We just survived (our little dog did) a terrible experience.

We stayed at an RV park in FL last night (N. West) and found the place invaded by bees. My husband went to the store to ask for bug spray and they came over (a family member of the owners) and sprayed with pure malathon spray, all over the grass.

I thought he'd only hit one area, where the bees had been thick on the grass, so later took my little dog  to do her thing in a different location, I thought. She weighs all of 11 pounds.

Then hubby and I took the pets all over to the dog run. We got ready for bed and about 1/2 hour into sleep, the little one began panting loudly and jumped off the bed. She could not walk, but stumbled all over the place. She then began crying out, like in pain. I picked her up and she was shaking with her heart racing. She also seemed t bo be jerking all over.

 I woke up hubby, while I spent frantic time on the computer trying to find an emergency pet hospital. I found one 40 miles E. of where we are. When I called and told them the symptoms, they asked if she'd been exposed recently to insecticides. I said yes and told them what. They told me to get her in ASAP as it was a matter of life and death.

By then, hubby had her up on the bed and her limbs and stomach were all rigid, her tail was tucked between her legs, she was having seizures and her eyes were rolling to the back of her head. I grabbed her in a towel (to keep warm and in case she let go of her functions) and held her close as we raced down the highway. Suddenly she began easing up,  sat straight up and began to slow down her breathing. She looked around rather alertly. I noted her heart rate had slowed down. Either she was feeling better, or dying. I should mention that I was praying all the way for her to survive.

We got to the vet. Tillie seemed really alert. Rick put her on the floor and she let loose of her bladder, BUT she also walked rather well. No staggering. She came over to be held, and the vet came in and examined her. She still had symptoms, jerking a bit and breathing hard on occasion, but still, things were better. The vet told us she was not out of the woods, needed to be treated with fluids and also charcoal that would absorb the contents of her stomach and take up some of the poison. Then I suddenly remembered that she had vomited copious amounts of stomach content while still at home. The vet told us that likely had saved her life.

We picked her up early this morning and other than seeming a bit worn out (as we are too), she seems so much better. The other dogs feet were washed when we came home from the vets and never had symptoms, thank goodness.

We went to speak with the owners this morning to see if they'd help with the close to $500 vet bill. The owners son was there and said he's speak to his mother about it and we told him we had to stay another night and needed to go get some sleep. He said to come back later. We are heading over there now to see what is what.

I just wanted to make sure that you all were aware of this particular danger at RV parks (or in your own yard, for that matter). We never gave it a thought and neither did the park when they sprayed. It might be more common than we may think in areas with lots of bugs. So perhaps check on what they use and how recently, and what areas. My husband was told that they had sprayed all over the park recently due to the yellow jackets. Perhaps in the dog run (we don't know)? We only know where the recent spraying was and what it did to our little Tillie. Hopefully they will take part of the responsibility for this and be careful in the future. I know we will be wary and very cautious.

I will fill you all in later.