The word “snake” for most of us conjures up imaginations of scary reptiles that are lying in wait to get us! How many times have you been told as a child not to go down the woods because of snakes? I am no lover of poisonous snakes and neither are my English Shepherds, but I am concerned with the bite that happens here fairly often.
My dogs are critter eradicators! Snakes are critters, as are possums, skunks and raccoon. My dogs have a special bark for each critter and the snake bark is unmistakable! BOO, Abilene and Amarillo are very adept at snake eradication, but sometimes they do get bitten. Through the years I have been to the vet for this, but because of the usual late night bites and the distance to the vet, we have a snake bite kit. Here’s what I do for snake bites on my farm:
- I try not to panic ** very important **
- I take the collar off the dog
- I give Kefflex for the bite (snakes mouths are nasty and filled with all kinds of bacteria)
- I give Benadryl for swelling (most of the time this is enough)
- I watch the dog close and keep it cool or warm, depending on the time of year
- I keep the dog quiet
Recently, one of my dogs was bitten on the foot. It swelled fast. In 10 minutes it was double it’s original size and in 15 minutes the swelling had tripled the size the dog’s foot. I gave my usual meds. The dog was in tremendous pain and could not walk on the leg.
Kay Keziah’s BOO
My vet had given me some fast acting medicine for times like this. Never having had to use it before, I got out the medicine this time and gave the shot. The swelling started to go down within 15 minutes I continued with the Keflex antibiotic for 7 days and the dog recovered fine, but was sore and in pain for 2 days.
The medicine I administered was Quick Acting Dexamethasone-SP (per my vet’s recommendation.) I do not recommend that you do this, but if you are in a situation where you might not be able to get to the vet with your dog, I do recommend that you talk with your vet and see what they can give you to help until you can make it to their office.
Most of the snake bites in my area are from copperhead snakes. Recently, I saw a rattlesnake. I’m told it is the first here in over 100 years! Now, I’m on high alert for the dogs and myself! I’m even rethinking my snake program. While copperheads do make the dogs sick, rattlesnakes can kill a dog. I want to teach snake avoidance to my dogs so I can choose for them which snake they get rid of.