Vets Are Sending Out A Warning To Dog Owners, Check Your Dogs Mouth For THIS!
By Michele
Frances Jiriks brought her dog Bailey into Hoisington Veterinary Hospital after he refused to eat. He was also foaming at the mouth and a bit lethargic, the dog owner said.
When they arrived at the animal clinic, Dr. Lindsay Mitchell discovered between 30 and 40 lady beetles clinging to the roof of Bailey’s mouth.
The beetles look nearly identical to ladybugs though they secrete a mucus which allows them to stick, as they did inside Bailey’s mouth.
The bugs were successfully removed from the dog’s mouth, but Mitchell warned their presence could pose a variety of health risks to man’s best friend.
The bites can leave an open wound in a dog’s mouth, leading to serious consequences, according to veterinarian Dr. Lindsay Mitchell.
“Definitely it’s painful,” said Mitchell. “They’ll have some pain, they won’t want to eat as well, and they run the chance of infection if they have those ulcers there.”
"This is the second pup I have seen like this today," Mitchell wrote on Facebook. "If your pet is drooling or foaming at the mouth, look for these ladybugs. They cause ulcers on the tongue and mouth and have a very painful bite."
Mitchell’s photo and warning quickly became viral and caught the attention of many pet owners.
In 2008, Lindsey Derek published an article in the journal Toxicon about the subject:
A six-year old mixed-breed dog presented with severe trauma to the oral mucosa suggestive of chemical burn. Sixteen Harmonia axyridis (Coccinellidae) were removed from the oral cavity, which revealed trauma consistent with chemical burn. The beetles had become embedded in mucosa covering the hard palate and required manual removal. A diagnosis of beetle induced chemical burn was warranted and consistent with the nature of the chemical constituents of H. axyridis hemolymph.
One Facebook user wrote, “Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this. I noticed my son's little dog had not eaten his food from yesterday. I went on to finish chores, then turned around to check his mouth. He had just a little foam around the mouth. When I opened his mouth it was covered worse than this photo."
Luckily, if you find any ladybugs in your own pet's mouth, it's easy to help your dog without an expensive trip to the vet. "You just remove them with anything you can safely," Hoisington Veterinary Hospital wrote on Facebook. "If your pet lets you, you can use your fingers. Or if she tries to bite you may be able to remove them with a spoon or tongue depressor."
source: Snopes
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