August 12, 2009: (Second post for the day) Poor Annie :-(

This morning I noticed Annie rubbing her face on the rug, so I gave her muzzle a good rub, assuming she had a itch. A bit later, she was trying to push her nose under the throw rug, and we laughed at her antics. An hour or so later, I happened to look at her and saw this....



Just look at her nose! It was so swollen , even much worse than the picture shows, that I immediately called the vet. He said to bring her right in, so we got her into the car and Mr. H drove hell-bent-for-leather to the vet's office. I know he was concerned about Annie, as he normally drives like the old man he is....slooooow. Poor Annie, her nose was the only skinny part of her body, and now it's fat!

Three injections to take care of the wasp sting, and a $68 vet bill later, we took her back home, applied an ice pack to her nose for a while, then went hunting for the wasps that were the cause of the incident. We found them, under the eaves of the back patio.



Basically there are three groups of social wasps. The most common are the yellowjackets, accounting for the overwhelming  wasp (20734 bytes)majority of stinging incidents in the state. These are all in the genus Vespula and the most noxious species is the western yellowjacket (Vespula pensylvanica). Yellowjackets produce a paper nest but the site of the nest is concealed, in an abandoned rodent nest below ground, behind an exterior wall, in hollows of children’s playground equipment, etc. Yellowjackets have diverse tastes. Although they feed on some insects, they readily scavenge sweets and protein-rich foods. They can be serous nuisance problems around uncovered garbage and at outdoor dining areas in late summer.

I sprayed the nest right away, but will wait for evening and do another application. There are still some wasps hovering around out there.

The swelling has gone down a lot on poor Annie's nose. She's acting like she feels just fine, and ran out the door to chase squirrels, just like she normally does.

27 comments:

  1. Oh, poor sweet girl! Yellow Jackets are nasty, nasty wasps. Hope the swelling goes down soon.

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  2. Awww, poor Annie. We've had that happen with our dog too. It is so scary to see their faces swell up like that.
    $68, that's quite a bill for a wasp sting. FYI, it's $72 if you accidently clip your bunny's tail while trimming him up LOL.

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  3. GrafixMuse, I think she'll be fine, but I hope she learned her lesson..we don't chew on yellow jackets!

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    Crystabel, we've been so lucky with our rabbit. He's almost 8 years old and has never been sick or gone to the vet! He's only supposed to live 5-7 years, but I think he's trying to outlast us ;-)

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  4. Oh no! I hate yellow jackets. I once had a nest under my compost pile inside the garden (not the pile I showed today). Our eastern yellow jackets tend to nest in the ground. We quit using the pile that year and I kept my dog out of the garden. She loved to eat bees. I always tried to break her of it but I never could. Luckily our eastern yellow jackets will use the nest for only one year so the next year we were yellow jacket free.

    I'm glad Annie is feeling better. My dog never would learn no matter how many times she was stung on her tongue. I hope Annie is smarter.

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  5. best wishes to poor annie, that is an amazing photo of the nest!!
    hope you are dealing with it ok too now :)

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  6. Poor sweet lil Annie =( I'm so glad she's feeling better and running around! She's lucky to have a mum like you xo

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  7. poor Annie! Glad she's okay! I worked at a vet hospital for many years and I have to say 68 bucks is a cheap visit! Doc must read your blog and like you, LOL! Glad you found the source of Annie's pain and got rid of it!

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  8. Daphne, I always have spray handy for them, as we probably get four or five nests under the patio eaves every summer. This is the first time anyone/anything has been stung by them, but I've been chased indoors a couple of times.

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  9. Marissa, I think I was more upset than Annie was. she's a very special, sweet dog.

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    Thank you Dot. We tend to treat our animals like family...to us they ARE family.

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    Erin, these vets have taken care of our animals, from hamsters, to cats and dogs, for about 30 years now. I trust them implicitly, and I've never felt they overcharge. Otto had to have a large hematoma removed from his ear this spring, and the vet did a beautiful job. I can't hardly see the scar. $125 for the surgery, including his antibiotics and the cone to go around his neck.

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  10. Poor baby girl. Hope the swelling goes down soon.

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  11. Ribbit, the swelling is almost gone, the vet said it would take a couple of days to get back to normal. She wolfed down her chicken and green beans tonight, so evidently she isn't in pain!

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  12. That's a shame....poor little doggie. Jude will get stung eventually, because she tries to eat them. Stupid dog.....Ha!

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  13. Poor Annie, looks like she was in a lot of pain. Looks like you have paper wasps. We always have lots of wasp around our house, I think it is because the Grand river is close by. Three summers ago yellow jackets nested in the attic and were getting into the house. It was pretty freaky, the bee man took care of them. I've yet to gut & re-wall the closets they were getting in through. I really should seal things up before they come back!

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  14. Dan, the only time she acted like she was in pain was when the vet shot her in the rear end! She tucked her head into my armpit and whimpered, and the vet said with all her padding it shouldn't have hurt her a bit!

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  15. awww annieeee! i'm so glad to hear she's doing better. so funny what you wrote about mr. h and his driving. i laughed out loud!

    you're brave to go hunting for the nest - and to take a pic! i would have declared the house on lockdown and called in the professionals. no way i'm risking a sting like that! :p

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  16. Kelli, we've had those darned wasps here every summer. This is the first time any of the animals has been stung, but it was raining this morning, so sometimes they get wet and crawl down onto the patio floor. Annie will pick up and chew anything that moves! Maybe she learned her lesson.

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  17. That is a sad looking pup in that pic. :( Poor dear.

    I totally related to Mr H driving like mad to get her to the vets. My husband is exactly the same way with our animals - particularly his buddy Sid.

    Glad Annie is doing better now and hopefully the worst of the wasp problems are behind you for this summer.

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  18. Poor Annie! Glad to hear that she's chasing squirels now!

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  19. Oh, poor sweet girl! I hope she's all better very soon. :)

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  20. Hi AG
    I'm so glad Annie is okay. Wow-her nose was big! The worst things about wasps is they seem to sting for no reason at times. You were lucky to be able to locate the nest before you and hubby got it!

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  21. Poor pup, I am glad to hear her nose is on the mend!

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  22. You may want to play this song for her:
    http://www.songsforteaching.com/tomchapin/youllbesorry.htm

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  23. Ouch! Poor baby, Glad she's feeling better!

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  24. Thanks to all who expressed concern for Annie's nose. She is looking normal today.

    Stefaneener, that is so funny, and so fitting!

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  25. I'm a little late. Don't know how I missed four posts.

    Annie's been having a run of bad luck here lately. But bad things come in three and she's had her three, so it's time for some good luck for her.

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  26. Well, she sure hopes so. Sometimes it's tough being a dog.

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  27. Anonymous, thank you! I'm glad you stopped in for a visit, and I hope to see you again. It's a little slow right now, through the winter, but I'll be back full force come spring.

    Don't apologize, there is no "off topic" here. I talk about a lot of stuff besides gardening and cooking ;-)

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