Thanks

Suzanne Ball, by email

4 comments:

  1. Vinegar for wasp stings and bi-carbonate of soda for bee stings but if she is stung in the mouth I would go to the vet as a precaution just in case she swells up and her airways become blocked.

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  2. You can give a Piriton tablet or a teaspoon of the children's medicine. I wouldn't bother going to the vet unless the sting is inside the mouth and the swelling is affecting her breathing.

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  3. I run my own dog walking business and had a six-month old Jack Russell as a customer last summer. She was stung on a walk and seemed to go in to a mild state of shock. The advice I got from my vet was bathe the sting in vinegar, keep the dog calm and see how she is in an hour with the option to go to the vet if there was no improvement. She recovered just fine in that hour and there were no other problems. Probably tweezers and vinegar, or something with similar properties to vinegar, are good to have at hand. I'm not sure what implications there might be for any dog stung in the mouth or throat - probably best to get them to a vet asap in that case? I'm sure your vet would be happy to give some advice in advance of such a situation ever arising.

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  4. Judith Stephens3 April 2012 at 10:10

    I always carry a Wasp-Eze spray with me and this has saved me a fortune in vets bills. It really does work. Buy it from any chemist

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