What a day we have had today! Seems that our daily doggy run this morning turned into quite an adventure and a dangerous one at that. Jeff and our dog, Kaise went out for a run this morning, as she was running the Trails at Lucas Valley, she came upon a rattlesnake and got bit from what we can tell on the side of her face! Jeff took her to the vet for antibiotics and a drip. From there we had to go to what I call the “ER Hospital” for dogs as she needed anti venom. I went to see her tonight and one side of her face is all swollen and she was whimpering a bit. It made me want to cry for our poor Kaise, cause I couldn’t do a thing for her. Her levels were not so good after the anti venom so they gave her some more meds and it is working! She is all good now, but having to stay over night at the Doggy Hospital tonight. They are keeping an eye on her and we sure hope she can come home tomorrow.
It is so quite here at home without her. You wonder when you have to always take care of an animal, the walks and runs and feeding and cleaning up their poo…if you could just take a day off from it sometimes. Well tonight is our night off, and I can tell you Jeff and I don’t like it one bit. She is family to us and cant wait to go see her tomorrow to bring her home…keeping our fingers crossed!
Some good has come of this because I now know a bit more of rattlesnakes and what to do in case this ever happens again. Thought I would share them with you:
1. Carry the dog, do not let them walk.
2. Identify the snake if you can.
3. Get to the nearest emergency vet that has serum. Not all of them do.
4. Speed is of essence. The serum is stored frozen and has to be thawed. So call ahead and let them know you are coming.
5. The amount of venom delivered varies by the season, age, and size of the snake.
6. Remain calm.
Ok, that’s about all the excitement I can handle for the day. Off to bed for an early rise tomorrow…not sure if I will run the trails for awhile:)
