Bee Stings

Denali has always been a bug chaser. Unfortunately she doesn't know about bees. How could she? The first time she was ever stung was at the end of last summer. My husband and I had been at our new house painting all day. When it was time to go back to the apartment for the night my husband called Denali in from the backyard. Once back at the apartment we were shocked to see her face.

It's ok to laugh at the poor girl, I sure did!

My husband said he saw her tossing her head and pawing at her face when he had called her in, but he didn't think anything of it. She had obviously been stung on the lip. I got really close and to my surprise I could see the stinger! I grabbed the tweezers and pulled it out. The swelling never got worse than what is shown in the above image. As this was her first sting I kept a very close eye on her. I looked up allergic reactions and discovered that we would have definitely known by then if she was allergic. Allergic reactions happen fairly quickly. We watched her the rest of the night just to make sure she could still breathe, drink, and swallow normally. She was acting like nothing was wrong.


At the time I didn't look up other ways to help her. I knew that getting the stinger out was most important. I later discovered that dogs can be given Benadryl for bee stings. You should consult your vet about the appropriate dosage for your dog's size. You can also ice the area if possible.

About 2 weeks ago on June 9th she was stung again. Neither of us knew it. My husband suddenly called out to me "What's wrong with Nali's face?!?" We knew what was wrong. Unfortunately I couldn't find the stinger this time. The swelling was on both sides of her face making me think she was probably stung inside her mouth. I looked inside. Her tongue was fine and I couldn't see a stinger anywhere. She looked like she'd had a few good rounds of boxing.

I sent my husband out to get Benadryl since we didn't have any at home. I called the vet to verify the dosage (which is 50mg for a dog her size- 40 lbs- and we could give it twice a day). We gave her the Benadryl and again kept an eye on her to make sure it wasn't getting worse and that she could still breathe and swallow normally. We gave her more Benadryl before bed and by morning the swelling was almost gone. The entire time she behaved normally.

Today she got stung AGAIN. I would have thought she'd learn by now! I let all three dogs out to potty as I finished up with the dishes. I heard a soft yelp. I stepped outside and Denali yelped quietly again. I called her to me and she yelped yet again while coming over to me. I yelled to my husband, "Nali's yelping and I don't know why!" and he came to help. I habitually checked her front paws first. I then figured it had to be a bee. I opened her mouth and saw a little dark spot on her tongue. OUCH!!! Hubby ran to get me the tweezers as I held her mouth open. I didn't want to lose sight of it or have her swallow it. I pulled the stinger out and hub immediately got the Benadryl. The stinger was in her probably less than a minute. She didn't swell at all. If you get the stinger out IMMEDIATELY there is much less chance of swelling or any reaction at all, though some dogs are more sensitive to bee stings than others. We kept a *very* close eye as if her tongue was to swell she could end up not being able to breathe, or choking on her own spit if she couldn't swallow.

Click to enlarge

I don't know if she can really learn that bees hurt. It makes me nervous for the times I leave the dogs out in the kennel outside when we're gone for a few hours. What if she got stung while we were gone? Thankfully she's not allergic and even when we couldn't find the stinger her 2nd time she was still fine.