Saturday, I was on our pontoon boat, cleaning it - and noticed Jimmy was sitting under the tree, licking his right hind foot. Ten minutes later, I looked over, and he was STILL licking his foot and panting. Uh-oh.
I walked over - he looked at me with pain-glazed eyes, he was panting and his leg was shaking...rolled onto his back so I could examine his foot. Aside from being wet from being licked - nothing. No cuts/swelling. I encouraged him to go inside (it WAS hot out) and he refused to use his foot at all - hopped along on 3 legs.
Now if this had been Jack the Incredibly Tough Cattle Dog - I would have whisked him into the car for a trip to MSU. However, this is *Jimmy*. "Princess Jimmy the Drama Queen" - clearly his pain threshold came from the Poodle side, because Aussies are also tough. He hopped onto the couch, (pretty good for a one-legged launch!) and I put on my glasses and trimmed away fur and STILL saw nothing. All I can figure is that he stepped on a bee? I told him to take a nap, and eventually the panting calmed, and after about an hour, the leg-shaking stopped. Finally, he hopped off the couch like nothing had happened and got a drink of water.
Soooo.... my question is: what do you do for a bee sting? Anything you put on it topically, is going to get licked off - so products like "After Bite" might make him sicker than the sting? I figured if it showed signs of itching, I'd give him Benadryl - but I'm not sure than Benadryl would have stopped the initial pain?
When our Malamute would occasionally eat a bee and get stung, the vet recommended a paste made from baking soda. Worked very well. Wonder if the same thing would work externally? Dunno.....
Rusty & Cheryl 2011 F250 2WD 6.2L Gasser 2008 Weekend Warrior FB2100
"Common sense is in spite of, not the result of, education" - Victor Hugo (1802-1885)
I keep a bottle of liq Benedryl on the boat, in the RV, for such occasions...I also have the dose written on the bag with the syringes so if I'm in a panic I don't have to stop and figure out how much to give....
I use a paste of meat tenderizer and water and apply it to the sting. My cocker spaniel got stung about 3 or 4 times and the stings swelled real fast.
I wet him down to find out what had him rolling on his back for several minutes and found the swelling. In about 15 minutes after applying the paste he was fine, swelling receded and in about 30 minutes back to normal. Always keep some in the medicine cabinet. I use it on nasty bites/stings for myself also.
LadyRVer wrote: I use a paste of meat tenderizer and water and apply it to the sting. My cocker spaniel got stung about 3 or 4 times and the stings swelled real fast.
I wet him down to find out what had him rolling on his back for several minutes and found the swelling. In about 15 minutes after applying the paste he was fine, swelling receded and in about 30 minutes back to normal. Always keep some in the medicine cabinet. I use it on nasty bites/stings for myself also.
That's a good one, I think I have actually heard it before. Oh, and it needs to be the UNFLAVORED variety of meat tenderizer or the critter is going to ingest a lot of salt. Our poor kitty snapped a bee out of the air once. She never did that again.
Judy & Bud (Judy usually the one talking here)
2004 Pleasure-Way Excel TD
LadyRVer wrote: I use a paste of meat tenderizer and water and apply it to the sting. My cocker spaniel got stung about 3 or 4 times and the stings swelled real fast.
I wet him down to find out what had him rolling on his back for several minutes and found the swelling. In about 15 minutes after applying the paste he was fine, swelling receded and in about 30 minutes back to normal. Always keep some in the medicine cabinet. I use it on nasty bites/stings for myself also.
That's a good one, I think I have actually heard it before. Oh, and it needs to be the UNFLAVORED variety of meat tenderizer or the critter is going to ingest a lot of salt. Our poor kitty snapped a bee out of the air once. She never did that again.
So you dip this .... ... in water, then you pound it on the sting? ...
From your close inspection of Jimmy's foot, you saw no swelling orevidence of a sting or bite, therefore . . . . . . . my guess he did not have a sting or bite. Could he have twisted or slightly sprained his foot/toes/ankle area? I know Gretchen has done something like that, once or twice, and recovered completely within several hours.
In any case, bee stings come and go pretty quickly, unless one is unfortunate enough to be allergic. This site has some helpful ideas concerning bee stings in dogs:
Walter & Garland - Camp Canine caretakers
Gen. Gretchen - 9 y.o. GSD - Special Forces/Seal/DOTL Cloudbusters
Gen. Missy - GSD/Aussie - Joined Special Forces/DOTL Rainbow Division, June 11,2006
Miss Inga - 9 week old GSD. Still a civilian at this point.
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... in water, then you pound it on the sting? ... 
This site has some helpful ideas concerning bee stings in dogs:
