Oh, lordy, what a freak-out I had last night. I met JWo at Harpo’s, before his backgammon tournament began, and then went home & took care of the dogs. This meant letting them speed around the back yard at full tilt, while I inspected some plants. I discovered my Meyer lemon tree was ant-infested, so I went bonkers & hosed it off, and then let the dogs in to eat. I got some ant dust/poison, the dogs & I went back outside, and I covered the cement where the pot sits with ant dust. (This keeps the poison out of the plant, and I’ve got to get some horticultural oil to treat the plant itself, because I know there are still ants a-lurkin’.) The dogs did their race-around squirrel-patrol thing, and then we all went back in the house. Dogs on the pillows, me watching some tv & knitting. About half an hour later, Polly looked at me straight on, and I knew something was wrong. The side of her face I couldn’t see was so swollen. I had her come to me, and her eyes were swollen, one really badly, and her muzzle was also really swollen on one side. My first thought was “ant poison”, followed by “emergency vet clinic”. We all went outside & I saw that the ant powder was untouched. Race upstairs. To the internet, search term “Dog Face Swell”. By this point, my Brain Gnomes are running around, knocking each other over, general panic and confusion. Then, a bell rang. It was Useless Information & Observations Gnome, you know, the gnome who just randomly notices & writes things down here and there. UIO Gnome had, while I was bent over my lemon tree, noticed a bee on some daisies. And had jotted down, “Seen a lot of bees lately.”
I had landed on a website for raising guide dogs, and I immediately found the part about bee stings. Benadryl is the recommended treatment, 1g/per pound, body weight. A solution! My poor Polly. She was acting fine, with a little discomfort it seemed, and panting quite a bit. Downstairs we all race. Benadryl. Damn the fact we buy generic equivalents. I do not have a degree in chemistry and my patience was shot. I raced back upstairs to the Benadryl website to determine key ingredients. Good God. I have no idea what we have in the medicine cabinet. All of it certainly fatal because I cannot decipher all of the ingredients. To the Osco, Polly!
We drove to the closest drugstore, where I purchased Benadryl and Pup-eronis. This is an odd combo, in retrospect. I had a crazed look, I know, because the woman who had finished her transaction & was enthusiastically talking about mice with the checker OBVIOUSLY did not want to finish her conversation, but took one look at me and said her goodbyes. MOVE, bitch, get out the way! I got a dog that needs savin’! I was comforted by Polly’s reaction to the Puperonis (positive, wanting them all), and I gave her two li’l Benadryls smashed into Puperoni pieces. We drove home, I called JWo & gave him the whole story, he reassured me, and informed we had generic Benadryl. Well, never mind, I was In Crisis, and wasn’t taking any chances. In less than an hour, her swelling was down, almost gone, and she was reveling in a nylabone.
I, on the other hand, am still recovering from the scare, and yes, I’m sending my Useless Information & Observations Gnome a fruit basket of gratitude. And if you’re between me & my dog who needs my help? I’m gonna knock you DOWN. Mama gonna knock you OUT.
