Bee Sting Death

[Cheshirekatt]

Ok so here's the story...sorry it's a little long.

This August our Mastiff mix George was out playing in the yard and we heard him yipe, run across the yard and then collapse. By the time we got out there he was back up again, but he was a little pale and wobbly so we immediatly took him to the emergency clinic.
They looked and him and said he seemed ok, but wanted to keep him overnight and put a catheter in him just in case and run some bloodwork. The vet thought maybe he might have been stung by a bee but we weren't sure. He was fine overnight and my boyfriend picked him up the next morning. They said his bloodwork was fine and he hadn't had an episode. In fact he had sat out in reception with the front desk staff. (He was a clinic favorite.)
When I got home that day I called him in from the yard and he came in, collapsed and died in my arms in the kitchen. This all took place in like 5 minutes. He collapsed, had agonal breathing and lost ALL the color in his mucous membranes....and I mean bone white.
Needles to say we were devestated and shocked. I called my regular vet (who is amazing) and he said he thinks he got stung the first day and then stung again the next day and that threw him into anaphalyctic shock....a devestating allergic reaction. In hindsight I guess the emergency vet should have told us to keep him away from bees just in case, but hind sight is 20/20 right?
Has anyone else experienced this with their dogs or heard of it happening? I'm trying to find out some more information on this phenomena.

[KYS]

Can't help you with your question, but I
wanted to say how sorry I am to hear about George.

[lovemyshiba]

So sorry to hear about George.
I don't have any advice either, just wanted to offer my sympathy on the loss of your beloved dog.

[Dixieland Dancer]

I have never heard of this in dogs to this degree but have in people. Some people have to carry Bee Sting kits with them or they will die within minutes too of a bee sting.

I am sorry this happened to your George. :(

[Cheshirekatt]

Thanks so much for your responses. You all are very sweet. :)

[Karen]

How very sad. As others have said, I knew about this potentially happening in humans with bee allergies,so it seems reasonable that it could happen to a dog.

Unfortunately, he couldn't just say "I just got stung by a bee, and now I don't feel good" like a person could and so you couldn't know. And, as bees are wild creatures, it would be nearly impossible to keep him away from them anyway. How terribly sad, I hope you have better luck with your next pup.

[tatsxxx11]

My deepest sympathies on the loss of your beautiful George:( As with humans, dogs too can be severely allergic to bee stings. Unfortunately they cannot come and run to us and tell us that they have been stung.:( I'm so very sorry for you loss.:(:(:(

[Cheshirekatt]

Thanks so much.....here's a picture of our good boy, big dog George.

[Dixieland Dancer]

George was beautiful! Thanks for sharing his picture!! :)

[Sudilar]

I am so sorry for your loss of George. He was gorgeous.

I have never heard of anaphylactic shock in dogs, but am all too familiar with it in humans. :(

I, myself, have to carry a bee sting kit. I am allergic to bee stings.

[captain]

I am so sorry to hear about George ..... how awful for you :( .

He looks absolutely beautiful in the photo you shared

[wolfsoul]

aww poor george...
my dog timber has been stung alot...last summer we had a nest under our shed and in a hole in the tree...timnber was always interested in the bees and there would be tons swarming around, but we figured she would get used of them or learn that they came with not-so-good surprises...but nope, she always stood in the midst of them...u could see them landing on her and then falling, but she has such thick fur it didnt bother her!
eep then i never even thought about an allergic reaction though...ill keep that in mind...
ps who is that lovely dog in the background of the piccy?

[Cheshirekatt]

Once again guys, thanks for all your sweet responses. I wish I'd known about Pet Talk when George crossed the rainbow bridge.

The doggie in the background of the piccy is George's pitbull sister, Wilma. (Or better known as DingoGirl!) Poor thing grieved so badly when George died we had to get her another dog right away. Now she's got two big brothers to pick on and another on the way!

[captain]

Pitbull :D

YAY - any chance of pics of her and her 2 new brothers??? I am sure we would all love to see them.

[Cheshirekatt]

Hmmmmmm.....here's Wilma in her Dingo mode....

[Cheshirekatt]

Here's Joxer....he's pitbull/boxer.

P.S. How do I get the pics to show rather then embed? Plus, how do you post two pics in one post?

Thanks!

[skpaw]

So sorry about your friend George. My neighbor has a Chocolate Lab named Chip. He was also stung by a bee and had breathing problems. The vet gave him shots to counter his reaction (possibly Benadryl). Chip was fine after that but he was told to keep away from bees. It could happen again and have a worse reaction the next time. The problem is, how can you really keep dogs away from insects? I am very sorry for your loss.

[Dixieland Dancer]

Wilma and Joxer are both very precious! Thanks for sharing their picture with us!

You can upload images to imagestation.com and then do an IMG link to them.

[K9karen]

Kat..your pups are just lovely, beautiful photos..thanks for sharing. Sorry this is a late response. My dog Cody snaps at bees and must have been bitten without my noticing. At first I thought he develped a cold becuase he was sluggish and breathing heavier but did not seem in real distress. Nevertheless, I took him to the vet the next day where he got anti-biotics..same situation as George, nothing showed in blood work. By the next few days when he showed no improvement, I took him back and mentioned his bee fetish in conversation and the vet gave him a shot, and Cody was fine by the end of the day. So like humans, every dog is different I guess. What a shame, poor George. How devastating. Unfortunately, we have to learn by our mistakes.

[monkeycrazy18]

I am very sorry to hear about your dog. It all must have been vey saddening. My deepest sympathy.:(

[Cheshirekatt]

Karen,
I'm so glad that they were able to help your pup. Now you know what to look for and that's a very good thing. :)

[iwuvsmypuppy]

i know what it feels like to lose a dog i just did on 2/21/03 and it does make sense that dogs could die from bee stings but now one dogs death is anothers life>>> now eveybody knows what can happen

[sabies]

So sorry to hear of your loss. I guess it is with dogs as it is with humans - some are allergic. iwuvsmypuppy is right, at least now others will know what to watch for and perhaps prevent the same fate.