What to do if Your Pet Gets Stung by a Bee or Wasp · Vet Tips

so your dog or cat has been stung by a bee. don't panic. in this video I'm going to tell you how to look for signs they've been stung what to do in the aftermath and signs of a severe allergic reaction first things first if you didn't see it happen you may notice swelling where the sting occurred and your dog or cat may be seeming agitated or focusing on the area showing some signs of discomfort in addition to maybe fussing around the area if it was on a foot or a limb you may find that the animal is favoring that Limb and limping you may even find a stinger or swelling around the muzzle or the face for that over enthusiastic Pooch who tried to eat a bee and sometimes this may even occur in the mouth now as long as your pet doesn't show any signs of a severe allergic reaction or anaphylaxis which we'll chat more about in a second here's some things that you can do immediately in the aftermath step one is to find the stinger and remove it as soon as possible using something firm and flat like a credit card you can very gently scrape over the sight to try and remove the Stinger now it's important that we want to try and get below anywhere that you can see if there's a poison sack but also you don't want to squeeze too much to potentially release more Venom to the site and cause irritation a gentle smooth motion with a flat object is typically going to be the best way you'll have success at removing that Stinger the next thing that you can do is very gently clean the area with a washcloth and some cool water in some cases you may want to reach for something like an ice pack to help with the swelling and the discomfort this is the safest and easiest home remedy that you can do to help try and alleviate some of the discomfort in your pet you may have seen some other home remedies for bee or wasp stings out there on the internet so let's talk about those really quickly be stings themselves are acidic because of the Venom so in these cases we can use a combo of bicarb and water to make a paste to help neutralize that acidic pH on the other hand wasp stings Are alkaline so putting a little bit of vinegar on these stings can actually help make the solution more neutralized the other direction these are some home remedies that you may have heard of and that can provide a little bit of relief if you want to stick to the easiest and safest option a cold compress is always going to be helpful in terms of decreasing a little bit of inflammation and hopefully a little bit of discomfort while any sting can be irritating to our pets it's really important to be aware that some pets may be increasingly sensitive to stings this means they're having a severe allergic reaction or anaphylaxis here's some signs that you should look out for that may indicate your pet is experiencing a severe allergic or anaphylactic reaction to a for pets that have been stung in the mouth we may see hypers salivation or increased drooling that that's occurred for other signs of anaphylaxis we may note swelling of the nose mouth or major Airways trouble breathing hives vomiting or diarrhea weakness to even signs of collapse any of these signs can potentially indicate a life-threatening allergic reaction and you should seek Veterinary Care immediately I never recommend home medicating your pet because there are too many human medications out there that are extremely toxic to our pets that being said there are responsible ways that owners can be prepared at home I often encourage owners to call their veterinarian and request advice about a safe antihistamine at a safe dose that can be given to your pet in a sort of allergic reaction this would be appropriate for mild cases not for severe cases in other scenarios pain medications may be necessary so please ask your vet to potentially prescribe a dog safe pain medic ation to help relieve discomfort in cases of insect bites if your pet is not showing signs of a severe allergic reaction or anaphylaxis in many cases the symptoms are mild and will resolve with time in any case if you're ever not sure call your vet I would rather have you call me 10 times and me say that I'm not worried then not call the one time that I need you to