Today, The Yellow Dog took a walk with The Pink Panther and one of his friends. They went to the spring fed stream and The Yellow Dog found a snake and, unfortunately, played with it. The snake, doing what snakes do, bit his back leg. Luckily, my husband was doing a reconnaissance mission to check on the boys and was able to transport the dog and boys back to the house. We, then, spent what seemed like a tremendous amount of time trying to find a doctor, any doctor. We called the dog's regular vet, we called the vets in the next 3 closest towns, and we called our cattle vet who lives way to far for a transport. None were to be found. Meanwhile, the children were freaking out and the dog was getting more and more still. Finally, the dog's regular doctor checks his messages and calls back. He said there was absolutely nothing to be done except to make the dog comfortable. He thought he would be fine, but it would take a few very painful days. He prescribed a 1/2 cc of banomin (an aspirin like drug). My husband had some at the sale barn and went to get it.
Right now, I can hear The Yellow Dog whimpering. He doesn't know what happened. I'm not sure he even saw the snake. His back foot and leg are swelling.
Hurry up with that medicine.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Oh, Wisteria! Sending up prayers for your pooch. Keep us posted.
I am worried sick about Yellow Dog...snake bites can be awful. I hope your baby is all right!
Oh no! How awful. do you know what kind of snake? If it was venomous, wouldn't antivenom work for a dog just like for humans? I don't get that. And what kind of weird vet says nothing can be done??? Every single vet I've ever met always tries to do something.... sometimes I have to say NO, thank you because I think they're trying to do TOO much. But there is always something - pain meds, an IV for hydration & shock etc etc....
Hope he recovers soon.
From my son's description we think it was a cottonmouth moccasin. He said he didn't really get a great look because he was worried about the dog.
Country Vets are like that sometimes - straightforward and to the point. I wasn't really offended though my initial reaction was to do something- anything.
I do know a bit about snake bite treatment in people. The anti venom is many times worse than the venom. They don't even give it to people unless the person has taken a full amount of venom and have no allergies. I know this because I have a cousin who is a biologist who works with snakes and has been bitten a few times by poisonous snakes. The anti-venom almost killed him the second time he used it.
We had the injection the doctor recommended for the dog to be comfortable and my husband felt comfortable giving it to him.
wow, I didn't know that about anti-venom. We don't have any poisonous snakes around here. Earthquakes, bears, cougars - yes. Snakes, thank heaven, no.
We have snakes, though only 5 venomous types in Mississippi. When we moved back here, I noticed that there didn't seem to be as many snakes as there should be. I have only seen two snakes in our yard the year and a half we have lived here, and only two in the 8 years we lived in town.
When I was young, living in town, we could go out and find a snake just about any summer day. Green garden snakes, king snakes, chicken snakes, etc. We would catch them and use them for jokes (put them my sister). Of course, we knew which were poisonous and developed a healthy respect for snakes of any kind. Everyone has a snake story here and just like fish stories, the snakes get bigger and bigger and the fangs get closer and closer.
I'm not scared of snakes, but earthquakes are another story. My security depends so much on the ground on which I stand, that I think I would be completely unsettled if it moved.
Post a Comment