A picture of Asian lady beetles embedded inside a dog’s mouth is circulating social media, but don’t let this picture worry you.
Over the past few days, many Facebook users may have come across an image that appears to show ladybugs embedded inside the roof of a dog’s mouth.
The wording of the original post by the Hands & Paws Facebook page made many dog owners nervous.
Japanese Beetles can and will imbed (sic) themselves like this in the roof of your dog’s mouth. Symptoms are constant drooling for no apparent reason. Lady Bugs can also do the same thing.
The more you know…
The disturbing picture was shared over 34,000 times and caused concern for many dog lovers.
When the American Veterinary Medical Association saw the post, they decided to clear some things up.
This is going around on Facebook and causing a bit of panic, so here’s the real scoop: there are invasive Asian ladybugs that can cause problems, but our “regular” ladybugs DO NOT. So there’s no need to panic and pry open your dog’s mouth to look for zombie ladybugs.
The image reportedly came from an incident in which 16 multicolored Asian lady beetles, not the normal ladybug, became embedded inside the dog’s mouth.
The Hands & Paws Facebook page later changed the wording of their post to clear up any confusion they may have caused.
**** Don’t panic ****. This post is for informational purposes. This does not indicate this will happen to your pet.
But it’s good information to have.Asian Beetles (some people call them Japanese Beetles as well) can embed themselves like this in the roof of your dog’s mouth if ingested by dog. Be aware of what your dog is randomly eating while outside. These beetles( which look a lot like lady bugs) can be on sticks, leaves, etc. Symptoms are constant drooling for no apparent reason, and sudden horrid breath.
Insects were removed and this pup is doing fine!