My husband has a wood shop in the back yard. Molly loves to hunt and has been known to go under the shed after a mouse. And has caught one or two. Ugh! On August 5th our son came over and cut down alot of vines that clung to the fence. We usually let them stay on the ground as it's muddy back there and Molly tracks it in the house. We hoped the cuttings would form a carpet over the mud. On the 6th my husband heard Molly yelp and saw her run from behind the shop and lay down on the grass. He didn't think anything of it.
An hour later I called her in. She wasn't her usual chipper self, and her face looked like a chipmonks. I thought she had her mouth full of something. When I realized she was swollen, we loaded her in the car and drove to the Vet. She showed us where the fang marks were on her nose and believed it was a copperhead as a rattler wouldn't have made Molly much sicker. Several dogs have died this summer due to rattler bites. She gave Molly two shots and kept her all afternoon to make sure she didn't get worse. We came home with two bottles of pills.
There is a rattlesnack anti-venom your animal can be given, something we may consider even though we don't live in a brushy area. We live on a corner in a small housing development but there is a big field across the road. I think we will have to clean that brush out and make sure the copperheads don't have a place to hide.
Here are a few pictures of Molly taken at the Vet's Office.
Happy Reading and Writing!
Linda
Oh, poor Molly. And they all hate going to the vets so much. Hope she completely recovers and keeps her distance from snakes in the future. We don't have many here in Michigan.
ReplyDeleteI've been feeling bad this week because we had to put down our 17 year old cat, Gracie. I miss her, but she was being eaten alive by infection and has been losing weight for 2 years so was too weak to fight it.
Oh, this is scary, Linda! Not trying to be a bearer of doom, and Molly HAS seen a vet, but my great-grandmother died from a copperhead bite to her little toe. She was barefoot in the tomato patch when one got her. Of course, those were the days before ambulances and emergency rooms.
ReplyDeletePoor Molly. And that's pretty scary too. Hubby found a complete snake skin left behind in our shed. You can see the photo at my blog/site: http://www.missmaesite.com (scroll down)
I respect snakes, but I want them FAR from me!
Poor Molly. But I have to mention the afternoon our neighbor, a single woman in her mid forties called asking for help. She had a snake in her back yard and couldn't walk her dog. My husband said he'd take care of it. He drove his mowing tractor to her yard, picked up the snake with a stick and took it to the vacant yard behind us. He couldn't kill the thing. Now if it had been me.... I hate snakes.
ReplyDeleteOh, poor baby, and poor Linda! They're like our children, almost--so upset when they're hurt. Our children are grown with families of their own, and our pets--two cats and one dog--died of old age long ago. Something was always happening to one of them. During those years, we spent more on vet bills than we did on pediatric bills.Celia
ReplyDeleteRhobin,
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry about your Gracie. It's so hard when they get old. 17 years is a long time.
Miss Mae,
ReplyDeleteThings were so much harder back then. My nephew was bitten on the toe by a copperhead in the garden. He had on sandals. He was in the hospital for almost a week. I'll check out the snake skin on your blog.
Allison, I'm with you, I'd want it dead too. Odd that it wouldn't move and allowed your husband to pick it up.
ReplyDeleteYes, Celia, we were pretty upset. We've never had that many pets at one time. I can see how that did get expensive. But they're worth every penny.
ReplyDeleteWow--this is so weird. We have a dog called Molly, too, and a few months ago, she was bitten by a snake (we're not sure if it was a copperhead or rattlesnake). She had a huge "goiter" but after a few benadryl and some antibiotics, she's as good as new. All of our dogs have been bit at one time or another, I'm afraid. But at least they are not as badly affected as humans.
ReplyDeleteOne of our dogs, Roscoe, got so angry when he got bit that he became an expert at finding and destroying snakes. For many years, we didn't have "no stinkin' snakes" thanks to him. But unfortunately, he passed away a few years go.
Anyway, sorry about your dog and I hope Molly is feeling better now.
How scary. Poor little Molly. I'm so glad she'll be all right.
ReplyDeleteWe hadn't had Bryn, (our stray kitty for long) she kept gagging and heaving as if something was caught in her throat, but we couldn't see anything. We even brought her to the vet, who believed she was suffering from a hairball and would be fine after she dislodged it. He gave her a shot since she was dehydrated and sent us home. I knew it couldn't be a hairball. There was something caught, something choking her. I held her and kept her by me until she heaved again and immediately looked down her throat to see if I could see something and I finally did. There was a string (yoyo string width) and grabbed a hold of it, pulling it carefully. I couldn't believe how long this string was and at the end there was a nice size wad of it(ping pong ball size. No wonder Bryn was choking. We were lucky. It could have been so much more serious. I no there's no comparison to a snake bite, but I was freaked out all the same. Bryn is almost nine years old now. :)
So scary Linda! Thank goodness your vet figured it out and Molly's all right. I worried about this all summer, as we have black snakes, water snakes and copperheads through our yard. The copperheads seem to stay out by the road, near the raspberry patch, at least. Hope Molly's back to her chipper self.
ReplyDeleteIt's a wonder that Brad didn't get bitten. I'm so glad Molly is okay now.
ReplyDeleteThat is weird, Amy. I'm glad your Molly is okay. Roscoe sounds like my kind of dog. I've heard some dogs are good at keeping snakes away.
ReplyDeleteKaren, bless your kittie's heart. It's amazing what animals will swallow. I'm glad you were able to solve the mystery.
ReplyDeleteLinda, I am so glad that the vet was able to treat Molly! It is horrible when pets get hurt or sick--I know exactly how much that hurts you, as the pet owner. I've been through plenty of heartbreak with my pets in the past. I'm glad Molly's story has a happy ending. :)
ReplyDeleteThe vet immediately saw it, Cate. Our untrained eye didn't see a thing, Even thought it might be a bee sting. You seem to have more than your share of snakes. Those black ones are scary.
ReplyDeleteYou're so right, Anna. We need to get the area cleaned out.
ReplyDeleteHi Jennette,
ReplyDeleteSo true. I'm sorry you've had so much heartbreak with your pets. They so quickly become family.
Linda,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Molly is on the mend. My Husky had a run in with a porcupine a few weeks ago. I was able to remove the quills myself and he was fine. It's hard to watch the babies in pain, it's like when the kids were home!
Poor brave Molly! I'm so glad she survived the bite. I know I'd be lost without my little Jasper so, I can only imagine how worried you were. I absolutely loved this post. Molly is a doll!
ReplyDeleteGoodness, Victoria! I know that had to hurt your dog. I'm glad he's okay.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mauve. Glad you enjoyed the posts. We do love our animals, don't we?
ReplyDeleteJ. Hale,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. She was hesitant to go outside by herself for awhile but it back to her yapping self now.
When we went to Dalhart, my MIL's next door neighbor's dog was limping real bad so we asked him why. The German sheppard, Lola had been bitten by a rattle snake and they almost lost her. Amazing that she survived because this was the second time she'd been bitten by a rattler. Resilient creature.
ReplyDeleteHi Ciara,
ReplyDeleteI guess they're lucky the sheppard survived. Maybe the dog has built up an immunity after the first bite.
Your poor dog! I'm glad he's okay though.
ReplyDeleteSnakes!! Yikes!!
ReplyDeletePoor lil Molly. Glad she'll be okay...
Dawn Chartier
www.dawnchartier.com
Oh, sweet little Molly. Poor baby! I'm glad she's well now.
ReplyDeleteI remember when our Maxie-cat was sick (many times)from eating something outside but don't know if he was ever bitten by a snake.
So glad to hear Molly will be all right, Linda.
ReplyDeleteI had a wonderful "pound puppy" named Xena, Warrior Canine. She was a pit bull mix, sweetest face you ever saw, and we rescued her on her "pink slip day" from the local pound. She was very protective of everyone in our home - she caught a rattlesnake strike just beneath her left eye one morning protecting the cat on the patio. We rushed her to the vet, and luckily it was a dry strike - the fangs had not gone deep enough to press the venom sacs into action. That antivenin is $1000 per dose, but we would have found a way to pay if we'd had to. She was a great dog; I had her thirteen years before she caught Valley Fever and had to be put down when it went to her brain. I haven't had the heart to get another dog since, I loved her so much. (But we still have the cat she saved, now 16 years old.)
~Jude
www.scorchedhawkpress.com
Linda, poor Molly. How scary for her and you and your husband. We had a barn cat who cleared out the copperheads that nested under our front porch steps. This summer I went out and a looonnnggg snakeskin was on our front porch. My husband assured me it was from a rat snake, but it creeped me out. We live on five acres in a rural area, so there are always snakes around.
ReplyDeletePoor little Molly. I'm glad she's okay.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Laura, she's back to her normal fiesty self. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYeah, Dawn, I hate those neeky nakes. Bet you have lots of them in your area.
ReplyDeleteAaah, Jude, those rescued dogs do tend to love those who give them a home. They amaze me with their loyalty to family. Our little dog came from Walmart - a give away to a good home.
ReplyDeleteCaroline, I've heard that cats are great at keeping the snake population down. I'd get one if I could count on it staying in our yard. I hate it when they get in other people's flower beds, etc. We had a long snake skin wrapped around our mail box one morning. Guess it used the bring to help remove its skin.
ReplyDeleteYikes! Thank goodness it wasn't a rattler. That Molly sure is a trooper. I'm glad she's okay and extra glad I don't live in an area with many poisonous snakes. (Shiver)
ReplyDelete