# Tori bitten by fire ant



## Leslie (Feb 28, 2007)

Poor Tori! She was out in the backyard about 1/2 an hour ago w/me and my grandchildren. Everyone was happy and playing, when I noticed Tori shaking her head, pawing at her nose/mouth, and shaking her head. When I investigated I found part of a dead fire ant stuck on her mustache. I knew what it was because the kids and I had just discovered an ant hole a few minutes earlier and I warned them to stay away from it. I never thought about Tori investigating it :doh: 

Well, I immediately washed the side of her mouth that seemed to be bothering her, put an ice cube on it and called the vet. I was told to give her Benedryl and watch to see if the area should begin to swell excessively or if she showed any symptoms of distress.

Let this be a warning to others to watch out!


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## MaddiesMom (Apr 1, 2007)

Oh, poor Tori! Are fire ant bites dangerous? I don't think we have them in the SF/Bay Area (or I've never seen them). I hope she'll be o.k. Thanks for the warning!


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## Leeann (Feb 28, 2007)

Poor Tori, give her some belly rubs and kisses from me and the boys.


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## havaluv (Oct 15, 2007)

Oh, poor Tori! Fire ant bites HURT!


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

Oh little Tori- I hope she is feeling better after the benadryl! Just when you removed all of those bad plants out of your yard too!


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## maryam187 (Jul 18, 2007)

Poor Tori!!! I hope the Ice and Benadryl will take care of the problem  Pablo loves to stick his head into everything as well. He constantly rubs his nose into ant hills and has lots of red sand in his nostrils, luckily he hasn't met fire ants yet.


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## mckennasedona (Feb 20, 2007)

Poor little Tori. I hope the ice and Benadryl does the trick.


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## Laurief (Nov 7, 2006)

Kisses to Tori!! Those fire ants can be so so nasty!!! Hope she feels better soon!!


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

Oh poor Tori. I hope ice and benedryl is all she needs!


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## Sissygirl (Aug 8, 2007)

So sorry to hear little Tori got bit - hope she doesn't have any problems 

hugs


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## Judy A (Jan 13, 2007)

Hoping that Tori is no worse for the wear and that the meds did the trick......Ouch, I bet that hurt, too!


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## Beamer (Jan 29, 2007)

How is Tori now? Hope shes all better!

Ryan


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## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

Aw, poor baby. If it isn't one thing it's another. The list of things to worry about grows.


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## Poornima (Jun 29, 2007)

I hope Tori is feeling better. Geri, I couldn't agree more.


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

Beamer said:


> How is Tori now? Hope shes all better!


Me too! I hope the ice and Benadryl did the trick.


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## mintchip (Apr 19, 2007)

Get well soon Tori!


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## Jane (Jun 2, 2007)

Poor Tori! Those nasty ants!! Hope she is better soon.


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## juliav (Nov 21, 2006)

Awww, poor Tori. I hope she is doing fine and no worse for the experience.


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## Me&2Girls (May 11, 2007)

Ouch - poor Tori. We just saw a show yesterday on the little buggers. Did you know they are blind? Too bad they couldn't have missed Tori's mustache and lip. Keep us updated.


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## Leslie (Feb 28, 2007)

Thanks for your well-wishes, everyone. She seems to be ok, very lethargic (thank you, Benedryl) but, doesn't seem to have much, if any, swelling. She's eating her dinner now so, I don't think it was too bad. I bet she was only bitten by one, thank goodness! These ants will often attack in mass.

For anyone who may be interested you can read about fire ants here. The ones that stung Tori are the Red Imported Fire Ants (RIFA) Jeanne, they say they can be found as far north in CA as SF, so beware!


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

Leslie, I am SO relieved that Tori is okay! Being a fire ant victim myself, I know just how much it hurts. I fell in a fire ant hill once when I was six years old and still in Brazil (the fire ants there build these HUGE hills - like 3 feet tall). They were immediately every where. I just remember screaming my head off and trying my hardest to brush them off me. We were at an ice cream shop and my mom just completely stripped me of clothes and dropped me in this big tub they had on the side of the building (like a wash basin) and washed all the fire ants off me with me screaming the entire time. Later she counted 57 bites on my body, all of which looked like big red welts.

To this day, I kill an ant when I see one. I almost feel like it's revenge on what happened to me. LOL. I can still remember the feeling of them running all over my body and the biting. I don't think I will ever forget it.


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## Doggie Nut (Oct 20, 2006)

Thanks Leslie for the tip! We have a ton of those devilish little things here in Texas. Glad Tori is ok!


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## suzyfrtz (Nov 12, 2007)

Hi Leslie,

So sorry that Tori got bitten and hope she is much better. About three weeks ago, when we were still in Florida, we were walking by a pretty little river...Cazzie was on a leash. I was nervous about alligators and watching for them, but should have been watching for those nasty ants as well. Cazzie started running crazy, going this way and that on his leash. I thought "what's the matter with you," then a fire ant bit me on my foot. Poor Cazzie!  He was biting at himself. Then one must have gotten on his coat, came into the car with him, and then crawled up and bit DH on the back, causing a huge welt! We have a bottle of what I call "magic aloe" - and that seemed to do the trick on DH and my foot. Cazzie didn't seem to have any adverse reaction and soon was was back to normal. 

Suzy


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## Leslie (Feb 28, 2007)

Yikes! Lina! What a horrible experience to have at such a young age. Thank goodness your mom was so quick thinking to get you into water. I can totally understand your need for revenge. Wow, 57 bites! You had to be miserable...

I am grateful the "nest" was new so there weren't a whole lot of them there, yet, nor will there be. My DH has already poured so much ant killer down the hole, if they're not killed by the results of the poison, they'll surely drown! He was very upset that his "baby girl" was hurt by those nasty things  Yep, he's owned by a Havanese! :biggrin1:

Suzy~ I'm glad to know you all are ok after your encounter w/the ants in FL. They are some nasty little devils, for sure.


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## Cheryl (Mar 17, 2007)

Leslie--give hubbie a hug from me. You do what you need to do to protect the baby!!


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

Carolina, your experience made me cringe. Yikes!!

Leslie, your husband sounds like mine - smitten with his girl. That's sweet. I hope they don't make their way back to your place anytime soon.


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## dschles (Jan 23, 2007)

Poor Tori! Please keep her away from the ant poison now. I suspect the ant poison is safe for dogs and children after it dries, but I remember that the "tips" post the other day suggested cornmeal as a safe alternative to kill ants.

I have become ultra-concerned about the use of toxic chemicals and pesticides since my golden was diagnosed with cancer last November (she is doing fine since the tumor was removed, although her type of tumor is likely to recur). We are going to try pesticide free lawn care this year (the canine oncologist we saw recommends it).

Give Tori a hug from us and keep her away from the ants and the ant poison.


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## Jane (Jun 2, 2007)

Lina, that is absolutely awful and must have been terrifying since you were such a young kid. Yikes - that is like some of my nightmares! Glad your mom was a quick thinker and that washtub was nearby!


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## Leslie (Feb 28, 2007)

Diane~ You are correct, you can't be too careful w/poisons. We are so careful about what we use around the house for things like this. Everything we use is either natural and/or safe for animals and children (nematodes, ladybugs, praying mantis, soapy water, vinegar, boric acid, DE, etc.). Besides Tori, we have 3 small grandchildren who are here at least twice a week. When we got Tori, we took out about 1/3 of the plants we had in the backyard because they were on the list of what is toxic to dogs. After all we went through w/Shadow and still not knowing the exact thing that caused her illness/death, we decided to not take ANY chances with Tori.

Well, she slept very well last night and has eaten a good breakfast, so it appears it was just an uncomfortable experience for her. I wonder if she'll connect the pain to sniffing the ant hole? I'm thinking she probably won't.

Thank you all for your concern. You are such a wonderful group who totally understands these kind of things  I love you all! :hug::kiss:


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## casperkeep (May 16, 2007)

I am glad to read that Tori is feeling better....those nasty little ants!!!


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## mellowbo (Aug 12, 2007)

Awww, poor baby. I'm glad she didn't swell much. About a year ago Vinny got stung by a bee and swelled something terrible. We rushed him to the emergency vet and he got a shot. The vet said next time to give him Benedryl just like you did and save the $$. lol.


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## gelbergirl (Jun 9, 2007)

(Best healing vibes to Tori !)
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~


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## Lina (Apr 26, 2007)

Oh I'm glad that Tori is feeling completely well this morning! She's a trooper. 

I agree that my mom really was quick thinking with those ants. She was always good at that.


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## havaluv (Oct 15, 2007)

So glad to read Tori is feeling fine today. Hooray for good news! Sending rubbles to her!


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## dotndani (Mar 19, 2007)

thank goodness Tori is feeling better!!


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## whitBmom (Nov 27, 2006)

I am so sorry that Tori is hurt.  I hope she feels better soon. :grouphug:


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## marjrc (Jan 13, 2007)

OUCH! Oh poor Tori! I'm glad to read she's doing much better now though. 

Yikes, Lina! I am scratching like crazy just thinking about your horrible experience.
When I was about 12 or 13, I was picking blueberries across the road from my g'parents' home in Nova Scotia. I started feeling itchy and prickly and looked down to see that I was standing on an ant hill and they were running up my leg! They were not fire ants, thank goodness, but I ran like a fool to the house, stripped off in the bathroom, yelling "I have ants in my pants! EEEEEEEKKKKKKKK! " Oh brother. LOL 

It wasn't funny at the time mind you......


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