Sumstorm,
Yes, it works the same way for animals as for people. The more you or they become sensitized to an allergen - that is, have repeated exposure, the worse the allergic reaction can become. Its not a law that it gets worse every time but it is a possibility. And sometimes they can be exposed multiple time but will never develop an allergy. Hence just because they were stung does not mean they will develop an allergy.
My dog has never been particularly allergy prone, but on the sunday night after thanksgiving, of course at 3 am I woke up to him itching his face. I thought it was strange because I had actually given him benadryl almost 8 hrs before for the car ride home. I turned on the lights and he had a nice local anaphylactic rxn. He's is a very slim and long nosed rhodesian ridgeback - he looked like a sharpei! His face was totally swollen and of course I panicked he would go into systemic anaphylaxis and his throat would close up! So, after that I inquired about epi pens for dog. I couldn't find anything like it to my shock. His protocol was dexamethasone sp and benadryl intramuscularly.
I always have some hydroxyzine on hand because I'm not convinced he wasn't allergic to the benadryl and his dermatologist said he like hydroxyzine better than benadryl. They are both histamine blockers and very similiar. Perhaps also having some pred on hand might help but the problem is if the throat swells, they can't swallow it, plus once you do get them to the hospital it makes it very difficult for the clinician to asses what and how much steroids to give them. His derm also said its very rare for dogs to go into systemic anaphylaxis though it can happen. He also said he was taught with the "forgiveness rule" if it happens once, don't worry about it yet. I'm not sure I totally agree or understand but it hasn't happened since.
Sorry this was long winded! Hope it helped, if anyone knows about an epi pen type thing please do share! No clinician I talked to seemed to know how one would work for a canine.
