My Daughter's Dog's snakebite

[cricket54]

My daughter in CA has a "Blue Heeler" dog (some type of herding dog similar to Australian Shepherds. She was bitten yesterday by a Mohave Rattlesnake, a young one about 2 ft long. The snake was on the porch and Serene went after it because she is a very defensive dog when it comes to her territory and defending Sherry. Of course she got bitten in the face. They got the dog to the Vet, and since they are living in the desert area, this vet knew how to treat her. My son-in-law had to kill the snake to be able to safely take it to the vet. It was so aggravated from the encounter with the dog that it was striking at everything. It looked bad for Serene at first. She went into a Grand Mal seizure and cardiac arrest when they started treating her, but she pulled through and is already back home today. Since they are new to the Morongo Valley area, neighbors have advised her to put dog food out for the Road Runner birds to eat and they'll come in her yard and chase off the rattlesnakes. There is lots and lots of food for snakes: rabbits, ground hogs or other rodents, lizards, and such, so there are probably a lot of them there, and not many Western Diamondbacks. Just part of the problem of moving to a rural area they'll have to deal with. They've been finding Vinegaroons (Whipscorpions) in the house, large centipedes, and baby tarantulas, probably A. chalcodes from what she describes. At least she has grown up with spiders and snakes and isn't freaked out about it. She wants to collect stuff and send it to me. We are all just gratefull that Serene is still alive. Don't know what kind of after effects she could have from the snake bite, but I assume they gave her antivenom. Its expensive to treat ($1000 up), but its sure worth it to them that she has survived! This dog is like a child to them.

Sharon

 

[atavuss]

there are vaccinations available now for rattlesnake bites, check with your vet for more details

 

[Bedlam]

Glad to hear the dog pulled through!!

 

[Brandon]

Sorry about the dog, and the snake, bad fate for both.

-Brandon-

 

[cricket54]

Yes it was sad for the snake. They heard their 2 dogs barking crazily and looked out the window to see the snake on the porch. The rattling noise it was making was so much louder then they ever thought one would make. Sherry wanted Dre to get the camera, but they would have had to go by the snake to get to the car where it was. They were watching the snake, not thinking about the dogs at first till they noticed Serene kept rubbing her face on the ground. Then they realised she must have been bit. Andreas went out another door to try and put the snake in a bucket, but it was striking at everything and they realised he would probably get bit trying to put in something to release it elsewhere like they wanted to do. After he killed it they took the vet. They had already called the vet so they were waiting for them to arrive to grab Serene and start treatment. Dre had to go back and get the snake so they could identify which one to treat Serene properly. They put a catheter in her heart and she went into cardiac arrest. Its amazing that the dog came back around and survived this with being bit in the face and her whole head swelled up. Guess dogs would most likely be tagged in the face anyway. They were told that it was a Mohave rattler and the toxin effects all the muscles mostly. They told them it was a good thing it wasn't one of the "green ones". What I can find out searching is that a Mohave rattler is sometimes called a Mohave green because of the sort of greenish color in its pattern. So I don't know if there are 2 colors of Mohave rattlesnakes in this area. The vet did say it was a Mohave though. Apparently, its sometimes hard to tell a Western diamond back from a Mohave rattlesnake. This one was young too since it was only about 2 ft. long. It also seems that there are more Mohave rattlers then Western Diamond Back rattlers in this area. Morongo Valley is to the East of Palm Springs and closer to the Mountain Range there. Going south on I 10, its to
left hand side instead of turning West to Palm Springs, Palm Desert and the mountain area that is beyond there to the West. Since Morongo Valley is rural and not very many homes out there yet, there are probably loads of snakes and scorpions. She has a bees nest in a tree beyond the house that I think could be Africanised bees. They have already been approached by a bee person that wants to collect them because he collects the queens. I think they should take him up on this!
Sharon

 

[bugs4life]

Throughout my life, I've had two of dogs bitten by Eastern Diamondbacks. Both pulled through OK, but the swelling looked terrible. The dogs were obviously in pain, but it passed and both dogs lived. We had to go to the vet for one, but it didn't take much to get him back on his feet.

 

[bugs4life]

*Sorry* I meant Western Diamondback, not Eastern.

 

[ErikH]

The problem with Mojaves is that there appears to be neurotoxin in their venom, in addition to the hemotoxin that is in the venom of other rattlers like the western diamondback. Definitely wouldn't want to get bit by one.

 

[cricket54]

Serene is doing much better now and harrassing the cats with her bell collar like thing she has to wear to keep her from scratching her face. The swelling is all the way down now (took several days) and the bites are black and scabbed over. I'm sure dead tissue at the bite site will probably fall out. They gave Sherry antibiotics and some dog Tylenol for the fever she had which lasted about 3 days almost. At first on Monday, she was really out of it and even pee'd in the house which isn't like Serene. Sherry had to hand feed her because she couldn't get the food into her mouth (think there is some mucscular toxin in Mohave's venom as well) with the swelling and all. She followed my daughter all over the house not letting her out of her sight, and had a bad night that first night. My daughter was up most the night because she whined and stuff. She was just plain miserable, but the vet knew, and most people know the dog will get better faster if its home with it masters and loved ones. Sherry was told about the venom "vaccination" and is seriously considering it. It would cos $4oo for the first shot, and $40 for each booster shot. Guess there is an office visit charge as well. But if they want to safe guard the dog in a place where there will probably be other rattlesnakes coming around, it makes sense if you can afford it. This do is worth it. She protected my grandaughter when she was 3 and went out of her Aunt Sherry's house without any of us knowing it. The dog followed her and kept her from going into the street by herding her back onto the sidewalk.
Just wondered if anyone else has encountered poisonous snakes biting their
pets as well.

Sharon

 

[ErikH]

Venomous snakes are generally not a problem in the Chicagoland area, but I do know someone who's cat almost died from eating a toad.