Emergency
A muzzle puffed up on one side looks frightening and usually settles within a day or two. What matters is the first 30 minutes: breathing, gum colour, vomiting.
Emergency. Laboured or noisy breathing, vomiting, sudden diarrhoea, pale gums, weakness or collapse after a sting mean a severe allergic reaction. Go to the nearest clinic now, with someone ringing ahead from the car.
Call your own vet or the nearest clinic with an emergency service now, and set off. Do not ask a group what to do: every answer you wait for there is time lost for the dog.
Use this page to know what to observe, what to note and what to ask at the appointment, not to treat at home. If you still have doubts after a consultation, ask another vet or a specialist (dermatologist, internist) for a second opinion, not a group. And if you do not have a regular vet yet, find one now, while your dog is healthy: how to choose a veterinary clinic.
It is the afternoon and you are out in the garden. Your dog has been hunting something in the grass, jumps, shakes his head, and ten minutes later one side of his muzzle is puffed up, one eye half closed, and he is rubbing his face on the rug. Or he has trodden on a bee and is limping and licking his paw. Or he has snapped a wasp out of the air, as plenty of dogs do in summer, and now he is drooling.
Dogs get stung by bees and wasps a lot, mostly on the muzzle, face and paws, and most of the time the swelling goes down on its own within a day or two. A few situations turn serious within minutes, though. You will spot them if you know what to look for. Below: what to do right now, which signs mean going straight to the vet and how to prevent stings.
| What you see | What it usually means | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Swelling at the sting site, pain, licking or rubbing the spot | Ordinary local reaction | Cool it and keep watching; it goes down in 12 to 48 hours |
| Swollen muzzle and eyes, a "bulldog face" | Allergic reaction in the face | Ring the vet now; usually you go in |
| Hives or small lumps all over, fur standing up in patches | Urticaria, a body-wide allergic reaction | Ring now and watch his breathing |
| Vomiting, diarrhoea, weakness, pale gums, collapse | Severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) | Go to the clinic now |
| Laboured, noisy breathing after a sting in the mouth | Throat swelling | Go now |
| Dozens of stings | Venom poisoning | Go today, even if he looks fine |
| Two small puncture marks, swelling that grows fast, bruising, in long grass or among rocks | Possibly an adder bite | Go now; that is a different emergency |
You cannot keep a dog away from every insect, but you can cut the risk a lot. Most of the stings we come across in summer come from the same few situations: dogs who hunt insects, windfall fruit and the bowl left outside.
Lots of dogs, young ones especially, leap at anything that buzzes. Teach him a solid "leave it", practised at home with treats, and call him to you with real delight when he sets off after an insect. A dog who comes to you for a tasty treat instead of snapping at the wasp has made a good choice. Praise him for it every time.
In autumn, fallen plums, pears and grapes are crawling with wasps. A dog who eats fruit off the ground (and plenty do) swallows the wasp along with the plum. Clear them up or keep him away from the trees while the fruit is dropping.
Water and food left out in the garden draw wasps, which end up falling into the bowl. Keep the bowl in the shade, change the water often and do not leave food outside.
In spring, check the eaves, the shed, fences, hollow trees, roller-shutter boxes and loose soil in the corners of the garden, because some wasps nest underground. A nest near where your dog plays should be moved, with help from someone who knows how.
In meadows full of clover and flowers, in the warm part of the day, bees fly right at the height of a dog's nose. That is no reason to avoid meadows. Just keep an eye out.
For him you want a written plan from the vet, a clear idea of what is in your kit at home and in the car, and the out-of-hours clinic's number saved in your phone.
An old bank card for scraping out stings, compresses, a gel pack kept in the freezer, a towel, a muzzle (a dog in pain may defend himself), your vet's number and an out-of-hours clinic's, and your dog's weight noted in your phone. If your vet has prescribed something for your dog, keep it in the kit with its instructions.
Most stings end with an afternoon of puffy muzzle and a photo you show your friends. The kit is for the other ones.
What dog owners search for most often on the internet about this problem, with the short answer. The answers are a guide only: the decision belongs to your dog's own vet, after an examination.
Yes, in summer it is the most common cause. The muzzle or an eye swells within minutes, sometimes on one side only, and the dog rubs his face on the carpet or paws at it. It could also be an adder bite, a reaction to a food or a medicine, or a tooth abscess. Ring your vet today, even if he is breathing normally.
Scrape sideways across the skin with a fingernail, the edge of a bank card or a blunt blade until it comes out. Speed matters: the venom sac attached to the sting keeps pumping for about a minute. Do not waste time looking for tweezers. Wasps do not leave their sting behind, so if you find nothing it may have been a wasp.
Not on your own initiative. Some combination allergy tablets contain ingredients that are toxic to dogs, and the dose depends on his weight. Ring your vet: they can tell you over the phone whether you can give anything at home, and what, or whether you need to come in. A severe reaction needs clinic treatment anyway; a tablet is not enough.
An ordinary local reaction goes down within 12 to 48 hours. Cold compresses, ten minutes at a time, help in the first few hours. If the swelling grows after the first hours, spreads over the whole face, lumps appear on his body or he becomes lethargic, ring the vet. Severe reactions usually appear within the first 30 minutes.
Look in his mouth, at his tongue and the back of his throat, and watch his breathing. A sting in the throat can swell and narrow his airway, so ring the vet even if he seems fine right now. If he is breathing hard or noisily, drooling heavily and getting distressed, go to the clinic straight away.
The information on this page is educational and does not replace an examination. For full details and a diagnosis, consult your dog's own veterinarian.
They often come together: the same causes, plans that complement each other.
A yelp by a bush, then a muzzle swelling up within minutes. Keep him still, take his collar off and head for a clinic, ringing them on the way.
Claws on the belly at midnight, paws licked red, an ear infection every summer. Behind the word "allergy" sit at least three diseases, each with its own plan.
Half a bar of dark chocolate missing, the grape stalk bare, the sock gone. Gather the wrapper, work out how much he ate and call. Do not make him sick yourself.
He goes down limp, does not respond for a few seconds, then gets up as if nothing happened. Even if he looks fine now, a faint means a trip to the vet.
Call your own vet or the nearest clinic with an emergency service, say what happened and when, and set off. A call made from the car saves minutes on arrival.