My Dog Blu Was Bit By A Poisonous Copperhead Snake Today

Well....I LUV dogs...and hate snakes...I hope Blu recovers quickly & completely...while I hope the snake gets run over by a truck....Hate those damn things !

Give Blu a tummy rub from me.....
 

Blu is a beautiful dog! So sorry he was bitten by that poisonous snake! I would have been crazy if that happened to my dog.

I'm glad he is getting better. Now you can breathe again. It's very hard to give my dog pills, too. I put pills wrapped up with bread or cheese in her mouth.
 
If your fence keeps snakes out as well as dogs in, you might need to check the whole yard, and especially places where snakes might be lurking. If they are used to going right out through that area, and then suddenly they could not get through because of the fence, the snake would have been trying to get back out, and would have been even more touchy than usual.
My friend that lives in Southern Idaho put up a snakeproof fence around her yard because she has little Maltese dogs, and she wanted them to be safe in the yard. She said they had to get everything mowed really short, and then check everywhere to make sure that all of the snakes were out of the yard before she could safely let the dogs out.
Then, the snakes got stuck in the fence trying to get back inside, because she watered the lawn, and the snakes wanted water; so they had to kill the snakes trapped in the fence.
Now, she puts out some of that snake repellant near the fence; but outside of the fence to keep the snakes from trying to get inside the fence in hot weather.
 

rgp said:
Well....I LUV dogs...and hate snakes...I hope Blu recovers quickly & completely...while I hope the snake gets run over by a truck....Hate those damn things !

Give Blu a tummy rub from me.....
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Never met a poisonous snake I didn't kill. Killed more than a few over the years...
 
Ooooh nooooo Lara....what a dam near Heart attack you must have had when you found little Blue screaming in pain. I know exactly how that feels gathering them up in your arms and running with them to get them helps as soon as possible...while your trying to keep them calm as your heart is thumping with worry and fear for them

What a concern for you there may be more snakes out there despite all your precautions. It may be you'll have to build them a snake proof mesh play run in the garden instead , to keep them safe.

I hope Blue continues to thrive under his mum's expert care...


il_570xN.899338410_4fnf.jpg Blu
 
My beagle mix was bitten on the nose by a copperhead last Thursday and seems to be fine and close to normal today.

He was on an IV drip for about 16 hours. No anti venom was given as some kind of markers in blood tests looked okay, although I was given that option. Benadryl via IV and later by needle helped knock out the swelling. I could not get pills down him the next day either; he had zero appetite. I took him back to his Vet and she had to crush, mix with water, and use a syringe to squirt what she could into his mouth. It was tough for me to do that and I was afraid I might get bitten and/or harm the dog trying to do that. I got what I could in him day by day as he got a little bit of an appetite. Not everything worked but he got better everyday and has his appetite back. I cut out a lot of his meds and am only giving him half of a tablet of his antibiotic. I am going to quit that after 7 days total because he is doing so well... no sign of infection or necrosis and as I understood it the antibiotics was in case the snake passed on some bacteria from its mouth.

I had him on leash when he was bitten and he was only a foot or two off of a trail in the woods. He jumped, yelped, and ran to the other side of the trail. When I looked to see what got him in the leaf clutter I did not see anything... until I used a stick to move the leaves around to see if something was under them. There wasn't anything under them of course, but when the snake moved, there was copperhead like he just appeared out of nothing/no where. Their camo in the right environment is dang good!
 
I'm not sure IKE. I'll find out and let you know. They put a ton of liquids in him intravenously. Blu is doing so well now and hidden pills in pieces of lean pork roast is working like a charm. I just pop it in his mouth and hand him a pure cut piece to "wash" it down before he knows what I did. His swollen leg doesn't look much better but he's walking on it just fine. I wish I'd known the miracle of pork roast before spending $500 at the Vet. ;) It's only 2X a day and he could stand to gain some weight.

Squirting the Benydrl down his throat is the biggest challenge now. He hates it. I do too. He shakes his head as he flings it everywhere. It smells so strong of cherries and must be 90% sugar. YUK. I should have gotten pill form and that's just what I'm going to do now. He needs it in case he gets an allergic reaction to the snake bite....hmm, aren't we all allergic to venom?

You all are the best. All of you have soothed my soul and given me good tips to help Blu out. I can't say enough good things about SeniorForums. I'm so grateful and so glad I shared my waa-waa-waa day with you.

Happyflower, I had no idea that there's a snake repellant (the fence has too much space between pickets to keep them out). I'll look into that plus I've already contacted a landscaper to get rid of the new growth around the woodland grounds with (except the ferns) and spread pine straw or mulch around. New growth has quickly sprouted up again with all the rain and humidity we've had here. We're just waiting for some dry weather now which might happen this coming week.

Jim, he gets a crazy amount of tummy rubs but I'll throw another one in there from you...one pups never get enough tummy rubs.
Thanks, Holly for the get well card....so cute :love_heart:
 
dpwspringer....wow, you too?!! That's crazy! I hope your dog continues to improve quickly. Poor thing. Thank you for sharing your experience because it really helps to here the details you gave. Blu is now starting to play with Bella a little. Bella seems very sensitive to the soft-play level and is staying clear of his leg.
 
Lara... when I took my dog, Deeogee, back to the Vet the next day when I couldn't get his meds down him she also gave him another shot of Benydrl, showing me how it was done, and then giving me enough to give him 2 more 25mg? injections at 4 hour intervals. She said the injections worked better than giving the pills. There wasn't anything to giving him those injections, very easy to do.
 
My dog was bitten by a copperhead about a year ago. They LOVE NC and especially my neighborhood it seems. Pets in this subdivision are constantly being bitten. Some people too.
 
Blu has made a complete recovery! Hallelujah! He still has about 10 days to go on meds but he's taking them like a champ. I just ran out of pork roast to hide the pills in though. As Scooby-Doo would say, "Ruh Roh". I'll roast a chicken tomorrow...that should do it.

Thank you Butterfly. TarheelGal, you must be right. I haven't heard of any pets or people being bitten here but I came close 3 times myself in the past 2 years. I feel like we have more than our share too. I've been here 18 years now and it seems to be getting worse.

I've been researching what to do. Moving to Hawaii seems to be the best option as they have 0 snakes. My fence guy says no fence will keep them out. I'm concerned the snake repellent sprayed just outside the fence is too close for comfort in case Blu ever escapes or if the spray blows over. My fence guy recommended a cat, I guess because they eat rodents and thats the main thing the snakes are after. But I occasionally have big hawks. Don't they get cats? Plus I don't want a 3rd pet.

Hmmm, moving to Hawaii sounds pretty good but I'd have to put Blu and Bella on 2 planes (1 to CA and 1 to HA)....ugh...I've heard nightmarish stories.
 
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I’m glad Blu is feeling better. I’m picturing a shaking dog trying to escape the benydrl meds.
Poor Blu.

Moving to Hawaii? Maybe no snakes but those erupting volcanos are something else completely.
Most hawks go after smaller things like birds. Plus cats are fairly smart.

You’re smart Lara. You’ll figure something out I’m sure.

Good to know Blu is doing so much better.
 
I know what you mean about Hawaii. Not only volcanoes but Tsunami warnings and Kim Jong Un.

But one sniff of a Frangipani makes all those worries go away. "No snakes" speaks to me :cool:
 
I'm so glad that Blu is recovering. Talk to your vet about snake shots. I had an elderly dog who was bitten, but he had no problems because he was vaccinated. We still raced to the vet, but he was OK.

This happened in the backyard which has a solid board fence. I never had a problem outside of my yard, probably because they used to continually race around there in their younger days.

Blu is a very beautiful dog.
RadishRose said:
Lara, I felt so bad reading about poor Blu (and you). What a horrible scare. Thank goodness you heard him and got him to the vet in time!

Here's yet another tip on getting a pill down. Wrap it firmly into a glob of cheese, like American cheese. He should eat it right up. This was a tip from my dog's vet.


There are even tasty nuggets of some kind sold just for inserting dog's pills. My vet sells them but he said even just the cheese would work.

I hope poor baby Blu feels better asap.

BTW, I bet your place looks beautiful with all that sprucing up, and those black metal fences are so nice looking. But copperheads? I never even saw one, omg I would freakout.

Funny thing about dogs....now matter how large the enclosure, the dog will always be at the furthest point.
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My dog gets a Tramadol every night at bedtime buried in Velveeta. She has arthritis, but she can't take Rimadyl. She gets three pills every day, but the first two are buried in her wet dog food. However, I must give her ground food because she will find it in the chunky.

We both eat too much Velveeta.

You need to find out about snake shots, too.

http://wildlifeofct.com/snakes.html


C'est Moi said:
Aw, I'm so sorry to hear about little Blu, Lara. He is precious and I hope he is feeling better soon. I know how difficult some doggies are with pills... I went through that with a little Yorkie. At one point I got a plastic syringe and would crush the pill in some water, then squirt it with the syringe to the back of his throat!! (I couldn't fool him with cheese, peanut butter, lunch meat... nothing!) Anyway, my best to both of you.
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I've had a couple like that. BTW: have you ever had to give a cat a pill, especially a big pill?

You know that you have venomous snakes.
 
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