Monday, February 8, 2010

One very, very unhappy Wilf.

Somehow, I don't know how and I don't know when, Wilf has had a run in with poisonous catepillars. Last night he came in from the garden and ran straight up to me his mouth, gums,tongue, eyes and underside all horribly red, swollen and sore. To begin with I thought it was a severe reaction to a wasp sting but then as his scratching and crying continued the horrible truth struck home - processionary caterpillars. These dreadful critters are about 4 cm's long , live in large nests on the top of pine trees, and come down , in a long single file containing hundreds of them, in search of food. The problem is that they are covered in tens of thousands of defensive hairs coated in poisonous toxins . When disturbed they eject these toxic darts which can cause a severe allergic reaction to both people and dogs if touched or inhaled. Necrosis , where the dog loses all or part of its tongue, is the outcome. They used to occur only in southern Europe but now,with climate change, they are spreading further and further north and have even made it to England. Readers of the previous 'Life in Italy' blog will remember the same thing happened to Wilf last year. Lightning does strike twice!

'The font' is away so I hastily phoned the local vet to describe the symptoms. The conversation went along the lines of : "No, it is quite impossible for it to be caterpillars. They don't come down from the trees until April at the earliest. He must have licked a poisonous toad. Anyway, you'd better bring him in". Thank God I did bring him in. By the time I got to the vets my hands and fingers had turned red and started to swell in reaction to the irritants that I got from just touching Wilfs coat.

The vet took one look at my swollen hands and eyes and without having to say any more immediately knew the diagnosis. We are the first local victims of caterpillar poisoning in 2010. Wilf was given a cortisone shot, had his heart and lungs checked and was prescribed strong anti-histamines. He finally fell asleep on the floor beside me at around two this morning and didn't wake until six.. We now have to wait to see what damage has been done to his tongue - I'm just hoping and praying that he won't have to have it removed. The good news is that he seems much less agitated this morning, wanted a walk and is decidedly unhappy at having to be given water from a plastic syringe. I take his uncharacteristic truculence as a sign that all will be well.

17 comments:

  1. oh my gosh!

    Din't anyone tell the caterpillar that Wilf was a nice boy!?!

    Poor boy, Mom says to keep us posted...we'll be sendin Wilf lots of healing energies.

    wags, wiggles & slobbers
    Murphydog

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  2. poor baby! Keeping fingers crossed for complete recovery!
    I am watching over our Sally post-stroke...you do lose a lot of sleep when your dog is sick...dare I say more than when the children were poorly babies.....

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  3. Oh no, another emergency vet visit this weekend. Poor Wilf. Such a worry indeed. I do hope he makes a full recovery. How does one make sure he avoids these horrid caterpillars in the future? (Apart from moving back to Scotland, obviously....)
    Do keep us posted.
    Cheers! H.

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  4. Oh-My-Goodness!! I have heard about the catepillars in your part of the world, but never thought about what harm they could have on an innocent boy like Wilf!! I hope he continues to do well, and we will keep him in our prayers for a full recovery!! Please keep us posted! Take care!

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  5. Oh my doGness! We are crossing all our paws for Wilf! And sending lots of healing Aire-zen!

    Aire-hugs,
    Poppy, Penny & Patches

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  6. Oh, poor Wilf! We are hoping and praying that he will be alright. I'm glad that he finally got some rest! Hasn't he figured out that his curiosity gets him into trouble?

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  7. oh my! how scary is that?! hopefully the old guy will be ok!! keep us posted....
    xoxo

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  8. Oh Angus! How terrifying! Im so sorry for Wilf's ordeal (as well as yours). We are holding fingers, thumbs, toes and anything else that all will be well with Wilf.. You must be so worried.
    Thinking of you, with love
    YOUR FRIENDS IN SOUTH AFRICA

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  9. Poor Wilfy! (Are you sure it wasn't a reaction to the rugby?)

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  10. That's the scariest thing I've ever heard! And thank goodness there was an emergency vet available on a Sunday to take care of dear Wilf. (You'd have had a terrible time here in the States as it was Super Bowl Sunday and all life as we know it comes to a grinding halt.) Did you get some medications as well, M'ongoose? Those caterpillars sound dreadful. Is there any way to be rid of them? (I bet they transform into ugly butterflies.)

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  11. Oh God. My heart is beating like a rabbit. This sounds straight from a horror movie. If you can't trust a caterpillar to be inconsequential, what next? I will be saying a prayer for Wilf. Keep us posted.

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  12. wilf I love ya buddy. hang in there!!!! my fingers are crossed bigtime!!!!

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  13. Wha a nightmare. Worse than our bufo toads. Worse than even porcupine quills.

    We so hope Wilf will recover without further damage. (And will remember next time!)

    Wirey woofs.

    Jake and Just Harry

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  14. Oh no. We hope it will all turn out ok. What happens to a pupster without a tongue???

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  15. Oh my. Caterpiller poisoning? That's one danger that I'd never heard of! Our paws are crossed that Wilf recovers completely!

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  16. Angus, please keep us posted - I can tell by your post just how distraught you are - my thoughts and prayers are with you and Wilf.

    Lynn

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  17. still thinking about you and the boys a great deal, worried sick!

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