As I am new to the Forum I am sorry this is not a happier message. After lunch yesterday I took my goldie/collieX and 12wk goldie pup out into our back field. Fortunately the pup still stays pretty close to me but Chloe just took off as usual. When it was time to go in I called her and started walking back to the house. She would normally be back by my side within the minute so when she wasn't I turned just in time to see her collapse just a few yards from me. She was completely lifeless and although her eyes were open she could not even raise her head. She had blood on her front leg and face and I could see two small bite marks either side of her face. Carried her into the car and took off for the nearest vet, about 10 minutes away. The vet came to the car to see her and by now she could lift her head and did take about a dozen steps before having to be carried into the surgery. The vet said it was possibly an attack by a vixon and she was in shock. He gave her steriod and antibiotic injections and an appointment was made for Wednesday morning. I brought her home and she went straight to sleep but when she woke a couple of hours later one side of her face was tremendously swollen and she had a huge floppy lump in her throat. I took her back to the vet immediately and this time saw a different one who thought it was an adder bite. He made a couple of phone calls to confirm his diagnosis and it was decided she should stay in overnight and be put on a drip. He said the one they would used was for humans.
I am so worried about her. I have only had her for six months as she was a Rescue. She is such a lovely girl. The pup is missing her too and both of us have just been wandering about crying.
The vet said to ring at 11 this morning but I think I will go at 8.30 when they open.

so sorry to hear about this dreadful event - I trust you will have some good news from the vet.
Cathy.

What dreadful bad luck, I do hope she is on the mend this morning.

my gordon setter was bitten by adder when he was 6 months old,12 years a old,the same with you the vet didnot at first,but his ear sallowen up and you could see the two punch markes,he to was on a drip for 24 hours,but he was ok aftre the treatment,all the best,

Im keeeping fingers crossed for you and your dog.
best wishes xxx

Do hope he's going to pull through.

Snakes are an occupational hazard where we've moved to in Surrey; I wasn't used to them before.

In the summer I always have a packet of Piriton in my pocket when out walking, doesn't cure, but helps a little, so I'm told.

If you know what's happened (not always easy) DON'T let the dog walk or exert itself at all - it moves the poison round the body faster. Carry to car, and straight into vet, keeping dog as calm as possible.

Not easy with a big dog a long way from civilisation

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

hope your poor girl is ok, my nans old dog got bit by an adder, being a rather large rotty x dobe she only had a mild reaction but it was very scary. :( hope you've had good news from the vet, let us know, fingers crossed for you :)

How frightening for you. Fingers X'd all goes well

Pam n the boys

Hi Kenley So sorry what rotton luck the poor dog found a really loving home at last
and now she is poorly good luck my fingers are crossed. Pat XX

HI Kenley

So sorry to hear about your girl. Is there any news on her condition yet. Fingers crossed that she will be OK.

Lisa
xx

Thanks everyone for your concern and good wishes. The vet rang just before 7am and said I could collect her at 10am. Her face and throat were still very swollen and she was very subdued. He said I was to keep her as quiet as possible and feed her small amounts of well soaked food (she's on Hills Complete) every couple of hours. She slept most of the day. I had to take her back again this evening by which time the swelling had gone down a bit. He wants to see her again on Saturday but in the meantime she is to be kept away from the pup so there are no rough and tumbles and still fed little and often. She has brightened up this evening, thank goodness and there is certainly nothing wrong with her appetite so I am hoping the vet will not want to see her again after Saturday's visit. It was very scary as everything happened so quickly but I do feel she is going to be OK now.
Thanks for the tip about Piraton. I am allergic to wasp stings so do always have some in my bag but in future I'll remember to put some in my pocket when taking them for a walk in the woods, just to be on the safe side.

So glad she's on the mend - what a relief! Very worrying time for you. Keep us posted still on progress

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

great news that she is recovering well - you must be so relieved.

Lisa
xx

glad to hear she is on the mend :)
good luck with her recovery

karl

Glad to hear she's doing well :D

Me too. WL :-)

And me
Best wishes Gina

Its not the poison itself that usually does the damage, rather the heart-attack that is caused by the shock (I mean clinical shock not the OMG type!)

Actually I thought the venom was a heart depressant or something like that. Pretty sure it affects the heart.

Sam & Bec, the BNF says "the only indigenous venomous snake is the adder (Vipera berus). The bite may cause local and systemic effects. Local effects include pain, swelling, bruising, and tender enlargement of regional lymph nodes. Systemic effects include early anaphylactoid symptoms (transient hypotension with syncope, angioedema, abdominal colic, diarrhoea, and vomiting), with later persistent or recurrent hypotension, ECG abnormalities, spontaneous systemic bleeding, coagulopathy, adult respiratory distress syndrome, and acute renal failure."

Going on that, and the rarity of fatal adder bites, you're both probably right :-) It looks as if the venom itself can have nasty effects, including cardiac ones, but anaphylactic shock is liable to kill you if you are badly affected.

And the little devils are a protected species! Thanks goodness St Patrick pre-dated animal protection is all I can say:-)

As a child I remember my Dad's friend having a Jack Russel who was very successful in catching them!!! Unfortunately my little sister let one of my quinea pigs loose, never to be seen again, it was years later before he bottled up enough courage to tell me what happened to that!!!

LOL! That's as bad as Ian. As a child he used to pick his Dad's baby carrots, eat them and then stick the tops back in. It was only this year - aged 57 - that he got around to 'fessing up when his Dad said that he'd given up planting carrots half a century ago because they were the one thaing that wouldn't grow for him!

:D If only it was baby carrots coming to a sticky end. I don't think my message was maybe very clear, what me Dad confessed was it was the JR that got me guinea pig while it was free :(

Perhaps some mongooses could help you out. Amazing that the only snake indiginous to the UK is poisonous....or am I wrong and there are other snake species around?
toodles

Hi Sara, want to send us some mongooses (mongeese?) :-). GB also has grass snakes and very rare smooth snakes, both non-poisonous.

I would if I could, Sharon. I've always had a hearkening to them after reading "Ricki Ticki Tavi." But since I have no desire to ever go to India...

I just remember an odd posting a month or two back where we were talking about odd species being sold in UK petstores..... Mongoose, wombats, and other odd critters were brought up as possible suggestions. I just can't remember what kicked off the topic that someone had seen. Oh well. :)

Hi Sharon, talking about carrots a while back one of the grandkids planted some & then rang everyday to ask how big they had grown. Day he came to visit(one week after planting) hubby bought some with tops still on &planted them in same spotLOL. Little feller was made up & gave them to his mum to make soup!!
Hi Eo if you & Sharon want a mongoose come here! We have a resident in the bottom field but we don`t see him often he`s a bit elusive. Dusk is the time I`ve seen it. Got snakes to & a few weeks ago saw big fat grass snake & ran round screaming, even hubby was surprised of size.
Christine2

I think they can be woppers Christine, do they not get mistaken for adders sometimes, I seem to remember from my Cornish childhood something able the V on back of the head to tell them apart, certainly my Mum spent several hours stuck in our drive unable to cross the threshold into the house cos one was sunning on the doorstep, she did not dare leave either incase it slithered into the house when the local ploughman finally passed out isolated home he identified it as a grass snake and shifted it for her. :D Is it really a mongoose, has it escaped from somewhere (not sure which country you are in)

Hi Isabel, poor guinea pig!! Yes one of the poisonous has a V on the back & thats the difference between them but there was no way I was getting close to check, just turned tail & ran screaming!!!It was in the passage way of my boarding kennels as I opened the door, BIG shock. I`m in Spain & the mongoose is native & wild in this area but I don`t think you see them a lot, think they are nocturnal? Don`t they eat snakes? Well it missed this oneLOL and I would have done the same as your poor mum. I`m in the countryside 7kms from Gibraltar,if you go to certain places you can see the coast of Africa. Loads of migratory birds as well, often see flocks of vultures & different birds of prey.
Christine2

Just back from the vets. All the swellings have now completely gone down and she is back to her lovely, bouncy, waggie self and I'm feeling pretty much the same too.
So, quick shower for me and a brush for the dogs and we are off to my very beautiful (of course) little grand-daughter's first birthday party. What a good day, the sun is shining and lots to celebrate.
I am going to try and get out into the field tomorrow and cut the grass really short as I am very worried now about letting them out there.
Hope you all have a good extended holiday weekend and, again, many thanks for your concern and support.

I am so pleased she has made such a good recovery.

Happy days are here again! hope you have a good weekend too, enjoy that birthday party!!

I'm glad for your 'pups' recovery. :D :D :D :D
toodles

Great news that she has recovered so well.

Lisa
xx

i'm so glad she's ok i hope she has learnt her lesson and stays away from anything that hisses from now on ;louise

That's my big worry Louise. When I first had her she was very apprehensive about most new things but she now thinks everyone loves her - man or beast.

No there ARE other types of snakes - The adder is the only indiginous POISONOUS snake. Unlike back in Canada where I'm originally from or the US where I think you are from? There are TONS of poisonous types of snakes.

What I wouldn't give for those adders to have a rattle on them! We had a bit of a scare with them ourselves a few weeks back. We thought we still had a week or two before they were out on the heath so took the dogs out (whippet and whippet-x) for one last run before keeping them off the heath for the summer. On the way back slithering across the path was a baby adder. Luckily the dogs must have heard the terror in my voice when I screamed STOP - because they did. We got them leashed and walked them back on a tight 'heel' for the rest of it. Needless to say that's the end of their romps there till September. Shame - as it's just outside our front door:(

Wendy