Dog bitten by rattlesnake...any help?

[Savoir Faire]

Hello all,

The new dog we got JUST ONE WEEK AGO, has been bitten by a rattlesnake. We didn't know that at the time-- he was outside in our fenced yard for just a few minutes when it happened.

At first it became swollen-- EXTREMELY swollen. And then, finally, the swollen spots burst and now we have an open wound.

(For the record, we brought him to the vet, who couldn't originally find a bite mark and thought it was a leg injury. Only after the wound "exploded," could we see the marks.)

The hole is expanding and becoming necrotic. The doc said we can expect to lose some skin on his leg. It isn't the end of day one and I can already see tendons.

I'm looking at him and wondering how all this will work if he doesn't have skin on his leg?

I'm attaching a picture-- basically all the black spots will probably fall off. He's a 6 month old, 37 pound lab/golden mix.

Has anyone had this happen? How do I go about dealing with this???

(The hole is much bigger now)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shenuts/4075637410/

From behind...which has also started opening up
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shenuts/4075637104/

[tinuviel_k]

Oh no! Poor puppy... I don't know anything about dogs and rattlesnake bites, but didn't want to read without responding. I hope everything heals okay...

[lovebug]

POOR PUPPY! i cant help in the sense that i have no experiences with the situation, but i am sure you could do a google search to find some info...

[Savoir Faire]

I've been googling...but somehow I have "mommy brain" and just can't get the right string of words.

Perhaps "Will my dog's leg just fall apart and leave me with a pile of goo?"

[lovebug]

i did a google search for "my dog was bit by a rattle snake" or "my dog was bit in the leg by a rattle snake"

i will google search and see if i can find some good stuff to post...

s

here is a good site...

http://www.peteducation.com/article....7+1681&aid=478

heres another one you have to scroll down and it will say what "what to do if your dog is bit" or something like this...

http://www.ripleysghosttowns.com/snakebit.html

still looking...

[Shahbazin]

Poor pup!

I'd keep a moist (ointment or poultice of some sort) bandage on that, Elizabethan collar on the dog to keep him from chewing, & put him on massive doses of antibiotics & anti-inflammatories. We had great success healing a huge hole in a horse's neck (another horse bit out a chunk) using honey in a poultice.

Our dogs have been bitten by rattlesnakes fairly often (not necessarily the same dog, but about 5 diff. ones, some a couple of times), but they are 100+ lbs; we used to run them in for the antivenin treatment, but a friend of mine is a vet & she recommended this treatment protocol (talk with your vet about scaling it down for your pup's size - a couple of the drugs are prescription).

Rattlesnake bite treatment for a 100-130 lb dog:
Keflex 1000mg 2x/day - 10 days
Prednisone 40 mg 1x/day - taper down to nothing over 10 days
Benedryl 2 - 25 mg tabs 2-3x/day for 4-5 days (until swelling is down)

[HealingBeam]

Poor pup!
I hope he'll get better.

[grahamsmom98]

Has the vet seen him since you took those pictures? If he has, and is doing nothing, get thee and the pup to a new vet. NOW.

If he has seen the dog, what is his suggested course of treatment?? He must have ordered something more than just warning you to expect some skin loss.

[phatchristy]

I think he needs to be in the vets...if he didn't see holes then, and thought it was just a 'leg injury' to me this looks so much worse than a leg injury. This needs medication AND wound care.

Maybe I'm overreacting, but I'm all for wound care at home if it's reasonable, but IMHO this warrants a professional.

[BedHead]

How is he doing?? Any update?

[Savoir Faire]

Well, his leg was getting better. It stopped oozing but he wouldn't let us keep anything on it. He was doing much better. He was outside playing and having fun this weekend.

Then, Monday, he started getting sick. We did his follow-up vet visit and they're thinking the "kennel cough" the free vet diagnosed him with was actually distemper.

I am going to have a separate post on it...but it isn't going to well for him now.