My Yorkie ate ants, threw up, and is now lethargic. What should I do?

Getting bitten by an ant can be painful and cause an allergic reaction and scare them. Ingestion of ants usually does not cause many problems unless they got bitten in the mouth. I would try to rinse his mouth and clean the food and ants. You can give him an over the counter antihistamine such as benadryl to help from a reaction. If he is not alert and strong on his feet yet, then he should be seen by a vet.

Without knowing if she ate the ants or what kind she ate, it would be hard to say. Most ants that crawl around on food tend not to be toxic, but some can sting or have toxic bites, and if she immediately threw up after, she likely purged them. However if you know the type of ant she ingested, you can contact The Pet Poison Helpline here: (there is a fee for this service) for more information -- https://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/ You can pick up her food and offer boiled rice and chicken for a meal to help settle her stomach if she seems otherwise OK now. If she continues to vomit, or shows other signs of illness such as extreme lethargy, pale gums or tongue, staggering or confusion, drooling, bloody diarrhea or vomiting, etc, then these are all signs of possible toxicity which should be seen by a veterinarian immediately.

That would not hurt. But, if he is doing OK, you can try giving 1.5 tablets of the children's 12.5 MG tablet benadryl to help with histamine release. If he begins to swell, have hives, or trouble breathing, he would need to go in.

Hello and thank you for your post! Looking at your photos, the first picture is the one I am concerned about the most. It is always difficult to tell from the pictures 100% what is going on but Krunch's face and muzzle sure look swollen! I would seek veterinary care as so o as possible in case he is having a severe allergic reaction. Fire ants can certainly trigger an allergic reaction. I would go ahead and give him 1/4 tablet of Benadyl 25mg and get him to your vet for further treatmemt. If left untreated, allergic reactions can turn into anaphylaxis and can be fatal. I hope Krunch gets better!

If he is getting worse despite treatment he may need to be seen again for more testing to determine the underlying illness so that he gets appropriate treatment. I didn't see where you mentioned what his diagnosis was, and he name if the injectable medicine that he was given didn't come through in your post. Give him at least 24 hrs to see if he improves. However if you ever notice pale gums, continuous heavy panting, unresponsiveness, or unexplained bruising on his body, then he should seek veterinary attention immediately. If you feel that there is more you wish to discuss about Dolce then feel free to request a private consultation with either myself or one of the other experts. Best of luck and take care.

While Benadryl can be given to dogs in specific circumstances, by law it is illegal for the experts at PetCoach to recommend using any drug, including OTC drugs, without seeing the animal in person first. That's because doing so requires a veterinary client patient relationship which cannot be achieved via an internet forum. In addition, the experts cannot say for certain if a specific drug is safe for your dog. I would give your vet a call to see if it's safe to give Dustin Benadryl, and the vet can give you the correct dose for it. I would also wash him in warm water and Dawn dish soap to get rid of the ants, and you can make a home soothing salve to help with the bites from the ants if he has them using baking soda and water. To make this salve, mix one tablespoon of baking soda and add enough water to form a spreadable paste. You will have to keep him from licking it off, so put an Ecollar on him, which you can make at home: http://dogsaholic.com/care/homemade-dog-cone.html

The bites may cause some inflammation and itchiness. If it is only mild irritation you may want to consider giving a dose of benedryl (1mg per pound of body weight) to her to help make her more comfortable. If the bites are severe however, she may need something more effective like steroids. If this is the case you will need to take Pecora to the vet to be checked out. I hope this helps. Best of luck. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.