A reader sent me an email yesterday and asked that I post the info below. The pic is of his lab Angus. We’ll keep you posted on how Angus is doing.
To all of our D&D friends: MAKE SURE to get your animals vaccinated for snakebite..NOW…We did and Angus looks like he’s going to make it through this one. (fingers X’d).
All: Take a good look at this photograph (taken approximately 10 hours after the bite) of our 15 month old Lab “Angus”. We live on an large tract of open range here in West Texas. Rattle Snakes are a common occurrence.
Last evening sometime around 10 PM, I put the dogs out for their last potty break before bedtime. Our Labs live in the house with us, so this is our normal routine. I didn’t notice anything odd about Angus’ behavior before turning in – just the normal licking of paws and settling in. However I awakened this AM to what you are seeing in the photo. Scary to say the least, but as a veteran Quail hunter, this ain’t our first rodeo. So, I checked his vitals (heart rate, temp, focus). He was very alert, able to swallow and was displaying no serious signs of systemic failure that is sometimes associated with a serious bite (actually all bites are serious). I called my vet immediately and he didn’t seem to concerned for the immediate time frame given the dog’s vitals. We took him in and he’s at the doctor’s office under observation until later this afternoon. Hopefully he’ll continue to improve and we’ll bring him home today. I got to think the vaccination might have saved his life – especially since he went overnight without us knowing he had been bitten.
Now: I advise all of you to get your dogs in for their snake-bite vaccines. These are a 2-part series and must be done according to schedule. Some say they don’t work, but I’ll beg to differ as this is the second dog we’ve had bitten – the first made it through with no complications. Remember, the aftermath of a bite is the worst part. There can be serious tissue damage and loss of eyesight, smell etc. I am a believer that the vaccine mitigates some of the bites aftermath.
GET YOUR DOGS SHOTS TODAY! This is no guarantee that your dog will survive a bite, but you’d sure hate to face the grim reality of “what if” when your beloved dog passes from a bite and you didn’t have it vaccinated.
We’ll keep y’all updated on Angus’ recovery.
Safe shooting,
Jeff
