An curious dog delighting in a night on the beach was left in pain after entering contact with a poisonous jellyfish. Moments earlier his owner Hilary Pullen had actually taken images of the Lion’s Mane jellyfish and, believing it dead, was not unduly fretted.
Her dog Ziggy, an 18-month-old Coltriever (Border Collie x Golden Retriever), took the tiniest of licks and seconds later on was strongly ill. He had a hard time to breathe, made odd gulping sounds and established a mania for yard. “It was like he was possessed,” said Hilary, who shared what occurred to caution other dog owners of the prospective threat.
She’d taken her 2 dogs for a run-out at Talacre beach, Flintshire, last night (Monday, August 7). They hardly reached Talacre lighthouse when Hilary, 45, encountered a number of stranded jellyfish.
With her terrier on a lead, Ziggy went checking out while Hilary took images. It was just later on that, by utilizing Google Lens, she found they were Lion’s Mane jellyfish, whose arms can still provide a nasty sting long after they have actually passed away. The animals, considered as among the world’s longest, is said to have the “beauty and bite of a lion”.
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Returning to Hilary, Ziggy ferreted out among them. “He must have licked it as, within 20 to 30 seconds, he began being violently ill,” she said. “He was heaving constantly for 10 minutes and started retching when his stomach was entirely empty.
“It was scary and not very nice to watch, it was like he was turning himself inside out. I knew I had to get him back to the car as he weighs 30kg and I wouldn’t be able to carry him. I got him on his lead but he was trying to eat anything that was growing – anything so that he could fill his stomach and be sick again.”
Hiliary, who works for a digital marketing company in Southport, Merseyside, rushed back to her home in Prestatyn, Denbighshire. By now, Ziggy was having a hard time to breathe and was having difficulty swallowing.
Letting out into her garden, the distressed dog started consuming clumps of yard. “I’m aware it’s something dogs do when they are ill,” said Hilary. “He was manically eating yard, simply attempting to get something into his stomach. It resembled he was had.
“He vomited again and, on my mother’s advice, I made some rice and eggs to fill his stomach. He seemed to calm down a little but was still making weird noises, like gulping sound, as though his throat was constricted.”
Calling her veterinarians, Hilary was encouraged to watch on Ziggy’s breathing and just to bring him in if it degraded even more. Still concerned, she started doing her own examinations – which caused an uncommon option.
Sharing images of the jellyfish on social networks, together with a caution, a Holywell lady encouraged her to utilize Piriton, an antihistamine utilized to treat hayfever. She composed: “This happened to my dog few years ago and (the) vet advised Piriton. He’s a Jack Russell but the reaction he had was scary at the time.”
Another dog owner encouraged Hilary to squash the tablet as the powder “gets in the blood stream quicker”. She rushed to a regional chemist, purchased Piriton and provided half a tablet to Ziggy.
“That definitely seemed to do the trick,” said Hilary. “By 10pm Ziggy was drinking and looking more alert, and I felt more comfortable going to bed.”
Dog owners are generally encouraged not to administer Piriton – or other antihistamines such as Cetirizine and Loratadine – without consulting their veterinarian. The drugs are typically suggested for dogs with itching, and can likewise be utilized in cats.
By today (Tuesday, August 8), Ziggy appeared none the even worse for his jellyfish encounter. By then, Hilary had actually required to social networks to caution others. “Ziggy’s a pretty big dog, so I’d hate to think what effect the toxin might have on a little one or a small child,” she said.
From the response to her post, it rapidly ended up being clear this was not a separated example. Two owners shared what occurred to their dogs on Barkby beach, Prestatyn. “Was too late to pull him off completely,” said one. “He ate loads of grass and seemed to hurt when he swallowed, but (he) was fine a couple of hours later.”
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The other said: “My sausage dog did that (and) had to take him to vets for an anti-sickness injection. He was only one at the time but fine after, thankfully. So scary though.”
A 3rd owner said her puppy started having breathing problems after digging up a jellyfish buried in sand. She included: “Once she ate grass and drank a gallon of water she was OK.”
But not all encounters end well. “I would have insisted the vet had seen the dog,” a female informed Hilary. “As my friend’s dog died from this.”
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