I couldn't figure out where to put this topic but this seemed the best spot. I have a four month old pup that was bitten by a rattlesnake on Tuesday. He is not in too bad a shape (considering). Extreme swelling of the head and necrosis at the bite location, on the mouth. He is still hospitalized. I was wondering if anyone could share experience on recovery prognosis.
Thanks

Cindy, the many different Rattlesnakes have a variety of different reactions. I've seen a number of working terriers that were bitten by Copperheads but no Rattlesnakes. No antivenom, just antibiotics were given in any of the cases because the Copperhead isn't all that bad. One dog had to be retired from hunting because of her newfound hatred for snakes. If you have a lot of snakes in your area, I would give serious consideration to snakeprufing your dogs via Lou Castle's "crittering" with the e-collar. Hope everything works out well.

A friend's Setter was bit on the paw by a rattlesnake last year. She said the vets gave the dog a series of shots injected into the bitten area, which attacked the venom but also part of the "good" skin cells. The paw was black for a while where the effected skin was dying off, and she had to keep it as clean as possible (which is not easy to do on a paw!). Over time the area became smaller and smaller and cells started re-grow. Her dog's 100% now, she's more cautious about where her dogs run, and has tried to snake-proof her yard as best possible. We live in Fla and she lives near marshland so that's not easy to do, but is cheaper than that vet bill was!

Good luck with your dog. It's scary, but probably also happens a lot more than we realize.

Bob I don't think that the crittering protocol is a good idea for snakeproofing. Crittering just teaches dogs to ignore the prey object and that's not what you want with snakes. With snakes you want strict avoidance: even a fear response is perfectly acceptable. The crittering protocol was specifically developed to avoid a fear or avoidance response.

Snakeproofing is best done with the highest levels of stim available and for that reason, as well as the dangers of handling poisonous snakes, should be left to people who know both very well. Crittering can be done by anyone, because there's little danger from the prey animal and it uses low level stim.

With high level stim you can get all sorts of "fallout," unintended, undesirable behaviors and needs to be set up and carried out very carefully.

Cindy, judging from my experience from a snake-bit dog, you may find that the dog will be permanently scarred at the bite site. One of my dogs, bitten by a big diamondback on the paw, was left with a strip of furless flesh on her leg all the way up to her shoulder.

For the most part, rattlesnake venom is hemolytic; that is, it attacks red blood cells. This tends to make its effect local and self-limiting due to extensive tissue damage that tends to cut off circulation and confine the venom to near the bite. Thus, a rattlesnake bite is not commonly fatal even without antitoxin. However, the tissue damage can be extensive and under some circumstances (such as improper use of a tourniquet) can be crippling, even requiring amputation in extreme cases.

However, some rattlesnakes, such as the Mojave Green (don't know the scientific name) here in California, have neurotoxic elements in their venom. Bites from these are usually fatal to dogs. Since your dog survived the initial day, you don't have to worry about that this time, but I don't know if any Texas-area rattlers are neurotoxic. You might want to check with a herpetologist at a local university.

Obviously, if you do have neurotoxic rattlers in your area, snake-proofing your dog will be a lot higher priority!

Lou,thanks for the correction/education.

what about timber rattlers? is antivenom or antibiotics given immediately? is there any tissue damage associated with those bites, or neuro problems?

Our mutt was bitten on the foreleg and my dad somehow hooked up two wires to the car battery, put one on each side of the leg and gave two or three series of shocks. Amazing - the leg only had minimal swelling and none of the rotting flesh. I've also heard of using the personal protection stun guns round the site.

Cindy,

A few years ago, in Lockhart, Texas a Golden Retriever was bitten on the head by rattlesnake. It was protecting a little girl from the snake. There was an excellent article in the Austin American Statesman about snakes and snake bites. If you look online, you may be able to find the article.

I don't remember exactly when the article was written.

Ladies....ya'll are commenting on a thread that's over two years old. Makes it kinda unlikely that you'll get a comment from the original poster.
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