My dog Samantha and I were hiking in Red Rock Canyon, Topanga, CA. We came around a corner and Samantha stepped on the baby rattler. Right away she was shocklike. Her head went down, she became dazed, her tail went between her legs. I had to pull her away from the baby because he was very aggressive. In fact I've seen alot of snakes on the trails but never one that has been so mean. Usually when they see you they take off, but this baby wanted to attack again.
I figured out that she was bit in the foot because she started limping right away. When I got her away from the snake I looked at her foot. The wound was bleeding and the foot beginning to swell. The bite marks were pretty small. I then realized that she was in serious danger. Sami is a shepard/coyote mix and weighs 46 pounds. Believe it or not, I picked her up and ran 3 miles to my car. It's amazing what your body can do when the adrenaline is flowing.
I got to the hospital about an hour after the bite. By then she was in deep shock and very lethargic. She seemed to be in a lot of pain. The doctor took her into the trauma room and gave her benadryl and fluids. After she was stabilized, the doctor came and spoke to me. They had to ask permission to give the antivenin. Apparently the dog could have a violent reaction to the antivenin and also it is expensive. Of course the cost was the least of my wories. They take an hour to give the antivenin by an IV. After she was stable I was allowed to see her. She was on an IV and her foot was black and blue and very swollen, but otherwise she was in good spirits.
She remained in the hospital for 2 days and was given 2 kinds of antibiotics and I constantly had to clean her wound. The bite has left a 1/8 inch scar on her foot, but otherwise she is back to normal. It took her about 2 weeks for her to get back to normal.
[Note: Baby rattlesnakes are consistently reported as being more aggressive than adults, and are thought to have a more potent venom. Both of these attributes would make them better prepared to survive to adulthood. Tiffany also said that she was told by her vet that it would be extremely dangerous for Samantha to have a second injection of antivenin in future, as there was a progressively larger chance of anaphylactic (allergic) reaction with further doses of the serum.]
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