What's Bugging Her :Bugbites 101 CISC Summer Issue 2006

What’s Bugging Her? : Bugbites 101
Featuring Hints and Recipes by Linda Konkol, sent by Laura Ford

One July morning, our puppy Soley came to jump up on the couch and to our surprise her left eye was swollen nearly shut! A quick check in our dog first aid book informed us that eye injuries need veterinary attention, as damage to the cornea can get worse quickly. We use homeopathic remedies for first aid, so we administered Apis 30c, a typical remedy for injuries with swelling, and phoned the vet for an appointment.

When the vet saw us, about an hour later, the swelling had gone down a lot. The eye was examined with a special light and also using a fluorescent stain that adheres to injured areas. This exam revealed that there was some trauma to the cornea from the swelling, so our pup got two kinds of eye drops. The antibiotic drops would prevent infection of the injured area, and the other drops provided a shield to the cornea while it healed. After some discussion with other dog-owners, we concluded it was most likely a bug-bite that caused the swelling. I received some very useful hints and recipes from Linda Konkol of Braxdin Kennels. Linda breeds Boxers in Northern Ontario, where they have their share of annoying insects. Here are some of her suggestions for stocking your first aid box:

"I would guess that she got bitten by something, like maybe a wasp. They can sting more than once and the yellow jackets especially are ill humoured enough to do so. I recently had a girl that got bitten right by the eyebrow and on the muzzle – the muzzle swelling went away in a day, but the eye sting lasted over two weeks, not helped by the fact the eye was irritated and she kept rubbing it. I use liquid benedryl for insect bites and pills for succeeding doses. That's the reason I use the liquid as it works faster, and on one occasion when I had a silly boy actually swallow a hornet, it also served to smother the thing (I poured the stuff in as best I could with him clenching his jaw tight and me trying to pry it open enough to get some of it down – as you can imagine, he was in absolute agony and screaming as I'm sure the thing was stinging him on the way down more than once).

For other insects, I keep a bottle of water handy with some drops of lemon eucalyptus and peppermint essential oil - about 10 drops of each into about a litre of water. I add a couple of drops of dish detergent to help mix the two so it doesn't plug up the sprayer, and shake it every time I use it. It does degrade if exposed to the light, so if you don't go through it quickly, either keep it in a dark cupboard or refresh with more oil. I actually use a small pump sprayer rather than a trigger spray bottle (the kind you squeeze) because, unless you have a very small dog, your hand will get tired fast!

I find that the lemon and peppermint tend to be disliked by wasps/hornets/bees and insects in general, and the eucalyptus works quite well on mosquitoes. It's also disliked by insects so might help with wasps. And, it also works as a repellent to be used by people. It lasts about a half hour, and if the skeeters are bad, you'll start noticing they get closer after about 15-20 minutes, but it's easy enough to re-spray and at least it's safe for the dogs, and likely better for you than DEET. There is another oil that might be helpful in that recipe, and that is oil of geranium. Bugs in general don't like it. Lemon grass oil can also be used instead of lemon eucalyptus to replace the lemon part, but you still need the eucalyptus oil.

In a pinch, you can also dab on Vic's Vapo-Rub (or the generic equivalent) and it really helps with the skeeters and black flies. It's just a bit messy, and some dogs will lick it off if it's in spots they can reach. I've used it on both the dogs, and me and had fairly good results except it doesn't seem to have much effect on wasps. It also doubles as a distracting smell if you put some of it under the chin of any intact boys you have when one of the girls happens to be in an "interesting" condition. It doesn't get rid of the boy’s ability to smell her scent but it helps to keep them from losing their mind completely!

And with all of that, there may be an unexpected bonus. Someone asked me what I use for fleas - and all I have to say on that is - WHAT fleas? I have not seen a flea in years. I don't use any products on the dogs as a deterrent other than what I use for the flying insects, and my dogs do go to training classes where I know some dogs have had flea problems, but with all these things, it might be a side benefit. It's possible that they might not like all these nasty (to bugs) smells either.

The other thing than can cause irritation is stinging nettle or motherwort. Even a coated dog may have enough short hair around the eyes or muzzle to be affected by it. I've had puppies get into it when some was missed along a fence line and they were just covered in bumps and puffy. What works on that is a solution of rubbing alcohol and baking soda - just dump some into a bottle's worth of the alcohol and it doesn't matter if all soda dissolves. Soak the area. While the swelling and bumps take a couple of days to go away, the relief is almost instant. Rubbing alcohol is actually a really good thing to have on hand for any sorts of itchiness, I find, as it gives instant relief. I wouldn't be marinating the dog in it as it is drying but for a dog that itches badly enough that they are willing to chew a body part off; it can give instant, and sometimes surprisingly prolonged, relief."