Silly Sammy Gets Stung by a Bee

Last Thursday I found out Sammy is allergic to bees. We were out for a walk, like we do every afternoon when I bent down to tie my shoe. We were next to a big patch of ice plant which was full of bees. Sammy has jumped through this ice plant several times before without problem so I did not think too much of it. We were crossing the street, about two blocks from home, when he stopped in the middle of the street to chew on his paw. I had to drag him out of the street to the corner. I tried to figure out what was wrong. He was crying and I figured something was in his paw because he was chewing on it. I tried to get him to walk home but he would not put any weight on his front right paw and was trying to walk on only 3 legs. I picked him up and finished the walk home. When we got home I tried to look at his paw, but he was not having it. I figured I would let him rest and see how he was doing. He hobbled over to the living room on 3 paws and started throwing up. I grabbed my phone to call the vet and she told me to come over right away. Poor Sammy couldn’t move so I carried him to the car. He started panting really hard and his eyes were turning glassy. I was so scared, and got us to the vet as quickly as possible.

When we got to the vet she examined him and gave him a shot of something to reduce the swelling. His face was puffy and his paws were swollen. Sammy received an IV drip and a few other medications and the swelling started to go down. The vet is pretty sure he swallowed the stinger by accident which is what caused such a big reaction. After about 20 minutes of fluids, he was finally starting to feel better. He was able to walk around on all 4 legs again. The vet gave us meds that he needs to take for the next 2 weeks and she gave us a prescription for a dog epi pen, which I found out is the same as a human epi pen, only smaller. He was so mopey the rest of the evening and I was still worried about him. He was defiantly better, but he was not his old Sammy self.

We brought Sammy down to Mike’s parents the next day so he could see his friend Peaches and we could keep an eye on him. You would never have guessed anything was wrong with him at this point! He was running around, jumping, and saying hi to all the people in the house. I was very happy to see him so upbeat after such a traumatic day. Honestly I think I was more freaked out than he was. This was my first dog emergency and I am so grateful I have a vet I was able to call who was able to see him right away. Sammy is doing much better. Just a few more days of meds and of course no more walks by bees!