Years ago, when we were still living in the Midwest, I let Maxwell out to do his business just before we were going to turn in. I watched him from the back porch as he walked the perimeter of the backyard. He was walking nose to ground, as hounds are apt to do, when suddenly he jerked his head up and shook it vigorously from side to side. I had a feeling he had been stung by an insect of some sort but thought little of it since he seemed unfazed by the attack and continued on his merry way.
About 5 minutes later Maxwell came back inside the house and that's when I noticed a large welt on the side of his muzzle, where he had been stung. As I examined the welt the rest of his muzzle began to swell before my eyes. I started to panic when his muzzle nearly doubled in size. Since it was already past 11:00 p.m. I knew our vet wouldn't be around so I called our local animal emergency clinic. I explained the situation to the person on the other end of the line and she said it sounded like Maxwell was having an allergic reaction to a bee sting and that Benadryl should be enough to stop the reaction.
"Benadryl!?! Do we have any Benadryl?" I scrambled around the house, opened drawers and dug through an assortment of expired meds, but couldn't find any Benadryl. At this point I was in high panic mode. I imagined Maxwell going into anaphylactic shock - gasping for air as his wind pipe swelled shut. I scrambled into the car, leaving my husband behind with the dog, and raced to the local CVS...which was closed. Arg! I proceeded to Walgreens...bingo! As I raced home I opened the Benadryl so I would have a pill ready to shove down my boy's throat. Once I got home we administered the pill and within minutes the swelling began to go down. Within the hour Maxwell's muzzle was back to normal and disaster was averted. Sheesh. Not exactly how I planned on ending the night. Moral of the story...be prepared. Always have some Benadryl on hand in case your pup gets stung by a bee and has an allergic reaction...at 11:00 at night...right before bed time. Sigh.
About 5 minutes later Maxwell came back inside the house and that's when I noticed a large welt on the side of his muzzle, where he had been stung. As I examined the welt the rest of his muzzle began to swell before my eyes. I started to panic when his muzzle nearly doubled in size. Since it was already past 11:00 p.m. I knew our vet wouldn't be around so I called our local animal emergency clinic. I explained the situation to the person on the other end of the line and she said it sounded like Maxwell was having an allergic reaction to a bee sting and that Benadryl should be enough to stop the reaction.
"Benadryl!?! Do we have any Benadryl?" I scrambled around the house, opened drawers and dug through an assortment of expired meds, but couldn't find any Benadryl. At this point I was in high panic mode. I imagined Maxwell going into anaphylactic shock - gasping for air as his wind pipe swelled shut. I scrambled into the car, leaving my husband behind with the dog, and raced to the local CVS...which was closed. Arg! I proceeded to Walgreens...bingo! As I raced home I opened the Benadryl so I would have a pill ready to shove down my boy's throat. Once I got home we administered the pill and within minutes the swelling began to go down. Within the hour Maxwell's muzzle was back to normal and disaster was averted. Sheesh. Not exactly how I planned on ending the night. Moral of the story...be prepared. Always have some Benadryl on hand in case your pup gets stung by a bee and has an allergic reaction...at 11:00 at night...right before bed time. Sigh.
Puptip | The usual dosage of Benadryl for dogs is 1 mg per 1 lb of body weight.
No comments:
Post a Comment