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RE: snakebites in dogs
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by Cro on December 26, 2006
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Teresa, every snakebite is an individual medical emergency, and each is different. Long term effects could range from no lasting problems to death. Factors like how much venom was injected, how big the dog was, where on its body it was bitten, the age and health of the dog, the size of the snake, the type of the snake, all play a part.
Some dogs get bitten by rattlesnakes and make a full recovery without any treatment at all. This probably is due to very little venom being injected.
Other dogs have lasting physical and neurological damage from a snake bite. Others do not survive the bite.
If your dog gets bitten by a rattlesnake, get it to a vet as rapidly as possible. Call ahead and tell them you are on your way, so they can prepare.
Hope this helps.
Best Regards JohnZ
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RE: snakebites in dogs
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by bebostons on December 26, 2006
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Hi John
The reason I was asking this question is that I had a Boston Terrier, 19 lbs bitten by a diamond back rattlesnake 39 inches Oct 1, 2005. He was struck twice, one under the eye on the face, one on the shoulder area. He had extensive bruising his whole stomach turned black. He lost most of the skin on his legs but recovered from the infections.
He was treated with steroids, antihistamines and penicillin.
He gained a lot of weight after the bites.
To make a long story shorter, he died today. For no apparent reason. I am wondering if perhaps the bite did damage to heart/lungs/liver? He was 6 on May 24th.
I am worried now as I have two other Boston Terriers that were also struck last year.
Any information would be appreciated.
Teresa
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RE: snakebites in dogs
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by Cro on December 27, 2006
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Teresa, sorry to hear about the loss of your Boston Terrier.
A snake bite like that puts a lot of stress on the dog, and the venom does have a chance to damage internal organs such as the heart, lungs, and liver.
You mention though that the dog was given steriods, and gained a lot of weight after. A weight gain like that can also stress the animal. It could have very well been a combination of the stress of the added weight and damage from the bite that combined to eventually kill your pet.
The smaller the dog that is bitten, the less body mass it has to absorb and break down the venom. Because of that, a 19 lb dog is at much more risk than say a 100 lb shepherd.
You did not mention what part of the country you live in, so I do not know what kind of rattlesnake caused the bite. There is a lot of difference between the venoms of different types of rattlesnakes. Some are many times more potent than others.
You said that you have had other dogs that were struck by rattlesnakes. To help protect your other pets, you need to try to do things that will discourage the rattlesnakes from coming onto your property. They are probably there looking for food like mice. Mice like to hang out around barns, and brush piles, and man-made debris like stacks of lumber. If you have anything like that around the property, it should be cleaned up and hauled away. If you eliminate the food source for the snakes, they should go elsewhere.
Can you tell us a bit more about what area you live, and what kind of rattlesnake was involved, and what there might be on the property that is attracting the rattlesnakes? With more information, we might be able to offer more help.
Best Regards JohnZ
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RE: snakebites in dogs
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by bebostons on December 27, 2006
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Thanks for the information John. I live in West Texas in San Angelo. This has been a bad year for snakes because of the drought situation here. I have been walking the property here on a daily basis checking for snakes and have put out sulher etc.
The main problem is that my neighbor to the right of me denies that there are rattlesnakes on his property and will not give me permission to go over to look for the snakes to get them relocated. He has probably an acre of nothing but cactus. Which, unfortunately is where the snakes are going to be living because the mice are attracted to the cactus and the snakes grab the mice when they go after the cactus.
I do have a dog rescue on the property and we try to keep all the food where it doesn't attract mice, but of course the mice come in and burrow under the dog houses. We turn the houses over and clean them out often.
The times were my dogs got bitten, they had just mowed the bar ditch between the highway that runs out front of the property. We have an access road between us and the main highway with a bar ditch that is probably 25-50 feet wide.
All three dogs were bitten by diamondback rattlesnakes. I also lost 3 dogs other dogs over the summer to bites. 2 Bostons and one border collie.
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RE: snakebites in dogs
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by Cro on December 27, 2006
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Teresa, I can think of a couple of suggestions that might help. You might want to install a "drift fense" along your property line. Places like Home Depot and Lowes and Lumber Yards sell this black fabric material about 18 inches tall with built in stakes that is used in erosion control on construction sites. If you were to place it along the property line, many of the snakes would turn when they came up to it. Some might go over, but the tendency is for them to turn and follow the fense, and this would keep many of them off of your property.
I would also contact a local vet about the problem. Antivenom for snake bite is quite expensive when it is in date, as it is designed for humans. However, many hospitals that stock human antivenom (Crofab) will give it away for free to a vet for treatment of animals that have been bitten by venomous snakes after it has expired for human use. Even though it is out of date for human use, it will still usually work against a snake bite in a dog or cat or livestock. If you have a country vet who works with large animals, and he is willing to help, he could probably procure a stock of antivenom at almost no cost, and it would be availabe if one of your dogs gets bitten in the future.
One other thought is that most of the commercial snake repellents use Nampha, which is Moth Ball Crystals. I can not speak as to if these work or not, but it could be worth a try. It would be much less expensive as moth crystals than snake repellent. Just make sure that the pets can not get into it.
Hope this helps.
Best Regards JohnZ
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RE: snakebites in dogs
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by GREGLONGHURST on December 27, 2006
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There is also a snakebite preventative medication for pets only..not humans. It may be worth checking into.
The drift fence idea is a good one, even if the dogs have the medication.
~~Greg~~
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RE: snakebites in dogs
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by jared on December 28, 2006
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Rattlesnake bites on dogs tend to be less severe as in humans, that being said a 20lb dog is less likely to survive the rattlesnake bite having alot to do with weight and allergys. I personally have never worked on an atrox envenomation on a dog, that being said I have worked over 20 agkistrodon envenomations and 1 C horridus envenomation on dogs. For the aggies it was simply benedryl and reaction prevention. All of the agkistrodon envenomations lived and most had little or no swelling left by the end of the week (though pain was still there). The horridus envenomation was a different story and other techs acknowledged that many of the horridus envenomations did not make it (most of those came from at least 30 minutes from the hospital) as was the case with my personal experience in the matter. Larger breeds may have stood a better chance but this animal (beagle) was DOA. My only advice would be to keep a pack of regular childrens benedryl tablets near, if another envenomation occurs you could administer 1/2 to 1 tablet based on the dogs size to counter the allergic reaction if it will take some time to get to the hospital. I dont know if you plan a necropsy but that may help in finding if the venom had some devistating effect on the kidneys liver etc. Also, for smaller breeds it is not unusual to live past 10 years of age, so you may want to check it out. I hope it helps,
Jared L Watts
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RE: snakebites in dogs
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by Cro on December 28, 2006
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Jared, I think the Benadryl Antihistamine is a good idea, but knowing how difficult it is to get pets to take pills, I wonder if the Liquid Benadryl Children'S Allergy Relief Elixir might be a better choise.
It could be easily poured into a dogs mouth, or down a dogs throat, and the cherry flavor might help get him to swallow it.
Best Regards JohnZ
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RE: snakebites in dogs
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by Cro on December 28, 2006
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Teresa, the anti-snakebite vaccine for dogs and livestock that Greg mentioned is manafactured by Red Rock Biologics. Their website is:
http://redrockbiologics.com/risks.html
Take a look at their site and perhaps print out a copy to take to your vet so you can ask him about the vaccine they produce.
You live in an area where rattlesnakes are going to be a ongoing problem. Vaccinating your dogs against a bite might be well worth the cost and time involved.
Hope this helps.
Best Regards JohnZ
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