Do you know how you would react and what action you would take if your pet was stung by a bee?  It's hard to say what you would do because if it has never happened to your pet, you would have no way of knowing exactly how they would react to the situation.  But just like humans, many pets are allergic to bee stings and it's frightening to think about what could happen if you did not act quickly.

Let's go through a few options for treating that bee sting based on some different scenarios.

Your first priority should be to remove the stinger from your pet, as it will be left behind.  Even though the bee has gone it is possible that the stinger is still seeping poison into your pet so you want to remove it as soon as possible.  Use something with a bit of a sharper edge to scrape the stinger free from the skin. 

Your next step is to ensure that your pet is breathing properly.  The poison from a bee sting can cause a pet to go into anaphylactic shock and you will know the signs of it if your pet appears weak, is trembling, vomiting, has diarrhea, is breathing quickly, wheezing, has pale gums, fever or actually collapses.  Hopefully this situation does not present itself, but if it does time will critical at this point and you will want to get your pet emergency help immediately.  During this time make sure you keep your pet warm and help to keep him or her conscious by putting some Karo Syrup or Honey on their gums.

If the scenario we just discussed does not occur it is still likely that the sting will result in some swelling.  If so, there are a number of things that you can do to help reduce the swelling and relieve your pet of its discomfort.  You can use an over the counter antihistamine by administering 1 milligram for every pound of body weight, so a ten- pound animal would get about 3/4 of a teaspoon.  You can also dab the antihistamine directly onto the site of the sting.  You will probably need to repeat the dose every six to eight hours.

You can also sooth your pet's pain by administering a cold pack to the affected area for approximately ten to thirty minutes several times a day.  Or another option is to make a Baking Soda Poultice.  Mix 1 tablespoon of baking soda with enough water to create a thick paste and dab the mixture onto the swelled area.  This could be a little bit messy if you are treating an area with thick or long hair so you may want to trim the area a bit beforehand.