Dogs and snakebite

[Texas Star]

A friend's dog has run afoul of a snake, type unknown. Fang marks are about a half inch apart, and a coral snake has been seen around the house.

Symptoms seem more like a pit viper. Western Diamondback has also been seen, but is too large for that bite radius, although a different snake may be involved.

Swelling of the head is severe and we doubt that a vet will give antivenin to a dog.

If you've seen dogs bitten by snakes, what happened? If the dog recovered, how long did it take? If the dog went to a vet, what was done for the dog?

This is a Weimaraner of maybe 70 pounds and facial swelling is baseball sized. Respiration isn't severe, so I doubt a coral snake

This is a pretty general question, but all feedback is of interest.

 

[transit]

Nothing of real value to offer...


...but, I was always trained: "How does this, or how could this affect my partner's breathing?"

If you're looking at baseball size swelling on a healthy Weimaraner sized-dog, and he has no trouble breathing, I would not be overly agitated.

Bee/wasp stings often blow their cheeks/heads up to baseball size.

The breathing is what matters. If he's not having any trouble, it's much less concern. Maybe look for unusual bruising, in the event you have hemotoxic snakes where you are, vs. neurotoxic.

But, if that's all that I was looking at, a puffy face, I'd throw him an antihistamine and keep an eye on him.

My partner? I would not sleep, I would watch him, but experienced hands can't panic, it's part of one's reputation.

He'll probably be fine.

If anything changes, be ready to move to your emergency hospital. It can't be confusion when you decide to go.

Know where that is. Know how to get there. Know who will drive and who will maintain care, comfort and control of the dog.

He'll probably be fine.

 

[moralem]

In Texas probably a copperhead. Give them a Benadryl and just keep an eye on them.....they should be fine in the AM after sleeping the be Benadryl off. My lab was bitten a couple of times and recovered fine.....she always wore two black spots where she was bitten.....good luck.

 

[BigBill]

I would of been to the vet already. It breaks my heart to lose pets that I adopt that needs homes.

My son at ten years old had a headache. I was away on my job. The misses took him to the family doctor and said he was ok. By Friday night I was home and Saturday morning he went to the local clinic. The Indian doctor had a gut feeling something was wrong. Over night testing at the hospital. By morning he lost his vision. He was in the fetal position. All heck broke loose. A top brain surgeon came in. The boys brain had swelled. He had an aneurism. They gave him a shot to reduce the swelling. They operated on Monday morning. He was ten years old. Now he's 45 yo and a pia still. What if we waited longer. Godbless the Indian doctor in the clinic. He saved my boys life, well pointed us in the right direction.

 

[wood714]

My grand dads dog was bit by a Copperhead. He said it's head swelled up like a basketball too.

It laid under the shade tree a couple days and was back to normal.

 

[hemiram]

My friend's Lab/St Bernard, that was once mistaken for a Mountain Lion (Some seriously bad eyesight there) got bitten on the inside of his left rear leg by a Sidewinder. It made a huge necrotic "dent" in his thigh and it remained for the rest of his life. He had a couple of bad days at the vet and came home limping pretty badly, but I don't think anything more was done than to keep him hydrated and sedated so he wouldn't work on removing his IV. He was back to normal in a couple of weeks and for a big dog, his 13+ year lifespan wasn't negatively affected by his snake encounter.

 

[hemiram]

My Beagle had a compulsion to mess with spiders and when I moved to Las Vegas from Ohio, where Black Widows just aren't seen all that much, he started getting bit by them frequently. His head would swell up tremendously and he walked and acted like he was drunk. The vet would give him some combination of Benadryl and something else, and within a couple of hours, he was acting normal and would be 100% the next day. He never learned to leave them alone, and it almost cost him dearly. I took him to the vet with his head all swollen up and he was drooling pretty badly, and a Newfoundland attacked him without warning, probably because he was acting strangely. He definitely lost that bout, but he got his shots in and the Newfie's face was permanently altered due to bites. My dog got some free stitches, and the vet was impressed at how, even when he felt bad, he still didn't give up and surrender. It was one of the few fights he lost as an adult. He had his "facehugger" move and between that and his insane screaming next to the other dog's ear, his opponents would fold quickly once they realized they couldn't get him off.

 

[Sandman4delta]

Some years ago one of my Huskys was bitten right on the face by a Western. Above the brow with about an inch between fangs.
She likely got bit the night before and I saw her the next morning. Her head looked like a Mastiff instead of the wolfie face I was used to.
Our vet was a country Texan who treated everything from cats to cows. He gave her a scrip for Prednisone and an antibiotic and said give it a week or so, and that was it.
He said that most canines tolerate Rattler/pit viper bites fairly well and usually only life threat for a very small dog or an abdominal bite into the gut.
As for your fang marks a coral snake has very small fangs by comparison and usually needs to clamp down on an extremity when it comes to larger animals. You likely would not have found the bite site as easily. Also corals are neurotoxic so the symptoms would be quite different.
So give Fido some love and enjoy a cuddle.

 

[Big Cholla]

I took a Brittney Spaniel belonging to my Dad out Quail Hunting. He got a little far out from me, stuck his head in at the base of a Creosote bush and got bit right on the tip of the nose by a Sidewinder. His head swelled up about the size of a soccer ball for a couple of days. He gradually returned to normal. I hunted with him a year later and felt that his sense of smell wasn't up to normal. He avoided all snakes after that.

 

[Retired LTC USAR]

My son was walking his Dalmatian. It ran ahead into the brush. He heard a yelp and it ran back to him bleeding from to puncture wounds in the neck. Dog did moments after that.

Vet suspects the dog was bitten by a rattler/copperhead in the neck and it got a vein. Vet said he would have died no matter what my son had done.

 

[Oracle]

We have had two rattlesnakes in front of our home. First one beneath a tree and the second one right at the door step, my wife almost stepped on it. Both snakes were given a demonstration of a model 629, they didn't applaud but since they lack arms or hands and their heads were vaporized we didn't mind.

Rattlesnake bites cause necrotic tissue damage to the area bitten. Rattlesnakes don't always inject venom but I sure wouldn't wait for symptoms.

 

[misswired]

One Benadryl for every 10 pounds the dog weighs. Swelling and discomfort should be relieved in less than 24 hours.....

70 lb canine = 7 Benadryl in one dose

Verify before blaming a talk forum for bad advice.

 

[Stevens]

When I was a kid our female beagle was bitten by a snake. Not sure what kind probably copperhead or maybe small rattler, both were common where we lived. We brought her to the vet he cleaned around the bite, two small punctures right at the top base of the ear, but that was all. She was sickly for a few days with swelling of the head but healed up fine.
I hope the dog in question does well too.
Steve W

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Have seen Dogs like that
Not a pretty sight, hope it gets better.
Never been bite by a snake, but a Brown Recluse did a number on my hand. Swelled to the point I couldn't make a fist!

 

[jeffrefrig]

Weims are tough dogs. I know! But, venom is venom; let us know how he/she turns out and if they went to the vet, what the Dr. said. Dogs are a lot more immune to nature's offerings than people are. Have you ever seen what they eat sometimes? Love my Weimaraner; they are beautiful dogs, as all dogs are. Hope your friend's dog is okay.

 

[duman444]

Desnaking dogs

Hunting dogs are usually bitten on the face as they are poking it where snakes live.

Went with my neighbor to a "desnaking" course for dogs. They had 2 rattlers set out on a 100 yd course. Rattlers were in a hardware cloth style pen. Put shock collar on dog and had owner and dog walk the course. When dog got to rattlers and stuck his nose down there he got a shock.

They moved the snakes around after the dogs walked the course the first time. Second time around and every Brittany, Springer spaniel, and all the setters caught scent of snake and avoided it.

The one Lab that out there had to be shocked 3 times before he associated pain with snake smell. The last time they turned the shock collar setting up a bit and literally had him bounce 4" in the air. He finally got it after that.

 

[Texas Star]

Thanks, all.

I'll pass on the info about those drugs.

My best guess is a Copperhead bite.

 

[MRB1]

Our Boxer used to get bit by Copperheads on a regular basis - he just wouldn't leave them alone. His head / lips would swell up like softballs, and he was lethargic for a couple of days, then as soon as the swelling went down he was back at it looking for more to fight. Treatment seemed to make no difference, but we were watchful to make sure he hadn't tangled with a Rattlesnake. Our Lab got it one time, and he was smart enough to avoid them afterward.

 

[Sgt911]

A copperhead got mine once. He came in the house, wagged his tail, and fell over. He laid around for a couple days but snapped back.

 

[Old Arkansawyer]

I had a blue healer that was bitten near the left eye, and she did lose
the vision in that eye. She had lots of swelling on the left side of her
head. Either a copperhead or rattler, not sure which as we have both
species in this area.