My cat is 'fighting' with a bee (or wasp, I'm not sure), will it hurt him?

[SchroSawMargeryDaw]

I would seperate them but I am terrified of bees and wasps.

I've never found any of my cats in difficulty (dogs are a different matter) but I usually try to separate them and/or bat out the stinger if it's a bee because bee stings can lodge in flesh. Wasps are not such a problem. Can you put him somewhere different?

Pick up the cat, we really need the bees.

A wasp sting is horrible for a cat, really swells up.

yes it will hurt him

I can't pick the cat up as he's right beside the thing (whatever is buzzing around) it's massive and black but looks fuzzy?

Honestly, I don't like creepy crawlies but I would manage to seperate them with bees and wasps though I just freeze.

He's sitting a bit back from it now, watching it. The window above it is open so it can make an exit if it wants to...

Shit shit shit.

Cat has walked away but I no longer hear buzzing, this one only seems to buzz on and off though.

If he swallows it it can kill him. If the bee/wasp stings his throat it can swell up and cut of his airway. We do see cases of this.

cant you call the cat away with food or something?

The cat has left the room but now I'm worried he's eaten it cat. I don't hear buzzing anymore but it could be hiding I suppose or flown out the window...

Well if he has eaten it it isn't necessarily a problem - only if it has stung his throat, and I think you could probably tell from his behaviour if that had happened. Anyway keep an eye on him. Unfortunately though when it does happen the effect seem to be so quick that unless it happens outside a vets there is probably little that can be done. I'm sure he'll be fine though.

It's probably flown out.

I think it got away, phew!

Thank you and I apologise for being such a wimp. :(

If it was big, black and fuzzy, it was a bee by the way - they usually go out pretty quickly because they're not really interested in inside. (Unlike wasps who might be attracted by food you had around.)

Not wimpy at all! Some people don't like certain things and that's that.

I thought bees were stripey?

SHITE I can hear it again!

My cat bit a bee. It stung the inside of her mouth. Her head swelled up grotesquely and frighteningly fast. This impaired her airway and so she was having difficulty breathing. We ran to the vet (luckily nearby) charged straight into the consulting room (whilst some other customer was there). She received an injection (I didn't ask what, but I assume of the same stuff they give people with severe allergies). The cat's recovery was as fast and dramatic as her decline had been.

Don't let your cat hunt bees.

Not the big ones. At any rate, not obviously. It must have been taking a wee rest.

Make sure that the cat is outside the room, open windows wide and if you see it, see if it wanders out. Bees usually stumble around inside - they're not fast and nippy like wasps - so you could see if you could pluck up courage to gently guide it with a rolled up newspaper. I think that the glass and paper might be too much for you if you have a thing about them.

Poly That must have been terrifying, I am glad your cat was luckily okay.

The cats have been locked in another room now so it's just me I am fearing for now!

I am not hiding behind a pillow, oh no

Shudder at the thought of leading it out with a newspaper...

Windows are open wide, the bee wont get hurt (as much as I am scared of them I would never hurt one).

And for future reference, make sure you don't have anything like pale flowers near the window (inside.) That's what often attracts them into a house, apart from just bumbling in.

We don't have any flowers in the house or the garden. That's really useful to know though!

How do you know so much about bees?

Well it rather depends how clean your windows are and whether they're single or double glazed. (Can alter what can be seen.) Bumbles are just wandering around looking for flowers so if they see some corkers (as they think) then they go after them.

I'm so glad I saw this thread. I'm petrified of wasps and scared of bees (I can put bumble bees out if they don't seem too pissed off) - I'm massively allergic to mosquitos and have had swellings the size of a small orange with a red patch the size of a side plate from random insect bites so I'm convinced that a bee or wasp sting would kill me. A bee got in the other week and I had to get DP to deal with it. Rice was apparently quite interested in it (I had to leave the room) so probably would have gone for it if I was there on my own and left her in the room. Now I know that if I have to evacuate a room because of a bee or wasp then I should take her with me.

If it's a bee, QS, you really don't have much to worry about - they're so dopey that they're easily caught using a glass and piece of paper or gently batted towards an open window.

Wasps are a bit meaner spirited so probably better to open a window and leave the room with Rice - if you can't face swatting them.

Oneago once swallowed a bluebottle fly. (He used to get endless hours of fun out of them and Daddy Long Legs.) Unfortunately, he swallowed it whole by mistake and it set up, alive, buzzing in his throat. His look of embarrassed consternation as he sat there pretending he wasn't buzzing remains with me to this day.

That's why I'm petrified of wasps and only scared of bees. The other week I didn't know if it was a bee or a huge wasp because it was behind the blind - by the time it came out from behind the blind I was was so terrified that I had to leave the room rather quickly. I've guided bumble bees out in the past and they seem rather intelligent. One got in and was getting quite angry trying to get out of a window that didn't open. She was trying to sting the cobwebs in the corner of the window so I had to leave the room for a bit. I came back later and she seemed to have calmed down so I got a pint glass and opened the back door which was next to the window she was caught in. I just had to put the pint glass over her and move it sideways. Bees are rather clever.