Yesterday our 18 month old came in and was limping suddnely and shaking. % mins earlier she had been fine. I just thought she had pulled something tearing round with the other dogs.
Checked her but could find nothing so rested her all day. By bedtime her foot was enormous but could still see nothing of note. By morning it was discharging mega amounts of pus from between toes. When the vet cleaned it she found 2 small puncture marks between the toes and a nast infection. The vet believes it to be a snake bite. Has anyone any experience of snake bites in dogs. We do live on the back of fields but have never seen a snake here. Gale is fine but the poor foot looks so sore. She is on antibiotics and pain killers now and see how she goes.

never had one myself but i did have customer on the phojne before at my work who i got chatting to, her dane had been bitten by an adder. apparently the reaction was similar to what you've described, it bled for ages as i believe their venom has an anti coagulant (sp) effect, but apparently was fine in the end.

it happens a lot apparently cause they are so hard to spot.

Ouch! Poor Gale. Is she on anti-inflammatories?

No experience of actual bites, but a couple of summers ago there was a male adder lurking at one of the places we walk (I'm in Herts). Just a normal grassy field with small areas of woodland next to a very busy motorway but it seemed very happy with it's new home under a huge fallen tree trunk in long grass. Several dog walkers saw it over the weeks but it then disappeared as quick as it arrived. I did avoid that particular path for several months though!

thats the thing, dogs that age are so curious about everything they'd probably go for a sniff to find out what it is. poor thing, hope shes alright

My friends boy got bitten when the adders get sleepy in the Autumn.  As a medium size dog he was just a wee bit hot and unwell, raised heart rate shakes etc.  told to keep him quiet and cool as for his size (about 20kg) anti venom wouldn't' be needed.

It could kill a small dog though.

Sounds very much like a snake bite, poor thing, I hope she is feeling better soon, alot of people around here don't rush off to the Vets for treatment, but I'm sure I would...............

Interestingly, someone mentioned their own theory that if the grass was wet, the adders wouldn't be out? I'm never quite sure what the best time to walk is? I have always thought it better out of the sun, but I'm not really sure?

I've seen more adders this spring than I've seen for a long time.     We try to walk our dogs in the cool of the evening and morning before the adders  get up. 

I've seen them in very sheltered spots down by the water's edge, not in the sun - really freaked out one of the dogs.

I carry a small phial full of corticosteroid with me on my whistle at all times as emergency measure - Piriton will help as well, if your vet is wary of dispensing steroid, as many are.

Jo  

I have experience of an adder bite  in our springer spaniel a few years back, we were walking all the dogs on a common (foot and mouth on so all forest areas were out of bounds) we heard a small cry and turned round Ollie was head on the floor bum in the air position. We couldn't get him to walk so my husband had to carry him a fair way back to the car. He was a big stocky springer so took some effort to get him back. We went straight to the vets who were waiting for us, Ollie had been sick in the car and one of his back legs had begun to swell, he was also drowsy.
Because of how quick it all was the vet said most definitely a snake bite. He was given anti venom and we left him there so the vet could monitor him, also had to get other 3 dogs home (only 5 mins away). we were only home 1/2 hour and vet called to say Ollie wasn't good and we better return - by the time we got there he was dead.

We were devastated, he was a beautiful dog who was only 2yrs old. We were his 4th home (came from the springer rescue) and we didnt know why the previous owners didnt want him, he was a lovely lovely dog.

The vet said Ollie was very unlucky as not many dogs actually die but its a bit like people with bee stings, some have anaphalaxis and end up in life threatening condition.

It took us quite a while to accept his death and now are always on the look out for snakes - we have seen many over the years and our area is known for adders.

So what sort of areas do Adders live in?

Thats really, really terrible.How sad to lose a dog in this way.We ahve had Adders in our garden before,and the cat has even brought one to my front door.We only go out in the evenings or early evening when it is warm to try to avoid them.

oh lorrie thats so sad, i'm really sorry.

everyones nightmare I would imagine, but I think Ollie would have just been very unfortunate to be like you say, have a severe allergy type reaction :-(

Funnily enough, having lived here all my life, I saw my first adder 2 summers ago, that was in the shady woods, I too do walk as early as poss in the mornings and quite late evening time, not just for adders, but I find it too hot to walk in the midday heat and know that the dogs suffer too, it makes me quite angry that others think nothing of doing so, grrrr..........

Gale is on anti inflams and antibiotics. If it was an adder I think we were lucky.that it was no worse. She is much better this evening. Could it have been a Grass snake, do they bite?

not sure that grass snakes bite.

Adders are normally found in the marshy type areas i think, but we have seen a few just on foot paths through the forest. they are net always easy to see but have a black zigzag pattern on their backs. Grass snakes are more silvery in colour.

we were  just very unfortunate with him and he was one of a few dogs that reacted badly to the bite, most dogs just get a swelling where the snake has bitten. Some vets give anti venom some dont, think it depends on the vet as not all feel it works. The vet said it makes no difference how big or small the dog is as to whether they will react badly or not, just luck (or not) of the draw.

The adder is the only snake in Britain with a venomous bite. A grass snake will sometimes bite if threatened, but it's not poisonous. And the smooth snake (our only other snake, and again, not venomous) is very rare.

I hope Gale is feeling better soon, one of the areas I walk in is renowned for adders, luckily I have never come accross one although my daughter swears blind that she saw one. Dogs have never been caught by one yet...............touch wood!!!!!

My dog Trefor got bitten on the cheek one autumn when we were dogging in the woods on the shoot. It swelled and then the skin on the cheek went black and died off, it oozed pus for a couple of weeks all around the edges of the dead skin. It smelt terrible! He was on antibiotics and something else but can't remember what. I also had to bathe the area and we had to keep going back to the vets to get the dead black skin removed. We think it may have been a young snake or we might not have been so lucky as the bite was on his face.

They can live in any country areas- down lanes, grassy areas, dunes and moor land .
A Lady lost her dachshund to a adder bite in the local burrows some years back, only small breeds can easily die of a bite.

Gale is so much better today. Just not happy about the buster collar I have put on to stop her chewing the foot. Since treatment the foot looks a 100 times better today. :-)