There's a sting in this tale

Badger the beagle didn’t enjoy the best of Christmas Days. He was stung by a bee or a wasp quite early on in the piece and ended up with a very fat face. The swelling didn’t subside for hours, and he clearly felt rather sorry for himself pretty much all that day. I’ve since learned that dogs can be sensitive to bee and wasp stings just like humans, so it was fortunate that Badger wasn’t in that category given it was December 25^th and the chances of finding a vet prepared to do whatever might be necessary were probably somewhere between Buckleys and zero.

Badger is the third dog we’ve had that’s suffered a bee sting. Our gorgeous Midnight was stung when she was still half grown. She was probably exploring as young dogs do and her curiosity caused her to get too close, or she was annoying a bee too much and he or she got fed up. It was a lesson learned and she also ended up with a very fat face and looked hilarious.

As did Della when she was stung. Della was our lovely but rather traumatised rescue dog who preceded Badger. She quite possibly brought the sting upon herself as she was prone to snapping at bees in order to get a sugar hit. Or this was the reason we always presumed is why she snapped at them. She was a shocker for doing so. But she misjudged it one day and Mr or Ms Bumble - or Mr/Ms worker bee - took revenge. Della learned from the experience alright, but all it did was to make her quicker to snap at those bees.

Regaling friends with the tale of Badger’s less than perfect Christmas revealed a good tip for the future though – should he be stung again. Accredited vet advice is that just like it does for us, an antihistamine tablet will do the trick for dogs if they show more serious signs of distress, or more serious symptoms that could suggest acute sensitivity. Antihistamines are always in the medicine cupboard at this time of year due to the hayfever that affects me when all the grasses are flowering. Now there’s another good reason to ensure there’s always a packet of them in the cupboard.