Clinical and behavioral aspects of bee stings in domestic dog

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the scale of the phenomenon and the risks resulting from stings of domestic dog by bees. The material consisted of clinical interviews on dog disease history from four veterinary clin-ics. Twenty-six cases of stings were selected, in which the dog owner could positively identify the insect species that had stung a dog (on the basis of the external appearance of a dead bee or the presence of its sting). The select-ed dogs were grouped by sex and age: juveniles – aged up to 12 months and adults – aged more than 12 months. In addition, the grouping took into account the occurrence of pulmonary edema symptoms or lack thereof and the body response. Three types of body response were distinguished: a local reaction (M) in the form of erythema with edema, a large local reaction (MD), and anaphylaxis (pulmonary edema confirmed by X-ray examination). The following blood counts were evaluated: erythrocytes, leukocytes, lymphocytes, hematocrit value, hemoglobin con-centration, segmented neutrophils percentage, MCV, MCH, MCHC, as well as biochemical indices: AP, ALT, AST, creatinine, and BUN. Clinical and behavioral symptoms were analyzed with the use of a survey conducted with a randomly selected group of dog owners. To illustrate the scale of the problem, the survey on bee stings was conducted among 97 dog owners. An analysis of the coefficients of correlation between the values of the above parameters and the age of stung dogs showed that with dog’s age, there was a decrease in AP, lymphocyte and leukocyte levels, and an increase in hemoglobin levels percentage of segmented neutrophils, as well as hematocrit and erythrocyte counts. A statistically significant differ-ence was ascertained in AST, whose values were significantly higher in dogs without pulmonary edema (33.6 U/l ± 14.0) than in the group with edema (22.7 U/l ± 4.6), t (22) = 2.856; p = 0.01. A comparison of the average values of the parameters under analysis for both sexes revealed a significant difference between the average values of hemo-globin, which was significantly higher in males (16.6 g/dl ± 2.6), compared to females (14.1 g/dl ± 2.6), t (24) = 2,156; p = 0.041. The dogs were also classified into two groups according to the type of reaction: a local reaction or a large local reaction. Significantly greater differences were found in the average content of erythrocytes in dogs with a local reaction. Among all respondents, 35% reported their dogs having been stung by insects from the family Hymenoptera. Male dogs were stung twice as often as females, and almost half of the sting cases were dogs older than 4 years. Most of the stung dogs were kept in the backyard, and purebred dogs were stung more frequently than crossbreeds. Half of all cases were stings on the head, and the stung dogs usually reacted by strong hyperkinesia and slight vocalization (one point on a three-point scale).