Fire Ant attack

[mountaindogs]

One of my dogs got into a fire ant nest *badly* and has bites all over her feet and a few on her face. She did not swell or have a reaction beyond the bites themselves, but the bites are taking forever to go down. It didn't help that I had the cone-collar on her for 2 days before I realized she could still reach her feet and was licking them. I have a longer cone now and she is pouting but can not reach those feet. Now it has been two more days and she still has raised swollen bites. They are not red but more callusing over now. Many of them had started to drain pus with all her licking :roll: I soaked in Chlorhex solution after the first two days and rubbed triple antibiotic ointment on them and have crated her for the whole 4 days, but when will they stop bothering her so I can remove this collar and move her back out of the crate.

Anyone else have experience with this?

[snips]

What is the collar for? Maybe a Benadryl?

[Chaingang]

Ditto on the Benadryl. Dosage is 1 mg per pound of weight every 8 hours. For a 50-60 pound dog that would be 2 tabs.

[WildRose]

It's normal for fire ant bites (after the first time around) to remain red for a day or so then form pustules. Just like a pimple they need to pop and drain.

Benadryl one ea/three and a buffered aspririn like Ascripton one ea/twice a day will help her a lot. CR

[mountaindogs]

I did the benadryl thing for the first two days. Think it would still help? I also gave prednisone the first day, but don't like to do that long especially since they started to drain.

The collar, one of those cone shaped collars to keep her from licking her feet which she apparently did pretty thoroughly the first two days anyway, but cannot now, though she tries. They do not seem to itch, as she will not chew at them, but licks them very gently as if they hurt. But then she will run around like crazy if I do not keep her crated and the bites look red again for an hour or so after that.

Thanks all for the help. I just soaked them again in chlorhex solution and she is pouting in the crate. The do look better today, but there were alot! They are all in between her toes, under and over her feet, and up her legs to the first joint. and the few on her muzzle, where she was trying to get them off her legs, I imagine.

I have some aloe, and thought about putting that on while she was crated. Do you all think that would be a good idea or waste of time?

[Chaingang]

Continue with the Benadryl for a while longer. My vet explained to me that dogs can actually tolerate more benadryl then humans for the amount of bodyweight. The dosage I posted is straight from the vet herself.

Pure Aloe is good for the skin, won't hurt to try.

[WildRose]

Time is the biggest thing. Your is just going to suffer until it heals. Benadryl at the doze Chaingang recommends will help the dog sleep so much she won't be nearly as miserable. It will however probably take six to eight days to get over it completely. CR

[DoubleB20]

We have those things here like crazy. I hate them! My dog picked up a dead toad that was covered with them, she got lots of bites in her mouth. For the legs, just make sure they don't scratch them till they get open sores, which you're doing with the cone. Maybe your dog is just more sensitive than mine, but I don't worry about them much. When I get bites, it helps considerably to immediately cake baking soda paste and leave it on till it dries and falls off. Seems to take the itch and irritation out quickly with no lasting effects. I get bites all the time cleaning garden and flower beds. Good luck.

[mountaindogs]

............. just make sure they don't scratch them till they get open sores, which you're doing with the cone....

I think this was the root of the issue. The cone I had at first is one that I had used for another dog and she was able to stretch her legs and somehow lick her feet. Didn't realize this for the first 2 days until I saw the sores much worse and oozing and saw her licking her toes. So I now have her in a bigger collar that is several inches longer than her nose even when she pushes against the collar edge.

How long did the bites your dog got stay swollen? Hers are like calluses almost now, hard and scabbed, which I guess is from her licking them open initially. She also must have had hundreds of bites. I counted over 50 on one foot, and all the feet and the muzzle are bitten.