Snake Bites and Your Pets

Did you know we see more snake bites in spring than summer? In our experience, October and November seen to be the worst months for snake bites in dogs and cats. This is for two main reasons. Firstly, the temperatures are a bit lower, so the snakes are a bit sluggish. This means they don’t get out of your pets way quite as quickly. Secondly, they haven’t hunted for months, so their venom is very concentrated. This means a bite can deliver a much higher dose of venom.

With snake bites, early recognition is important. Rapid treatment will make a huge difference to the speed of recovery and the amount of antivenom required.

For dogs, the “classic” presentation is the dog is outside then collapses suddenly. Within a few minutes the dog seems normal again. THIS IS A CRITICAL WARNING SIGN! A dog that does this has possibly had a lethal dose of venom. Contact your vet immediately for advice, as your dog will start to become severely affected very soon, possibly within a few minutes. Rapid treatment at this point may save your dogs life and will mean less antivenom is needed, so will also save you a lot of money.

For cats and some dogs, especially when a lower dose of venom is injected, we see the animal becoming progressively weaker. The classic cat presentation is what we call the “plastic cat” – the cat is so floppy it is like it is made out of plasticine. A dog that has received a lower dose of venom may look much the same, or just a bit weak and staggery.

Many people don’t see the pet being bitten, and you will almost never be able to find the bite wounds when a pet has been bitten by a snake. The tooth marks are very small and there is rarely any bleeding, so not being able to find tooth marks doesn’t mean your pet hasn’t been bitten. High dose Vitamin C doesn’t work, so please don’t waste time trying to give this.

We have a type of antivenom in stock that covers Tiger and Brown (Dugite) snakes, so knowing what type of snake bit your pet isn’t critical. Please don’t kill a snake to try to identify it, as you risk being bitten yourself and once again time is important and trying to kill a snake will take valuable minutes.