My little, gorgeous friend Chiclet is right on target once again with another of her fantastic articles, WOOF!

My boyfriend Jiggy’s career as a male model is temporary on hold. One moment he was on leash inspecting blades of grass. Minutes later, he was holding up a throbbing foot. There was no yelp, no warning. In fact, at first, we didn’t even know what was wrong.

Mom and Dad and Jiggy and I were out on a beautiful golf course, one shot into the very first hole, when Jiggy inexplicably tried to jump off the seat of the cart. Mom caught him mid-air and quickly realized his was in pain. Thinking he might have hit his leg during his jump, she rushed him home to administer ice and some Arnica Montana. Arnica is a great post-trauma (and post-surgical) homeopathic remedy that helps prevent bleeding and bruising. As she inspected his foot, she began to suspect that some nasty bug may have stung him.

Several years ago Jiggy had had an allergic reaction to a bee sting. Within 15 minutes of the sting, his face was swelling, his eyes tearing and nose running. Even worse, he barfed all over me. Mom rushed him to the vet where he got a shot of Benedryl and hydrocortisone (much to our holistic vet’s dismay). The vet kept him for several hours to make sure he didn’t go into shock.

This time, Mom gave him some Arnica Montana 30C (3 pellets) in case he’d been injured.* When she noticed he was sucking his foot, and that his whole leg was hot and swollen, she gave him, as our Dr. Hebbler had suggested, a homeopathic bee sting remedy called Apis Mellifica 20C — three pellets every five minutes for three times. If you don’t know what kind of insect is the culprit, use Ledum palustre 200C (3 pellets every ten minutes, 3 times). You can find these remedies at your health food store and keep them on hand for emergencies. (Mom has finally put them in our traveling kit.) The sooner you give them, the better. Otherwise, your dog, like Jiggy, will end with a scarlet sausage where his leg used to be.

The saga continues. Because of his previous allergic reaction, Mom had Dad drive us to an emergency vet while she administered the remedies and watched for signs of shock — face swelling, watery eyes and nose, vomiting, lethargy, collapse. When we got there, the vet wanted to shave his leg and look for a stinger. Mom said fine, even though this messed up his modeling career. She insisted they get her permission before giving him any meds. Of course, they wanted to give him shots of Benedryl and hydrocortisone and wanted keep him for a while, but Mom politely refused. Jiggy was showing no signs of distress, and had even started putting weight on his foot. Mom wanted to continue giving him Apis (several times a day for a few days) and wait. And she wanted to take him home, where he wouldn’t be stressed. She promised to rush right back to the vet’s office at the first sign at shock–which never came. She was advocating for him as I’d want her to advocate for me.

Stings can be life threatening for an allergic dog, so always err on the side of caution. If you want a happy ending to your dog’s close encounter with a bug, be prepared to act on the following:

If your dog’s face or throat starts to swell, rush her to the nearest vet.* Call on the way and tell them what happened. Give natural remedies as someone drives you to the vet; if you have to drive alone, pull over to administer the remedies. Allergic reactions can be a matter of life and death. Seconds count. If your dog has previously survived an allergic attack, ask your vet if you should have a bee-sting kit or keep a holistic remedy in your first aid kit/purse/car.

If you don’t have a homeopathic remedy and your dog is in distress, administer a size-appropriate dose of plain Benadryl (containing diphenhydramine only) and get to the vet. Ask your doctor to give you the appropriate dose and write it down with an indelible marker on the bottle. Use Children’s Benadryl if your dog is small.

· If your dog is showing no signs of an allergic attack, and you detect a stinger still in the wound, try to carefully knock it out with the edge of a blunt knife or credit card. If you pull out the stinger with tweezers, you may squeeze more poison into the wound. One knowledgeable doctor told Mom to squeeze the juice of an onion over the sting. Clean and dress the bite with an antiseptic ointment. If the wound starts to swell, apply ice wrapped in a towel for 10 to 15 minutes, being careful not to freeze the skin. Expect the dog to be in a lot of pain, so muzzle him/her if you believe your dog might bite. Not all dogs are as sweet as Jiggy is.

Why should you use homeopathy instead of drugs? Hydrocortisone suppresses the immune system; it should be avoided in animals with fungus infections, liver or kidney impairment or any of a host of other problems. If you ask me, that’s good enough reason to avoid it in all dogs whenever possible.

Did you know that medical doctors don’t give hydrocortisone to Humans who get bitten? If an allergic reaction is suspected, they administer epinephrine, not hydrocortisone. I asked two emergency room doctors (for humans) about this, and they both said that giving systemic cortisone is extreme, harmful and unnecessary. When asked why vets might give it to dogs, they said people just think dogs are tough and can handle it. Yeah, right.

* Important: Do you know exactly how to get to the nearest emergency vet? Are you sure? If not, out of habit, you’ll probably rush to your own vet who may not be open or may be too far away. In an emergency, minutes count. Please take a moment right now to print out directions to your nearest 24 hour emergency vet and put a copy in all your cars. Make a tiny version for your wallet. Your dog’s life may depend on it. You can find emergency vets for your area at Pets911 and can get directions at Yahoo. Why are you just sitting there? Just do it!
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Permission to reprint granted by Jan Rasmusen, author of Scared Poopless: The Straight Scoop on Dog Care. Learn more, and sign up for a free newsletter, at www.dogs4dogs.com

Disclaimer: The content of this newsletter is provided for general information purposes. Any information provided is not veterinary advice and should not be substituted for a regular consultation with a veterinary professional. If you have any concerns about your dog’s health, please contact your veterinarian’s office immediately.

Have a pawsitively tail waggin’, naturally healthy day, WOOF!

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