Dog Scorpion Bite.

Dr. Marie replied:

It sounds like your dog was stung by the scorpion!

Scorpions do not lose their stinger after stinging. What happens is they grasp their "prey" with their pincers and then arch their body to insert the stinger into the body. Then, through the stinger they inject venom into the dog.

The good news is that in the United States, most scorpion bites are not terribly dangerous. The most common scorpion found in the US is the Centruroides species which looks something like this:



While a bite from this scorpion really hurts, it doesn't usually cause significant problems. However, there are some animals that are allergic to scorpion bites and can get a quite severe allergic reaction. (This is similar to how most people can be stung by a bee and experience pain while other people can have an allergic reaction to a bee sting.)

Outside of the United States there are a few breeds of scorpions that can inject a deadly toxin. Symptoms of a sting from a dangerous type of scorpion include:

• disorientation


• high blood pressure


• paralysis


• convulsions


• tremors


• drooling


• heart arrythmias


• death

It sounds like Bella had an awful fright with the sting but she should be just fine!

Dr. Marie.

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