Offer an appropriate, interactive toy for the cat to bite. Stuffed animals are a hit with many cats. There should be a variety of toys (at least three) available so your cat does not get bored. Toys that dispense treats are a great way to keep their environment enriched and encourage appropriate play behavior by rewarding play with appropriate objects. Most people only experience a localised reaction to bee stings. This area around the skin is red and painful. About 3% of people stung by bees and wasps have an allergic reaction to the sting, and up to 0.8% of bee sting victims experience the severe and life-threatening allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis – this requires urgent medical intervention as detailed above. What to do: First Aid for Life is a multi-award-winning, fully regulated first aid training provider. Our trainers are highly experienced medical, health and emergency services professionals who will tailor the training to your needs. Courses for groups or individuals at our venue or yours.

It's because puppies investigate the world using their mouths so it’s perfectly natural to expect them to nibble and bite fingers and hands when they are young. Puppies also need to use their mouths and teeth a great deal to find out how this important part of their anatomy works. Puppies will typically attempt to play with humans by mouthing and play biting. It is something that they did in the litter with their siblings (and usually mum) and it’s a very normal part of learning how to play with dogs.

Impact of biting behaviour

Hence, biting behaviour affects everyone involved and the child who is biting requires necessary help to learn positive ways of behaving and managing their emotions. Positive behaviour support resources for biting behaviour

Ant bites and stings are generally harmless, although you’ll probably feel a nip and a pale pink mark may develop on your skin. Sometimes the bitten area may be painful, itchy and swollen. Spiders Use an insect repellent containing 50 per cent diethyltoluamide (DEET) in the summer months. ‘Apply your sunscreen first, then apply the insect repellent,’ says Dr Lee. ‘Spray the insect repellent on your hands and apply with your hands to your face. Don’t apply insect repellent under your clothes – just on exposed areas. Use just enough to cover the required area.’ Take care not to apply it to broken or inflamed skin, and wash your hands after applying. ✔️ Protect yourself at dusk When injected into your skin, the venom causes most of the itching and pain associated with the sting. It can also cause an allergic reaction. Bites from spiders in the UK are rare, but some native spiders – such as the false widow spider – are capable of giving a nasty bite. Symptoms:

Topical anti-itch creams, oral pain relievers, and antihistamines may be used to combat uncomfortable symptoms. Goldman BS, et al. (2022). Caterpillar and moth bites. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK539851/

Make sure your puppy gets a lot of rest – puppies need a great deal of sleep, often a lot more than they think they do! Just like babies and small children, young puppies can get excitable or irritable if overtired and this may trigger play biting. If you have a reluctant napper, you may need to schedule in quiet time for your puppy to encourage them to switch off at regular intervals during the day. Scorpions have a reputation for stinging. Many species have barbed tails equipped with venom, some strong enough to kill a human. While there’s no guaranteed way to avoid the wrath of insects entirely, there are ways to prevent and reduce your risk of being stung or bitten: ✔️ Cover up Ideally use a high quality, insect repellent and cover up with loose fitting, long sleeved clothes and long trousers. Some mosquitos are around more in the daytime, some at dawn and dusk. Deet based insect repellents are widely seen as the most effective. What to do if Bitten: A severe allergic reaction results in a large amount of tissue swelling, known as angio-oedema,’ she continues. ‘This occurs because fluid leaks out of small blood vessels and collects in the tissues. This swelling may just be localised to the affected area of the bite.’ • Anaphylaxis

Being bitten or stung is never pleasant, but you can make the recovery process more comfortable. Follow these tips for treating insect bites: 1. Remove the sting For persistent play biters, you may have to attach a lightweight lead to their collar so that you can easily lead them to another room (behind a stair gate is a good idea) for a short time apart from you. Make sure you attach this prior to any episodes as it won't be any fun trying to attach the lead to a wriggly and mouthing puppy.

Wasp sting venom is more alkaline and the remedy is neutralising the sting with vinegar to reduce the pain. This might be playtime with toys, a training session or a satisfying walk to tire them out. For tired puppies, you might want to offer a long-lasting chew if they need some down time. Take away temptations Try not to think of it as something that must be prevented entirely – think of it as something that will get better over a short period of time if managed well. Just like very young children who go through all sorts of difficult phases as they grow up, puppies need our patience, support and guidance during this time to help them understand that people should be treated gently. How to stop mouthing and biting Redirect play biting and mouthing Don’t encourage play biting with fingers. As cute as it might seem when your small puppy is chomping on your fingers, you really don’t want your puppy growing up learning that play biting is an appropriate way of interacting with people – as your puppy grows, this habit can be very problematic and painful.Puppies often start to do this when they come to live with us – usually they are doing this as they want to play and haven’t yet learnt that this isn’t much fun for us! Some puppies, particularly those from working breeds, seem to play bite more or harder, and this is probably because they tend to be more energetic. Some children, however, continue to bite. Biting behaviour becomes a concern when the following occurs: The climate of the setting (e.g. childcare, preschool, kindergarten, school, disability support and youth services) can also change dramatically. A considerable amount of time and energy can be spent on the child showing the biting behaviour, which can have a deleterious effect on the quality of the learning experience for all the children. Research consistently shows that managing behaviour is linked to staff experiencing high levels of stress, burnout, and job dissatisfaction. Bee sting venom is predominantly formic acidic so they advise bicarbonate of soda to neutralise it. To make sure you know what to do and what is the right information, consider our Essential First Aid Course.