Allergies, Stings & Bites

Nobody likes to get stung or bitten, and your pet is no exception. Fortunately, most stings and bites do not put your pet in a great deal of danger. While they may be uncomfortable or painful, unless the bite is highly venomous, or your pet has a severe allergic reaction, your pet will usually recover quickly. As your emergency veterinarian in Omaha, we want you to know when you need to bring your pet in, and when you don’t. Please call us with any questions about your pet’s health!

While cats can be bitten or stung, it tends to happen less often due to the cautious nature of cats. Dogs, on the other hand, are usually quite adventurous when exploring. They do come into contact with insects and animals in a way that can result in a sting or bite.

Some of the most common stings and bites we see at Urgent Pet Care Omaha include:

A curious dog can make wasps, bees, and other flying, stinging insects angry enough to sting. Most often the dog will be stung on the face because they tend to go face first into everything. Usually, wasp and bee stings will result in a welt that the dog may bite or scratch, but will go away on its own. If you do notice significant swelling, you should talk to your vet.

Most spiders are not capable of penetrating the skin of your pet to inject venom, but some, like the black widow, can be dangerous. If your pet has been bitten and seems to be in a lot of pain, having muscle spasms, vomiting, salivating excessively, having trouble breathing, etc., you should bring your pet in immediately to our emergency clinic.

The same snakes that are dangerous to humans, like the rattlesnake, copperhead, cotton mouth and coral snake, are also dangerous to pets. Cats tend to steer clear of snakes, but dogs are known to be curious and sometimes wind up being bitten – particularly when they are visiting an area that they are not familiar with.

If your dog is bitten by a snake and you are unsure of the type of snake, you should bring your dog to the vet just to be safe. If your dog is bitten by what you know to be a venomous snake, you should travel immediately to the nearest emergency vet clinic for treatment. Do not use a tourniquet and do not try to cut and suck out the venom.

It may seem strange, but in reality, the most dangerous bites for your pet are usually the parasitic, blood sucking kind. Not because of the damage caused by the bite, but because of the diseases and parasites that the bites can infect your dog with. Fleas transmit tapeworms and a host of other diseases, ticks carry Lyme disease and mosquitoes transmit heartworms. Your pet may or may not have an allergic reaction to their bites, but it is important that you use preventative measures – like flea and tick preventative, and heartworm medicine, to protect the health of your pet.

The actions you take following a bite or sting should usually be dictated by the reaction of your pet unless you are certain the bite or sting comes from a truly dangerous insect or animal. If you notice serious swelling, pain, heavy breathing, or any of the other severe reactions described above, contact us at Urgent Pet Care Omaha immediately, in Papillion, Nebraska at (402) 509-2606 or in Omaha, NE at (402) 275-4711.