My dog got bitten by a rattlesnake!

Hello,
Our dog got bitten on the face by a rattlesnake yesterday!

What should I do?
Thanks,
AuthorTrapper.

Go see your Veterinarian...

Wow! I would of guessed more swelling by now. How is his demeanor? I would call the vet and see what he says before just taking him the vet.

The thing is as soon as he got bite you should of got him in for the shots. Usually a couple will do the job. The longer you wait the less effect the shot will be or if anything. I can tell you it isn't cheap.

Cow dogs around here are bit every year. Call the vet; may say to do nothing, or they may charge you copious amounts to basically do nothing. Make sure the dog has plenty of water to drink and to lay down in (seriously)..

Jack

He's probably fine if that happened yesterday. I've heard of dogs having their airways swell nearly shut.

Jack, don't hate on your vet just because he/she charges for their work. Or maybe you know as much about medicine as a doctor.

3 weeks ago the squirrel dog got bit by a rattle snake. She swelled up and looked terrible. I gave her a benydryl in the morning and one in the afternoon and in 2 days the swelling was considerable less and she was feeling better, she slept a lot too. She learned her lesson on the snakes and she bayed one in the yard last weekend and I killed it. But I figure she'll get bit again...d2

I’ve given benedryl. Time and water. Dogs usually seem to do ok, or die. Not much room in between, so at this point you’re looking ok.

I agree with Jack. A big difference between charging for your work and gouging someone who’s family members life is in your hands. Bull crap that stuff should cost $500/vial and the dog needs 10, plus extra fees

I have had a few dogs get bitten by pygmy rattlesnakes. The vets says not anti venom for dogs so they always give a aintibodic. My vet has never charged me more then 200 for anything even when my house dog about got its eye picked out and had to have surgery and its eye sewed shut

My Vet told me a dog's head/face area really doesn't have too many major blood vessels, so a head bite is usually not fatal. The shots can actually be rougher on them than letting it take it's course.

my vet would tell me it depends on a couple of factors: how much venom the snake got into him; how much venom the snake had to give,like if had recently struck something else and was low in his venom glands..my thoughts if the dog is doing as good as he looks 24 hours later he will probably make it.at least call the vet if you know him well and talk to him..maybe he would call you if he is busy and would have time later in the day..your call ..how important is the dog to you?

I can only speak to the rattlesnakes of the northwest but the standard treatment for dogs getting bit by the ones up here is to give Benadryl by mouth (1mg per pound of the dog) and a penicillin shot to ward off infection and then let the dog recover. No vet. But the 2 aforementioned remedies should have been done immediately. I would at least call your vet since you haven't done anything for a day now. You owe it to your dog.

bbasher -

I didn't mean to come across as vet-bashing. Sorry. They've bailed several of my animals (and me on more than one occasion) out of pretty severe predicaments. I generally think they've got more savvy than a lot of MDs I've been to (and no, now I'm not bashing MDs). I work closely and continuously (for nearly 40 years) with wildlife vets. Just that 24 hours after a snake-bite, the "good" vets I've worked with will tell you to keep the dog hydrated and provide a pool of water (or a local stream), while a scant few will go for the thousand dollar rewards. Like any profession (except lawyers), there are good'uns and bad ones.

Jack

Here she is today. Swelling is worse! Her neck is about 3 times it's normal size!



We were told to give her a Benadryl.

We give Benadryl and Ibuprofen.

Id take his collar off and give him a day or two. He will be fine.

Don't give them ibuprofen, it will shut their kidneys down and they'll go into renal failure...d2

take collar off swelling will cause dog to choke give dog 2ccdex 1cc penicillin 1ccper lb of childs benadryl

I don't think vets recommend it any more but I have given a lot of dogs and cats dexamethasone for a snake bite with great results.

If you can get your hands on some dexamethasone it will help a lot. A shot of penicillin wouldn’t hurt either..

Shoot the poor thing if your not going to get it medical help..

BS, he'll be fine by the weekend.

I got bit last year, he dumped his load in me, spent a few days in bed, it wsnt fun, no dr. Im glad noone shot me. it is a myth you need to go to the DR when hit by a rattler. Kids and old people sure, dogs and healthy folk, no way.

Knew of a guy that tried that, he ended up pushing daisies.

Rattle snakes are hemotoxic. A bite will cause almost instant necrosis....there is no just sleeping hemotoxins off...if you actually got bit and had venom injected into you...you wouldn’t be here bragging about it....I use to have rooms full of snakes and I’ve known people who have been bit by their own rattlesnakes....it is massive tissue damage extremely fast...if your dog is still alive either 1 it was a dry bite or 2 it wasn’t a rattlesnake...venom would have also caused the skin to die and literally just about fall off....either way it needs medical attention...or you can give it Benadryl and let it die...

I'm going to beg to differ. While I do think he needs to consult his vet, I've watched a dog get bit by a rattler (yes it was a rattler). Dog swelled up bad for a week. With penicillin and benadryl given almost immediately. There was zero tissue damage. I've not heard of tissue damage like you speak of with rattlers. With brown recluse spiders yes. Are you sure that isn't a recluse bite in your pic?

Rattlesnake bite can be very nasty, I hope the dog pulls thru like a champ.

I use to do nothing but study snakes for years...there is multiple protein strands in venom all designed todo different things and every type of venomous snake has their own mix... some snakes can have hemotoxins and neurotoxins. Rattlesnake venom is no joke...not saying you mis identified a snake but I’d bet only 1 out if 20 people can accurately identify a rattlesnake and a bull snake.... I deal with it all the time... along with almost every person I have met here who has seen a brown recluse or knows someone who got bit by one here even tho they don’t exist here....I live in Washington state and have seen first hand rattlesnake bites...my dog died within hours of being bitten by one...I wish I had my computer... I have a collection of pictures of rattlesnake bite pictures that would about make you pass out... lol

Can you see the 2 punctures from the fangs? They should be obvious

Hemotoxins attack tissue cells...and rattlesnakes have some of the best in the business... there is almost always tissue damage with a real rattlesnake bite...a fellow snake owner I knew was bit by his once and he was in the emergency room and had anti venom in him within 30 minutes of being bit by an adult and you could almost see the bones in his hands from the loss of tissue....I think he had to have a couple skin grafts and special treatments to for almost year to try to keep the skin from dying

http://www.rattlesnakebite.org/rattlesnakepics-htm/
Here is a great example of a rattlesnake bite for those who want to see what they actually do...I would bet he had anti venom around 2 hours after the bite...so next time someone tells you about how they just slept their rattle snake bite off...lol

Not all rattlers are created equal. Around here we have massasauga's. Almost everyone I know calls them prairie rattlers. Have to get 200 miles west of me to get in true prairie rattler habitat. We have a FEW timber rattlers just north of me and copperheads scattered around.

The massasauga's are worse than the copperheads but I don't think anyone ever dies from the bite of either one. Those timber rattlers are bad news. Real bad if one drills you and pumps in a dose of venom. Same with prairie rattlers in west KS. Bad news.

First weekend after Easter every year is the rattle snake roundup in Waynoka OK. A few prairie rattlers get caught but mostly western diamondbacks. Always a collector or two there that will pay a premium for any massasauga that was caught here. If you want to see some humans that are snake bit hang around the first aid tent they set up downtown. People get bit every year. Dr there is good at treating it. May have more snake bite experience than any other DR in the country. People allergic to horses have to be treated with benadryl. They extract anti venom from the blood of horses that have been injected with venom. Anybody allergic to horses that gets drilled is in real bad trouble. Not to going to work for several weeks.

Dogs hogs and horses can take a snake bite lots better than humans.

This may be the best advice in this entire thread. if you got bit in the face by a rattler would you go to a Doctor immediately or spend days asking for advice on Trapperman??!!

WOW!

Vlischka, copy that. I haven't had enough experiences with them I guess to see any tissue damage like you speak of. Actually I had never heard of tissue damage from rattlers until now, and I grew up in serious snake country in Central Oregon

Holy crap!

Depends On the Type of Rattler like Danny said... Also the Severity of bite/ amount of venom. We have some Huge Timber rattlers here, but they arent very aggressive. I would hate to step on one though... Timbers are suppose to have some deadly venom and lots of it. I believe the Eastern Diamondbacks are at the top of the list.

Guess I better be careful... Horses are one of the few things I am allergic to.

Mike

Oh, come on; she doesn't act like she feels bad at all. She's still frisky and playful too. The swelling seems to have gone down a fair amount today as well.

Listen to the experts and shoot her anyway

I have had labs and medium sized dogs all the way down to a larger Boston Terrorist get bit and we have not lost one yet to snake bite. I figure a small dog wouldn't make it.
The vet told me once that the reason that dogs don't die when they get snake bit is because they have no idea that it can kill 'em...d2

well im not a vet so cant offer any advice on this but I hope your dog comes through it ok.

as a side note... im terribly uncomfortable with a man proclaiming "he dumped his load in me"

Hahahaha I'm glad I'm not the only one... I saw that and cringed

Was thinking the exact same thing. Lol !!

Ok so how is the dang dog doing.

Well, she is doing better and the swelling has gone down a lot. Thanks to everyone for their help!

Snake must not have dumped his load in the DOG ; LOL

When I coon hunted a lot, our hounds got bit pretty often by cottonmouths in the swamps. I have witnessed my hounds several times get bit by copperheads right in the face right here in the yard. Copperhead usually just swelled them up for a few days but a cottonmouth would make them sick for a few days but they always recovered in 3 or 4 days. The best trapper that I ever knew, Clarence "Tootsie" Peevyhouse, got bit by a big copperhead in his shed and just might near died. Tootsie lived just over the hill and across a couple of fields from me. We have very few rattlers around here but have copperheads and cottonmouths running out the ears. Dogs seem to take bites much better than people at least around here.

Rickey

That's great news!

My Heeler got hit last summer by a cottonmouth and went down fast. Got him to a vet soon after and he gave him two shots. Two days later he was chasing wild pigs. Cost me 117 dollar vet bill, small price to pay.

Hope rattlers do not make it into my area even though there is a colony of timbers about 60 miles north as the crow flies .

give it benadrill and get your dog to the vets