# Milestone reached - first emergency vet visit



## curlflooffan (Mar 27, 2020)

So little Evra had her routine vet visit yesterday complete with last round of puppyshots. 

So we decided today to take her in the car to a nice quiet wooded area in Tervuren for some positive exploration and recall training. To ensure that she doesnt associate the car with only bad vet trips. 

Well that didnt go to plan...

She was sniffing the grass when she yelped and sat down. Shaking and refusing to walk. Little old anxious me began to panick a bit. A part of my brain thinking oh what if its some horrible neurological thing and she cant walk! 

But when I found the sting on her lips and her snout began to swell and look like goofy. It was fairly obvious that some kind of insect, a bee or a wasp had stung her.

As she is so young we didnt want to take any chances. My SO is the hero of the day. The emergency vets had a 3 hour wait. So SO drove around, remembering that there were vet offices on the route home. One of them had a 24/7 number. This tiny little vet office gave us an appointment for 10min later. 

She got a shot for the swelling, shock and pain and was better within minutes. We have a prescription for additional meds for tomorrow if needed but I dont think we will need them. 

But so much for learning that a car ride does not always end in vets and needles...


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

Oh no poor Evra!


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## Starla (Nov 5, 2020)

Awwww poor little pupper!! I’m glad you were able to get her seen quickly!


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## Liz (Oct 2, 2010)

Sorry the outing didn't go as planned, but so glad you were able to get her seen right away. Wishing Evra many belly scratches as she heals.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Well that is just cruddy that things didn't go as planned. I hope you can try that ride to a fun place before too long. Maybe to a pet store where you will carry the baby dog around. Let her pick a toy.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Not the trip you wanted, but excellent that she was able to see a vet so quickly.


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## Porkchop (Sep 2, 2019)

That is terrifying, bee stings on the mouth or multiple stings can be quickly fatal to dogs. And yours definitely was having a severe reaction. Thank god you were able to get Evra seen, good job SO.


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## curlflooffan (Mar 27, 2020)

Thanks everyone for the kind messages. Evra went on a little thiefing foraging trip around the apartment just now. Looking for things to chew. I take that as a sign that she is feeling back like herself. The snout looks back to normal, she will even let me press on it without flinching or trying to get away. So seemingly she is not even tender.

The vet said that an adult dog can usually handle one sting but that a puppy needs a little more help.

Im very glad that we didnt wait to take her in. It was such a simple solution. Just one shot and she was better within minutes!

@lily cd re that would be a good idea! Especially considering that apparently none of her current chew toys are as tempting as her daddys slippers. 😂


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## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

I am glad Evra is okay, misadventures are part of puppy life, hopefully her next outing is full of fun


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Well that's a milestone I'm not looking forward to! Glad it worked out for Evra and you!
I have lots of bees (Bumble Bee's and Honey Bee's, mostly) in my gardens (yard). Elroy watches them pollinating the flowers with great interest. I haven't seen him snap at any yet, and I encourage him to "leave it", but I do wonder when he'll be stung. Can we pet owners be better prepared for this in some way?


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## curlflooffan (Mar 27, 2020)

I have to admit you guys that I was really relieved when I found the sting as it gave me an immediate explanation as to why my puppy was shaking. It took us a few minutes to identify the problem and I was getting very concerned. But with a sting although she needed immediate medical attention it was at least a very simple and effective treatment that she needed. It was just an issue of finding a way to access those services on a sunday afternoon.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Wow, good thinking on your SO to find a vet quickly. poor Evra, good to hear she”s starting to feel back to normal.

My Babykins was bitten by a bee on her toe when she was a year old , I called the vet and they had me give her half an adult Benadryl (diphenhydramine) which worked. Benadryl for Dogs: Dosage, Side Effects, & Uses


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

curlflooffan said:


> But so much for learning that a car ride does not always end in vets and needles...


Ahhh! What a sad punchline.  But I’m glad Evra is okay.


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## Charmed (Aug 4, 2014)

When we stopped for a picnic lunch in the Ardennes Forest near Bastogne, I was surprised to see that rabies "vaccines" were dropped in bait boxes for the wild animals to eat so they would be immune to rabies. We did not have any dogs with us, but before I let my children out to play, I had to carefully translate the warnings that were posted. Being fluent in Spanish I could struggle and figure out written French because it is Latin based. English and Spanish were no help with Dutch, though. The other surprise to me, was that all the forests were so structured and patterned like swiss dottted fabric. This was because everything had to be replanted after WWII. I loved all the animal fences that surrounded the interstates to keep the wildlife safe and off the roads. It is so fascinating the things that are possible when your country is small.


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

I am so glad that Evra will be ok and Well Done to SO! Hope you'll all be able to rest easy tonight.


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

94Magna_Tom said:


> Can we pet owners be better prepared for this in some way?


Along with Skylars info,

First Aid for Insect Stings in Dogs | VCA Animal Hospital (vcahospitals.com)

There's a sticky for First Aid, courtesy of lily cd re, and some threads independently on First Aid procedures and what to keep in a canine First Aid kit. You'll do better to gather your own contents than buying a pre packaged kit. 

(10) Search results for query: "first aid" | Poodle Forum


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## WinnieThePoodle (Sep 1, 2020)

94Magna_Tom said:


> Well that's a milestone I'm not looking forward to! Glad it worked out for Evra and you!
> I have lots of bees (Bumble Bee's and Honey Bee's, mostly) in my gardens (yard). Elroy watches them pollinating the flowers with great interest. I haven't seen him snap at any yet, and I encourage him to "leave it", but I do wonder when he'll be stung. Can we pet owners be better prepared for this in some way?


Winnie is fascinated by bees and wasps and does try to snap at them. I'm constantly asking her to 'leave it' and she will for a few minutes but her curiosity gets the better of her. She hasn't been stung yet but I fear its just a matter of time.


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## The Popster (Feb 23, 2021)

WinnieThePoodle said:


> Winnie is fascinated by bees and wasps and does try to snap at them. I'm constantly asking her to 'leave it' and she will for a few minutes but her curiosity gets the better of her. She hasn't been stung yet but I fear its just a matter of time.


Yeah Poppy was really interested in flying things, which we discouraged but fell on deaf ears.
Sure enough she got stung.
Luckily was a very small bee, and got her on the nose.
She really didn't like it one iota.
But lucky not in the mouth was a smallish sting, which we could extract.
I thought 'good' , because it may teach her a lesson.
I think it has to some degree.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

The Popster said:


> I thought 'good' , because it may teach her a lesson.
> I think it has to some degree.


I agree. I think it'll only happen once, at least if it's their fault.


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## curlflooffan (Mar 27, 2020)

94Magna_Tom said:


> I agree. I think it'll only happen once, at least if it's their fault.


only if they make the connection between the insect and the sting and I think thats more likely to happen if they were actively pursuing them when it happened. But in Evra's case she was just sniffing the grass when she got stung. She has shown interest in chasing insects before but I don't know if that was the case when she was stung. I couldn't see pass her fluff and the grass. 

I am a little concerned that as she is at such a delicate age right now that this bad experience might have made a negative impact on her. That she might have made the connection between the pain and something unrelated such as the grass, the long leash or the golden retriever who walk by very calmly, innocently and on leash as I pulled the sting out. 

I have alerted my trainer about the unfortunate outing. We will just have to wait and see and then work with Evra if she has any issues after this. 

My SO and I both grew up with dogs. We have gone on countless dog walks throughout our lives. This is the first time ever that either one of us have had a medical emergency on a walk. Of course it happens when we are trying to introduce our new puppy to the world in a gentle and positive way... 

I did once think that I had a medical emergency on a walk. I was walking my mothers yorkie when he started yelping and limping very severly. I thought he had stepped on glass so frantic were his cries. Turned out he had a little sticky seed stuck to the side of his leg... 

Not even under the paw or anything like that, no on the side, by the elbow. He is a very dramatic little dog


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Yes. Only if they are actively chasing/snapping at it would the connection be likely.
Is Evra back to herself now?


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## curlflooffan (Mar 27, 2020)

94Magna_Tom said:


> Yes. Only if they are actively chasing/snapping at it would the connection be likely.
> Is Evra back to herself now?


Well we went on a little walk after work and I had to pull her away from a wasp so I would say yes. Perhaps a little extra sleepy today.


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## Charmed (Aug 4, 2014)

When our Airedale was a pup, we kept a pack of those dissolvable benadryl strips with us, and in each of the car gloveboxes. She envisioned herself a mighty huntress, and was always on the look out for anything that moved, stingers or not. Sometimes I think that being stung just makes them angry and more determined to catch another bug.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Well Elroy caught one yesterday. A Bumble Bee. Luckily he spit it out before he got stung. I'm pretty sure it's just a matter of time. Being 50+ lbs now, maybe it won't be an emergency when he does (so long as he's not allergic).
I like the idea of the disolvable benadryl strips. I'll look for them. I have no allergies whatsoever, so I have no antihistamines in the house.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

94Magna_Tom said:


> I like the idea of the disolvable benadryl strips. I'll look for them. I have no allergies whatsoever, so I have no antihistamines in the house.


Looks like they were discontinued about a decade ago.

Still a good idea to have Benadryl on hand. I had my first allergic reaction as an adult. They can pop up unexpectedly.


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