By: Joel Allen
Hello, folks and how are you? Years ago, I had a Dane named Reagan and yes, he was named after President Ronald Reagan. He lived with me for a year or two until he decided he loved the McNeals more than me and wanted to go live with them. They loved my boy Reagan and took great care of him. One day he got sick and they took him to the vet. The vet discovered he had been bitten by a snake, so they searched the yard but never found the snake. That’s what most of us do when we think that a snake has bitten one of our dogs or children, and the likelihood of the snake sticking around is never good. But they treated Reagan and he seemed to get better at first, and then he passed suddenly. All I could guess, because I have seen dogs do this, is maybe Reagan had eaten the snake and possibly the poison from the snake’s head had gotten into his body. I am not a vet, so I don’t know. It’s just a logical guess on my part because we never found the body of the snake, and I have seen dogs eat snakes.
So, why do I share this story? Yep, you guessed it; my boy Felix, was just bitten a couple weeks ago by a snake. I learned a few things from the vet I had no idea about. First was that a poisonous snake bite will swell up at the bite location depending on how much venom they give. A poisonous baby snake will give more venom off than an adult, so they can be more lethal. I learned that a nonpoisonous snake bite will not swell unless due to bacteria, and that antivenom is more costly than the slower treatment with antibiotics and cream. Because of my budget we had to choose the steroids, antibiotics, and cream.
The vet told me what to expect and described everything in detail. He stated that it would be a couple of days before the swelling would subside and the bite area would open up and drain, not to panic. He told me that once this started happening, Felix would start to heal. Well, everything happened just like he stated, and I worried but he is on the mend. He lost his appetite for a bit but he has that back, and he kept drinking water which is always a good sign.
The part that convicts my heart is this could have been avoided had I paid more attention to my back yard. I let the grass grow a bit and gave the snake a place he should not have been. Felix’s right back leg was the bite location, so all we could guess is that he stepped on the snake. The vet said that most snake bites on dogs happen on the face or chest area because they are usually facing them. A bite like Felix showed that he most likely stepped on the critter and got “what for” as a result. “No steppy on the snakey!”
I want everyone to know, you should spend the couple of dollars in gas to keep your yard up to prevent something like this, and you might not have to spend an additional $300 plus like I did. Besides, your dogs will love a clean, open place to play, and it will keep your family safe too.
All right, folks, I hope you all have a safe ending of the summer. Back to school is coming and those canine family members are going to start missing their kids soon enough. Be safe and see y’all next month.
By: Joel Allen
September 6, 2024
