Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Another Snakebite!

It has happened yet again!  If you been following my blog since July, then you know our little dachshund, Mickey, was bitten by a copperhead on July 14.  He came close to dying since the bite was so close to his heart.  But he survived and is just fine.

But, today our dear Prince, the 7 year old dachshund, was bitten.  We have a dog run in our yard to keep the dogs away from all the bushes where snakes could hide.  I came home this afternoon from getting a flu shot and found all three dogs on the wrong side of the fence.  The doxies had dug under the fence, and big Oliver apparently jumped over to join them.  Prince's face was swollen to triple its normal size.  I put Oliver and Mickey in the house and took off to the vet.

The vet said he's lucky (if you can call being snake bit lucky) that the snake got him on the nose, and not on his neck (could cause breathing problems) or closer to his heart.  They had a supply of anti-venin (no, I didn't spell it wrong - I've now learned that's what it's called).  They immediately gave him an injection of Benedryl and by the time hubby met me at the vet, the swelling had already gone down a good bit.  But he still looks pitiful - picture a dachshund with a droopy bloodhound head.

So we left him there to get an IV of the anti-venin.  We have to go back later tonight to transport him to the overnight Emergency Clinic.  Then we'll pick him up in the morning and take him back to the vet.

The good thing is that he can walk, which Mickey couldn't after his bite.  So we think he'll be okay.

Hubby has already redesigned our dog pen fencing (in his head) to keep the dogs from digging under.  Hopefully, this weekend we will redo the fence per his idea and we will not have this problem again.  I'm sure all the rain we've had lately has run the snakes from their nest, sending them into our yard.  When Mickey was bitten in July, it had rained for a few days prior.

So here we go again, but hopefully we will again have a happy ending.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

My goodness...first time to your blog. We have snakes here too and always very careful while outside. Can you crate your dogs inside while your gone? I mean, this way they can't dig their way into trouble. You must have been beside yourself. I know I would have been.

Susan @ Blackberry Creek said...

Good luck, Prince, for a full recovery.

lesthook said...

We killed a small copperhead last week that was right next to our front steps. Scary! Poor puppies!

SewCalGal said...

Poor Prince. I'm glad to hear he'll be ok.

I don't know snakes that well, but I'm wondering if there is something that you can put out in the yard that will deter them? E.G. animal repellent, rodent noise makers? Darn snakes! How dare they bite your cute four legged children.

SewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

Susan said...

Oh my goodness...poor Prince! I hope his recovery goes well. Good luck snake proofing the dog run too.

SandyQuilts said...

Oh dear ... hope Prince will be ok.

Our GC have 2 little dogs and digging 'was' their favorite playtime. So SIL dug a trench (shallow) and pour concrete. No more digging under the chain link fence.

Becky said...

I cannot believe that you are having to deal with this again. And this soon. I was with you last time and it doesn't seem all that long ago. Hope that recovery is super quick.
By the way, my pom turns one tomorrow. We chatted about him last time you were dealing with snake bite.