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Swarm! Badger gets bugged by beasties.

Since I moved to Yorkshire I have encountered several new things; fields where you can walk your dogs one day and are under three foot of water the next, extremely friendly people who put the letter ‘t’ in places that you would not think possible, beautiful stretches of coastline and an enormous array of biting, stinging things!

I take ‘the boys’ to a certain woods every day and we all love it. There is food for free for me to pick and numerous smells for those of us with more acute noses. This summer I found my self savaged about the legs by large, slow- moving, ‘sticky’ flies. At one point in the walk where they seem to congregate to ambush unsuspecting walkers I actually ran like an idiot and made a dive for the car. Of course the dogs thought this an excellent game and jumped up and down beside me trying to nip that sensitive area of skin on the back of my arms- something which Badger prides himself on.

Anyway, as if by divine retribution for this unprovoked Badger attack he came up to me yesterday on our walk with a very drowsy looking wasp crawling over his ear. I brushed the offending thing off him only to see him a couple of seconds later with it next to his eye. He started madly pawing at his face to get it off. It fell and he trotted off, apparently none the worse for wear. It wasn’t until about fifteen minutes later at home that he came to me looking sheepish and I saw that his face was swelling to grotesque proportions. After about thirty minutes his eye was almost shut from the massive eyelid. For a normally- cowardly dog he was doing a good job of being a brave boy and I was very proud!

Every summer we, as vets, see a fair number of dogs (and cats for that matter) that have been stung or bitten by various insects. These range form the classic massive foot of an inquisitive kitten to the worrying dog that catches the creature in its mouth. I have often looked on in horror at Pan as he lazes in the sun snapping at bees and wasps that fly near his face. I also will not soon forget the day when I had gone home to visit my parents in Kent. I had taken the boys to a place near the river where I had always walked my old dog Penny. They were off sniffing around in the bushes for a while and then came charging out. As they ran towards me they would occasionally stop and turn to look at their flanks. They were clearly distressed. They had disturbed a nest and both had about a dozen wasps on and in their fur. After aiding the removal of the beasts we made a swift trip to the local vets to scrounge some drugs and everyone calmed down again!

On the whole these stings are very little to worry about long- term but it can be very distressing for the animal and the owner simply because of the discomfort produced. I have been stung a few times myself and it is a less than pleasant experience. As I mentioned in some cases just the location of the sting can necessitate immediate treatment. A swelling in the back of the mouth could very quickly start to hamper normal breathing.

Some animals also display ‘urticaria’ which is what we call ‘hives’ when they encounter insect ‘attacks’. These tend to be more common for some reason in dogs such as Boxers and Staffies and other such very short- haired breeds. They can be quite spectacular reactions with flattish lumps appearing all over the animal’s body with various degrees of swelling.

I think a lot of people have a bit of a quandary as to whether they should seek attention or not. They don’t want to make a fuss but their dog is starting to resemble the ‘elephant man’ and they are not entirely happy about it. We all know that most stings and bites are a fairly minor irritation and if left completely alone will go down sooner or later. When I got stung and my calf muscle started to look like a solid bruise I found that ice helped a lot but I still needed some kind of anti- inflammatory cream to help with the swelling. I didn’t think Badger was going to sit still for an hour while I held an ice- pack on his eye.

I think it is fair to say that if your animal gets stung it is better to be safe than sorry and get some treatment. At least that way you can be sure that you have done all you can to make your animal comfortable and reduce the risks of any overreaction. What your dog is given will vary between vets and also depends on the severity and site of the sting. Personally, I gave Badger an injection of a short- acting steroid. This is extremely effective at reducing swelling and thus alleviating discomfort. I know steroids have a very bad reputation but in an otherwise healthy animal they are extremely effective and safe, especially when used as a short course. There are other types of anti- inflammatories available that are not steroids and have more of a pain- killing effect that are just as effective for most stings and you can talk to your vet about which suits your case best.

Anyway, I’m glad to say that Badger was back to his normal gorgeous self after a couple of hours and today has been diving around in the bushes as if nothing happened.

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