Well it is snake season here in Arizona and of course my silly dog sticks his nose right on the first Diamond Back that he sees. POW right on the nose. I put the dog in the truck and haul him off to the vet. Vet says only safe thing to do is anti venom but it is pricey. Ok I say stick him. Well about five syringes and a quart of IV flluid later he says ok take him home. And oh by the way that anti venom was $432. Gulp.
Dog (standard poodle) nose swells up like a bull dog and looks half dead by dark. Well next morning he is up and jumping and the swelling is gone appears to no worse for ware. Never know.
When my dog received his bite from a rattlesnake (on the bridge of the nose of course) we called the vet. She said to wash it with alcohol and watch it for 15 minutes. If it started to swell real big to get him in as soon as possible. If nothing more than a knot then he would probably be OK. She said most snakes save their venom for stuff they can eat and don't waste it on big animals, just give a warning shot (so to speak). It can make them sick but usually not fatal. Ours appeared OK 15 minutes later and was fine the next day.
Maybe we should buy stock in that anti-venom stuff.......
We see our share of rattlers and our dogs, especially the dumb one who still can’t tell the difference between a rattle snake and a lizard, runs into more than his share. When he does get bit, about 2-3 times a year, we just pump him full of antihistamine, half an aspirin and watch him closely for half a day. For a while we went the vet treatment route but after talking with a number of vets the consensus was that it’s the most expensive possible route and one that does not tend to make a difference to most dogs that are a medium size or larger.
It’s my understanding that most adult rattlers don’t envenomate with every bite but, as was said, only do so when they are hunting or very threatened. It’s also my understanding that young rattles usually shoot a full load of venom with every bite so they are often more dangerous than a full grown snake.
So far we have had no problem with the dumb dog by using the less expensive route. It’s been 2 years and probably 5 bites so far so this way seems to be working.
Now if we could just get him to tell the difference between a possum and a skunk…….
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Funny this came up now. This morning's news (KPHO from Phoenix) mentioned a new rattlesnake vaccine for dogs.
I just stopped by to talk to our vet about it. He said it has been in use in California for a couple of years. He said it primarily protects the animal against the longer term effects of a bite. And that the short term effects still need to be observed closely, and treated, or not, as mentioned in this thread.
<font color="purple"> It’s my understanding that most adult rattlers don’t envenomate with every bite but, as was said, only do so when they are hunting or very threatened. It’s also my understanding that young rattles usually shoot a full load of venom with every bite so they are often more dangerous than a full grown snake. </font color>
That's my understanding, too, from talking with vets and many long-time AZ residents, plus reading online.
The venom is very valuable to the rattler, because it ensures a food supply. Adults can detect the size of what they're striking (given the chance), and adjust the delivery of venom accordingly. And, if it is too big for them to eat, they tend not to deliver venom at all, or very little. That ensures they have venom left to acquire dinner.
The baby rattler is not so good at this economy of venom, and delivers the full sac with every strike. And since their venom is fully potent, they can do more damage to a human/dog than an adult.
My vet said he had just gotten the vaccine in that very day. Of course no good for an already bit dog. I figure the bite and anti venom are about as good as the vaccine so all he is going to get next time is the IV and antibiotics.
I am not sure about the controlled bite theory. We had two horses die last year at the stable from snake bite. We had a cat get bit last year right betweent the eys It got the IV and antibiotics and lived. Looked kinda funny for a few days.
<font color="purple"> I am not sure about the controlled bite theory </font color>
The caveat is "given the chance" the adult rattler will control the bite. Surprise one and you're likely to get the full sac.
We have a lot of Mohaves up here. They tend to react to you at a much greater distance, which is good, in a sense, because they get a chance to "size you up". But, they also tend to be much more aggressive. And, their venom is worse.
"We had two horses die last year at the stable from snake bite. "
What caused the deaths? Restricted air flow?
My experience, and I am no vet, is that generally when a horse gets bit it’s usually on the nose which can suffocate them when their nose swells shut. One of our local general vets said that you can stop this by shoving a large tube through their nose so they can breath.
I would also think that a large healthy horse would be pretty resistant to a snake bite unless it got a full dose into the blood stream.
I am no expert but there is not a lot below a horse’s knee that is soft tissue and I don’t think a rattler is going to get any higher than their knee. Where the horses either young or old?
I think they were both bit in the nose or head and were out in a pature at the time so they may have well died of sufocation. They were not mine so I really do not know. they both belonged to the riding stable.
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