Hi all,

Mika and Max seem to be progressing well.  Definitely an adventure raising two puppies at the same time.  

Last night, my wife noticed something was wrong with Mika.  She was pawing at her nose and her face seemed swollen.  Once she turned on the patio light, it was obvious there was an issue.

Long story short, we took her to the ER and they gave her a benadryl and steroid injection and took to some blood to see if her reaction was more severe (anaphylaxis).  "Normal" reaction" for what that's worth.  They found the stinger on the tip of her nose. About 45 min total and were were on our way.  

She's much better this morning.

Here is a pic:  "You win this one, Bee"

Oh poor baby She looks like a husky x shar pei Hope Mike is feeling better in a day or two. <3

Did you ask what the blood test would show to indicate anaphylaxis? I've had it and no blood test was needed to diagnose...

Hope she feels better soon - the benedryl and steroid should take care of it rapidly.

I second Renee's "Oh, poor baby!!" If the swelling looks like it's starting to come back, you can use another Benadryl - but it's 1 mg per pound of body weight (typical tablet has 50mg so you'd want to cut it in half at least, maybe quarters) but I'd check with your vet first.

Bet she didn't learn not to chase bees though ... mine get stung regularly and still snap at the bees when they're buzzing 'round their water bowl.

Thanks all.

amymeme wrote:

Did you ask what the blood test would show to indicate anaphylaxis?  I've had it and no blood test was needed to diagnose...

Hope she feels better soon - the benedryl and steroid should take care of it rapidly.

Thanks... she's back to her regular self this morning.  Dogs are amazing.  I'd still be in bed milking it.  

I didn't ask specifically what would show up in the blood test.. She said that it would show whether or not she was having an anaphylactic reaction.  That way we would know for the next time it happens.  

aljones wrote:

I second Renee's "Oh, poor baby!!"  If the swelling looks like it's starting to come back, you can use another Benadryl - but it's 1 mg per pound of body weight (typical tablet has 50mg so you'd want to cut it in half at least, maybe quarters) but I'd check with your vet first.

Bet she didn't learn not to chase bees though ... mine get stung regularly and still snap at the bees when they're buzzing 'round their water bowl.

Thanks.  I checked our bottle and the tabs are 25mg so I think we're good there.  Discharge papers say 25mg too.  Mika weighed 23.6lbs on our scale at home.

Hopefully these incidents happen very infrequently.

Looks exactly like my little Mishka when she got stung. Swelling lasted about 1-2 days I think, but I didn't use Benadryl or anything.

Oh but benadryl is great for sting and bites. I've used it for that purpose on both me and the dogs. In fact the benadryl that I have in the house is in my dogs first aid kit ...

It's fantastic for snake bites since it reduces the swelling and the pain ...

aljones wrote:

Oh but benadryl is great for sting and bites.  I've used it for that purpose on both me and the dogs.  In fact the benadryl that I have in the house is in my dogs first aid kit ...

It's fantastic for snake bites since it reduces the swelling and the pain ...

Yup. I'm allergic to quite a few things so I alway have antihistamines around. I can only take Benadryl when I'm about to go to sleep, though. It knocks me out.

I hope to take the dog(s) backpacking with me once they get older so I'll be including it in whatever dog first aid kit I put together.

Aww! That face!

Loki looked exactly the same, so cartoonish! The vet and I bonded over how hilarious he looked.

I didn’t know about Benadryl. I’ll have to see what the Australia version is.

loki_said_smile wrote:

Aww! That face!

Loki looked exactly the same, so cartoonish! The vet and I bonded over how hilarious he looked.

I didn’t know about Benadryl. I’ll have to see what the Australia version is.

Benadryl is the brand name of the drug diphenhydramine.  It's an over-the-counter antihistamine.  You may have it branded in a generic brand too that will save you some money.

Just be sure it does not contain any other medications. Some pills will be blended with decongestants, pain relievers or cough suppressants.

loki_said_smile wrote:

<< snipped >>

I didn’t know about Benadryl. I’ll have to see what the Australia version is.

According to this page from Lowchens Australia, it's called benadryl there as well.  As @dvflyer mentioned, though, make sure that the only active ingredient in the antihistamine you choose is diphenhydramine.

It would help us to be able to help you better, btw, if you'd update your profile to show a "Location" of Australia, that way we won't be recommending products that aren't available there.

Bee #2 for Mika late last night.  Benadryl in a couple pieces of hotdog and she's 100% this morning.

Now if she'd just learn bees= bad.  But you know what they say, "no brains, no headache".

<< off topic >> Unrelated but I had one of these visit me last evening. It was a good 1.5 inches long - maybe pushing 2. The cats found it amusing and the dogs were wondering what was making the noise - *VERY* loud sounds as it flew around.

When I looked it up and the title of the article is "Just lay down and scream" I have to admit that I'm glad this guy<?> didn't decide to sting - course if it was a guy it couldn't have stung, but just the same it was way too big a wasp for me to let wander my bedroom at its leisure.

Hmmm...reason 793 for not moving south!

Glad Mika is doing good. Bummed she is still going after bees. We haven’t had that one yet with Zi, but he bites at everything airborne so I suspect it’s just a matter of time. Seeing your post let’s me know what to do, so I’ve added Benadryl to the hiking pack going forward.

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I have a water bowl on the porch for when the dogs are on lead out front and a pool out back - which only Sasha only wades in. Both attract bees since their water sources are limited. I've seen Avalanche and Sky both go get a drink of water with bees buzzing around and they just don't seem to care (neither the bees or the dogs ...)

Yes, I do consider myself lucky that they don't snap at the bees ....