Snake Bite Recovery

[RedRoxx44]

The dog, Charlie, got tagged on his front foot on one of our recent trips. Since were fairly far into the backcountry Brian home remedied him and he made it ( probably mostly on his own). We really didn't see the snake fully, but once back at the car a bloody and grossly swollen paw told the story. Brian started him on oral Vit C, milk thistle and benedryl. We then packed his paw in a poultice of Vit C, toothpaste for a thickener, neosporin, placed that on a paper towel, taped that to his paw then put a small sock over it and taped that to his foreleg. It was on about 12 hours then we removed it, it was pretty gross but did take some of the swelling out and helped the bite site.

He was pretty weak and not moving much for 2-3 days. The swelling proceeded up his leg and to his chest. One night ( we now had him in the truck with us to monitor him) he had trouble breathing but the benedryl seemed to help that.

It has now been about 14 days and he is doing well. I haven't seen him in the last week but Brian says he is trying to chase the ball, has a slight limp, but it looks like he will not have significant flesh loss on the foot.

Online has some other home remedies that ranchers and native americans use and we will probably stock up with that.

[Tough_Boots]

How big is Charlie?

[RedRoxx44]

@Tough_Boots
He's a lab I think he is about 60-70 lbs? He is healthy but lean. And he is a purebred which someone told me they were surprised he did so well, mixed breeds tend to be hardier I guess.

[Tough_Boots]

A friend's german shepherd took a bite to the face last year which according to their vet is the best place a dog can get bit. It turned out to be a fairly weak bite and the vet didn't feel anti-venom was necessary. The dog was back to normal within a few days. I guess they got pretty lucky.