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Dogs bite! Despite domestication and despite being dubbed as man’s best friends, some people are still intimidated by dogs because these animals are capable attacking people with their sharp teeth and strong jaws. The threat of rabies was eliminated with ongoing vaccination programs but dogs are still feared because the injuries that can be caused by their bites. Isn’t it quite laughable that the “mighty” dog can be affected by the bite of a tiny insect?

Insect bites are particularly common during the summer months. Puppies are most susceptible to insect bites because their energetic and inquisitive nature makes them follow flying insects around. A dog’s body part stung by an wasp or a bee or bitten by a scorpion or a spider will be very painful.

Some dogs are tolerant of the insect bites. Apart from the pain on the bitten body part, no other reactions will be shown. Some dogs though would start showing insect bite symptoms about 20 minutes after the bite. An allergic reaction to insect bites would cause the dog’s face, eyelids, lips and ear flaps to swell. Some dogs would manifest violent reaction to insect bites. A dog stung by an insect can break out in hives and the whole face could swell. A more dangerous reaction to insect bites is when the swelling of the face extends to the throat making breathing difficult because of blocked airway. A dog can go into shock because of breathing difficulty and abnormal heart rate.

A dog that goes into shock because of an insect bite must be taken to a veterinary facility at once. Other mild and non-life threatening reactions to insect bites can be dealt with at home with some first aid treatments. As long as the dog was not stung in the throat or the insect bite has not resulted to the swelling of the throat that will make breathing difficult, some first aid methods can be applied to lessen the pain resulting from the insect bite.

If the dog was stung by a bee or a wasp, the stinger can be removed with tweezers and the bite area washed with saline solution. Warm compress or a paste made from water and baking soda applied in the sting area will ease the pain as the toxin is drawn out and the swelling reduced. Antihistamine like Benadryl is a must in every pet first aid kit. This medication will alleviate the pet’s allergic reaction to insect bites.

At Sarah’s Dogs you can learn more about insect bites as well as first aid for dogs.

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