OH NOESSSSS Lady Bug steps in a fire ant mound

[Shadow Rhelm]

My poor baby girl stepped in a fire ant mound a little bit a ago in the dark while going out to go potty. Of course it was dark and so we did not see it until it was too late and they were devouring her hind quarters and she was waging war on her back end. She appears to be okay, but we gave her a allergy pill (her own script) and she is now resting. This is her first personal run in with fire ants; 2 of our other dogs have had this happen before. She was just horrified and scared to death and not being able to understand why she was in such burning pain. She has some pretty ugly marks from it but not as bad as it could have been. My husband thinks it looks worse than it is because she has that thin white coat that is almost see through. You really can see everything going on with her skin and she is one of those babies with sensitive skin. The good thing is that none of these bites occurred where she wears her mobility harness, collar or her vest. So she will not have to worry about that discomfort.

I think she may start searching for those now like the other 2 do.

Here is a pic of her resting on the allergy medicine.

[Shadow Rhelm]

I guess the picture is a little too big and it cut off part of her face

[Ilovethepits]

It is an adorable photo but YIKES on the fire ants. I have had a couple bites from them and they are so terribly painful. How do you make certain the dogs don't get infection in those bites? Is there any way to get rid of fire ants? We don't really have them where I live.

[HappyPuppy]

Poor baby - one bite hurts bad enough!!

[dogs4jen]

Poor thing!

[pacopoe]

Poor thing Xdog suffered a fire ant bite a few weeks ago while we were in Austin. Benadryl, cortisone cream, and warm betadine/soap soaks kept her comfortable during the healing process and kept infection at bay. Here's to a speedy recovery!

[Shadow Rhelm]

She is doing great this morning. Her bites are still a little red and puffy and she acts as if they are not even there. I of course this I always panic more than they do. Most of the time the bites for my household do not get infected (unless I get bit... I am just that lucky I guess). My 13 year old seems to be the one who steps in the fire ant mounds more than anyone and he has been lucky to just end up with a bunch of burning bites and never infected. He truly acts as if it is no big deal and in 30 seconds the pain will be gone he says. Anywhosen... my and my other children and the dogs generally disagree with his relaxes position on fire ants.

It is almost impossible to get rid of them and most insecticides do not work and neither do repellents. Living in the south that are a normal part of life. You learn to spot mounds no matter the size and even the tiniest one can draw thousands of them within seconds. My husband has a spray that he uses with triazicide in it and it is powerful stuff, and he uses them on mounds he can find and literally stands there for like 5 minutes till it is good and soaked with his pressure sprayer. He is pretty vigilant in the backyard since it is where the dogs are. But it is impossible to find them all it seems and keep up with them.

Called the vet this morning and she said to as usual just keep an eye on it and let her know if there are any changes. We call anytime this happens just so that it is at least in their file (for any of the animals) that it happened. We had some one local have a dog attacked by fire ants and the city animal control accused her of animal neglect and abuse. So we try to make sure we keep everything on record with the vet.

I have yet to figure out the purpose of the fire ant as one of natures "fine" creations ....

[Shoshana]

Awww I am glad she is feeling better! Peanut got bit once on the bottom of her foot. She levitated and I ran over to see what happened. I got bit too (duh) and we both jumped into the doggie pool!