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A member of our Samoyed club, who lives in rural West Virginia, is dealing with the aftermath of a presumed snake bite that her Samoyed suffered recently. Here's her very informative message:
[FONT="]I’m writing to you because I know that many of you live in wooded or agricultural areas, or like to walk or hike on nature paths and in parks. Please take note that there is a great possibility that snakes may already be out and about, and that special care should be taken for you, your family, and your family pets.[/FONT]
[FONT="]First, our pup is going to be fine. Our beautiful Samoyed girl, had an awful experience on her 8th birthday, Jan 19th after she was bitten by a snake in our yard.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]We didn’t see it. I had let her out in the fenced in front yard for a few minutes in the morning to do her business. I usually stay outside w/our dogs, but had to go inside for something. Matt said when he called her, she came running inside and her snout was slightly bloody. She had been bitten by something. There were actually three fang marks (two on one side, and a smaller one on the other side of her snout) and what appeared to be scratch marks on the top of her nose. It only swelled up a little bit.
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[FONT="]We immediately thoroughly cleaned her wounds and treated them. We called the Vet to talk about it and made an appt. We thought maybe she had been bitten by a cat or a squirrel.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Out Vet has lived in the area all of her life and has been a Vet for about 25 years. She is very experienced with our wildlife and all types of bites. As soon as she saw the marks and the quick and vast deterioration of Jackie’s skin, she said it appeared to be a snake bite. Though it is very early for snakes, we have had unusually warm weather these past couple of weeks. Apparently, some snakes have come out of hibernation. It’s still hard for us to believe. It seems to be much too early. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Jackie will be OK, but this was a very serious bite w/awful consequences. As a result, she has a very bad infection. The infection happened so quickly.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]I am a Medical Technologist, have taken extensive medical emergency courses, and have a lot of experience performing proper medical care of wounds, etc. to human and animal patients, big and small. It’s not a flesh-eating bacteria, or Proteus vulgaris, but it is virulent and putrid-smelling. With proper cleaning and antibiotics, in time, she should be OK. I hope she recovers quickly and completely. [/FONT]
[FONT="]I don’t know if this was a snake, but please take precautions…it may have been, and I don’t want you, or any member of your family (human and pets) to get hurt.[/FONT]
[FONT="]P.S., In addition to what the vet prescribed for Jackie, we are administering Tea Tree full strength 3x/day and Emu Oil for tissue repair. [/FONT]
[FONT="]I’m writing to you because I know that many of you live in wooded or agricultural areas, or like to walk or hike on nature paths and in parks. Please take note that there is a great possibility that snakes may already be out and about, and that special care should be taken for you, your family, and your family pets.[/FONT]
[FONT="]First, our pup is going to be fine. Our beautiful Samoyed girl, had an awful experience on her 8th birthday, Jan 19th after she was bitten by a snake in our yard.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]We didn’t see it. I had let her out in the fenced in front yard for a few minutes in the morning to do her business. I usually stay outside w/our dogs, but had to go inside for something. Matt said when he called her, she came running inside and her snout was slightly bloody. She had been bitten by something. There were actually three fang marks (two on one side, and a smaller one on the other side of her snout) and what appeared to be scratch marks on the top of her nose. It only swelled up a little bit.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]We immediately thoroughly cleaned her wounds and treated them. We called the Vet to talk about it and made an appt. We thought maybe she had been bitten by a cat or a squirrel.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Out Vet has lived in the area all of her life and has been a Vet for about 25 years. She is very experienced with our wildlife and all types of bites. As soon as she saw the marks and the quick and vast deterioration of Jackie’s skin, she said it appeared to be a snake bite. Though it is very early for snakes, we have had unusually warm weather these past couple of weeks. Apparently, some snakes have come out of hibernation. It’s still hard for us to believe. It seems to be much too early. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Jackie will be OK, but this was a very serious bite w/awful consequences. As a result, she has a very bad infection. The infection happened so quickly.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]I am a Medical Technologist, have taken extensive medical emergency courses, and have a lot of experience performing proper medical care of wounds, etc. to human and animal patients, big and small. It’s not a flesh-eating bacteria, or Proteus vulgaris, but it is virulent and putrid-smelling. With proper cleaning and antibiotics, in time, she should be OK. I hope she recovers quickly and completely. [/FONT]
[FONT="]I don’t know if this was a snake, but please take precautions…it may have been, and I don’t want you, or any member of your family (human and pets) to get hurt.[/FONT]
[FONT="]P.S., In addition to what the vet prescribed for Jackie, we are administering Tea Tree full strength 3x/day and Emu Oil for tissue repair. [/FONT]