September 25, 2004
How Jacquline Learned About Bees
Yesterday I was on my usual afternoon walk with our two dogs Jacqueline, and Angel. We reached a point in our walk where we usually sit in some grass and rest a while. Both of the dogs are small; Jacqueline is a Chihuahua, and Angel is a Maltese and being small they welcome a little rest half way through the walk.
So, were sitting in the grass, and Jacqueline is rooting around in the grass looking for bugs and sticks that need to be chewed on when after a bit I decide we should get back to our walk. I stand up, look down, and I see Jacqueline really going after something in the grass. Suddenly she shakes her little head real fast, like she is shaking a rat. Then she does it again, and then she started rubbing her face in the grass. I knew something was wrong, and as I went to pick her up I saw a bee scampering away from where her little face had just been in the grass. It was too late, she had already been stung.
Jacqueline weighs in at a hefty 4.4 pounds, and so things like a bee sting could have an adverse affect on her pretty quickly. Especially if she is allergic. I put her back down on the ground, and she looked fine for a few moments, but then her happy little gait turned into a sluggish walk. I decided I needed to get her home as fast as I could.
I picked her up again, and pulled on Angel's leash literally dragging him most of the way home. It took me maybe twelve minutes or so before I got there, and about half way home Jacqueline just kinda went limp in the crux of my arm. Once home, I asked my stepson to tend to Angel, and quickly drove Jacqueline to the vet.
We are lucky because we have a vet just a few blocks away from our house. Even luckier because if the vet is closed, an animal hospital that is open only on nights and weekends is just a few blocks further.
We got to the vet in maybe five minutes, and were seen by him after five more. By then I realized that Jacqueline was fine; her heart rate felt good, and her breathing was normal, but I didn't want to take any chances. The doctor checked her out, and saw that her gums were swollen indicating that she had been stung in the mouth. He told his assistant to see if she could find the stinger in Jacqueline’s mouth while he went to get some shots that he wanted to give her.
I told the assistant that Jacqueline wouldn't open her mouth for me, so I wasn't sure where the stinger was. As we held Jacqueline so that the assistant could try to get her to open up, we both saw the stinger in the side of Jacqueline's muzzle.
What happens next is amazing.
The vet returns with the shots and we tell him we have found the stinger. We show him where it is, and he grabs a pair of tweezers, and tells his assistant to restrain Jacqueline. I looked at this guy with these little tiny tweezers, and thought there was no way he was going to get that stinger out of this little squirming dogs face. Yet, with lightning speed, and the accuracy of a ninja warrior, he had that stinger out before I knew he had even moved. He even showed it to me on the end of his tweezers. This guy obviously studied under some ancient tweezers master in the Far East.
He gave Jacqueline her shots, which I think was actually worse than the bee sting, and sent us on our way $86.00 lighter. We went home, and sat on the bed for a while and watched Return of the Jedi, and inside two hours she was back to her old self, terrorizing Angel and trying to tackle Thalia.
And that is the story of how Jacqueline learned about bees.