snake bite

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Working in my flower bed this morning and my rat terrier yelps. Lots of wasps right now and they are sort of aggressive, so that is what I figured it was. But there were two little drops of blood--fang length apart--on his nose. It didn't swell much at first, but it got worse so I took him to the vet. Looked all around for a snake, but never saw one. Vet said there was definite venom sign, bruising inside the lip and hemorrhaging. They wanted to keep him; give him a steroid and antibiotic shot. I believe it was a copperhead. They are more likely to hide than a rattlesnake. And there was a very unpleasant odor; internet says that is something copperheads do. Hopefully they will call me later to pick him up, or they may keep him overnight. Poor little guy.
 
Ohhh no , I hope he is back home with you soon. Poor little guy, glad you noticed the bite marks before the venom had a chance to do anything.
 
They kept him overnight. After the steroid shot, the swelling didn't get worse, but it didn't go down either. They want to give him another in the morning and watch him. I keep looking for the snake, but haven't seen it yet. Everything is rather lush due to the recent rains. I don't know whether it would go into my water garden or not.
 
Poor fella, he has been on my mind all day, since I read your first post. I was hoping he would be home with you tonight. Keeping my fingers crossed that he will be as good as new ASAP.
 
We do have copperheads here occasionally, but rattlesnakes are the most troublesome. We have other snakes, too, but they are harmless. Pink racers, coachwhip, gopher snake, bull snake, garter snake... This is the time of year when rattlesnakes begin to move back to their dens, so we keep watchful. Copperheads are hard to see and shy, so we don't see them much. We have only seen two rattlesnakes so far this year. Haven't seen a copperhead in several years.
 
Swelling had worsened with Buddy in the night so they are going to give him antivenom today. Vet said there should be positive results within a few hours after that. They are keeping him another night. They were not sure whether to give the antivenom yesterday, I suppose, since I could not identify the snake, but they found out it can be used for copperheads also. They are both pit vipers so I guess their venom works the same. Those are the only poisonous snakes here. The antivenom is $250. Poor little guy. He's a house dog, for pete's sake. He only goes outside if I am out there, and I was just a few feet away when he was bitten. We look for the snake every time we go out. Internet says they are ambushers. They don't hunt, they lay in ambush for prey. They bite, then wait for prey to die before devouring. I guess Buddy's little black nose looked like something to eat.
 
Oh I am sorry to hear that! How long does it take for the anti venom to start to work? We don't have poisonous snakes around here except for one small region that has rattlers. We do have a plethora of garden snakes!though.

Keeping Buddy in my thoughts and prayers.
 
Oh poor buddy , i hope the antivenom does the trick and he is back home with you soon.

The snakes we have at home are all poisonous

Red belly Black

Tiger Snake

Copperhead

Brown Snake

King Brown ( which is usually up higher north)

Im very much an "animal" lover but not snakes, I just cant warm to them, so to speak.
 
I didn't talk to the vet, but to the tech. About 5 this evening. I was on the go all day. she said the swelling was going down. Hope to hear he can come home tomorrow. I bought him a new comfy bed today. Went out with DD and it as odd not to have Buddy in his usual place under the sulky.
 
Buddy came home this morning. He looks like a chipmunk, but is perky. He would not eat while he was there, but I made him a little bowl of dogfood with goat kefir and he ate it all up. I will give him some more in a few hours; didn't want to overfeed him after his fast. He has antibiotic to take and I need to watch for lethargy or increased swelling. He has a shaved leg where the iv was. Now he is asleep in one of his favorite places. No long walks for him for a while. I brought a sharp hoe up on the porch to keep handy in case we see the snake.

For those who might be curious: $309. antivenom, antibiotic, care, and 2 nights boarding. We are so fortunate to have good, reasonable vets here.
 
I bet he is happy to be home safe and sound. I hope he is not too sore.

The vet bill does sound reasonable for all the care he received.
 
Last night his stomach and under his legs was blood red. Gave us a fright. But this morning he is okay again. I think he must have been out in the heat too much yesterday following me around. Today I will make him stay in the house. I didn't let him go for a walk with me this morning, which really hurt his feelings. Swelling on his muzzle is better. He looked cute as a little pit bull, but I'm glad the swelling is better.
 
He is having quite an ordeal, that is weird about the redness. I wonder if it was a side effect from the meds.

Good to hear he is improving.
 
Glad to hear he is home with you
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hope he continues to improve. Your vet is very reasonably priced Marsha.
 
Yesterday he wet in the house twice. Once right in front of us and acted as though he had no clue what he was doing. This is a dog that goes all day left alone without any "accidents". Then he dragged food off the table after supper while I was in the other room. He has never done that before. I put a leash on him and attached it to me so I could keep a better eye on him. Seems like I was cleaning up messes all day. We've been taking him out about ever 2 hours now, and he always goes a little. It must be something to do with the medicene. We put him in his crate last night, as he is not trustworthy. Stomach still red, but not as bad. have a call into the vet, but she is in surgery. Strange behavior.
 
Vet said it is the steroid probably causing the wetting and the food fetish. It should go away in a couple of days. Red stomach was a mystery; I'm to let her know if it doesn't continue to improve. Biggest things I'm supposed to watch for are lethargy and going off food. So far neither of those is a problem!
 

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