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Author
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Topic: Snake Bite?
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HorseCrazy1981
Member
Member # 1771
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posted May 12, 2004 10:44 AM
I came home yesterday, and Beauty's face was swollen. Specifically her upper lip and nose area, and a little behind her mouth. She had 2 bleeding marks on her nose (Right inside her nostril) where it looked like she might have been bitten by a snake. She was so uncomfortable she couldn't eat her food or hay. We called our vet and he gave us a steroid shot to give to her to reduce the swelling (given to Beauty around 6 PM yesterday). 4 hours later, the swelling had gone down, but only a little bit. We gave her some food and hay, which she was able to eat (but she only chewed on one side of her mouth). We had her in her stall overnight, and we left her in there today as well. I opened up the gate between the 2 stalls there so she would have some room to walk around. Anyway, the swelling doesn't seem to have gone down alot, should I call my vet again, or is this normal?
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I love my babies!!
Beauty--Heinz 57 mare
Prince--TB gelding
Black--Arab/TW mare
Buffy--Belgian mare
Angel--Arabian mare
Desiree--Arabian mare
Eventually I have to get up off my lazy butt and do something.
Posts: 908 | From: Mississippi | Registered: Feb 2004
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Blistering Winds
Member
Member # 843
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posted May 12, 2004 10:56 AM
He didn't anti-venum her at all?
With poisonous snakes out and about, i'd do it as a precaution. Especially since those are the ones that usually bite anyways.
Did he give you banamine at all to prevent endotoxin issues?
I'd call and get another steroid shot.
Here is what my vet book says. Snake bites tend to occur during spring and summer. In general, bites from non-poisonous snakes do not cause swelling and pain (ok, probably some discomfort, but not a "traveling pain". They show teeth marks in the shape of a horseshoe, not fang marks.
You can find out the type of snake by the bite mark, area of the US, and if you could, locate some sightings.
Here are the treatments for the snake bites.
Poison snake bites are rarely fatal. Foals are more susceptable to systemic reactions and death due to their smaller size.
1. Keep the horse quiet. Venom spreads rapidly if the horse is active.
2. Cold water packs can be applied to the bite at 15 minute intervals to reduce swelling. ICE packs, however, can cause additional tissue damage. So avoid ice. Just cold water packs.
3. If possible, sedate horse to wash. Keeping the horse quiet prevents the spread of venom. Do not wash horse while awake, due to excitement issues.
4. DO NOT SUCK VENOM OUT YOURSELF!!!
This is interesting, Antivenins are available through your vet. Not always necessary for the adult horse, but may be indicated for the foal. Swelling and nasal obstruction respond to corticosteroids. Snake bites frequently become infected. Antibiotics, tetanus prophylaxis, and wound care is VERY important.
So make sure your tetanus is up to date, maybe pop the booster if you can. And probably get your horse on some Pennicillin or other antibiotics that the vet may want. And I'd call and get another steriod injection if you could. Probably will give you Dexamethasone for it. That is a common one. BUT, the only issue is steroids cause a depression of immune system. So he might see about waiting it out, but again, if your horse can't breath, it would be good to get the swelling down for one more day.
Good Luck
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Horses should not be treated as people. They should be respected for who they are and what they are capable of doing!
Born Free Now Expensive
Posts: 4337 | From: Texas | Registered: Oct 2003
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HorseCrazy1981
Member
Member # 1771
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posted May 12, 2004 11:13 AM
She couldn't breathe well out of that one nostril, but the other side of her face isn't swollen at all. Now she seems to be able to breathe. I am sure our vet might want to wait another day to see if the steroids work more. I will have my hubby call the vet later this afternoon cause I get off of work too late to call. I know he gave our cat an anti-venom shot when he got bit (by a rattler)(other snakes we see are water mocassins and cotton mouths, but rattlers are more common in our area), along with a dose of anti-biotics. The snake that bit my mare couldn't have been too big because the fang sites are small, at most an inch apart. No other teeth marks. My mare has a habit of killing moving things, snakes especially, so I am sure she was bothering the snake. We have seen two snakes on our property, I leave them alone mostly, but I will kill a poisonous one if I see it. Most of the snakes around here aren't poisonous. I will have my hubby ask about the anti-venom and a tetanus shot. I think we will leave her up until the swelling goes down more, even though her pasture mates are going crazy without her. It just worried me a little. I know animals don't react the same way to snake bites that we do (thank God!).
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I love my babies!!
Beauty--Heinz 57 mare
Prince--TB gelding
Black--Arab/TW mare
Buffy--Belgian mare
Angel--Arabian mare
Desiree--Arabian mare
Eventually I have to get up off my lazy butt and do something.
Posts: 908 | From: Mississippi | Registered: Feb 2004
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Blistering Winds
Member
Member # 843
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posted May 12, 2004 11:15 AM
Well, after reading my book, most adult horses ever need the antivenom. So I wouldn't worry. It has to be given within 2 hours of the bite anyways. No good today.
I'd give a quick call about a second steroid shot. Won't hurt for one more. Plus ask about possible antibiotics.
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Horses should not be treated as people. They should be respected for who they are and what they are capable of doing!
Born Free Now Expensive
Posts: 4337 | From: Texas | Registered: Oct 2003
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Blistering Winds
Member
Member # 843
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posted May 12, 2004 11:16 AM
And yes, leave her inside for about a week. Give the venom time to get OUT of the system before letting her out. NO exercise, NO excitement for about a week. This is to avoid a systemic infection.
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Horses should not be treated as people. They should be respected for who they are and what they are capable of doing!
Born Free Now Expensive
Posts: 4337 | From: Texas | Registered: Oct 2003
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HorseCrazy1981
Member
Member # 1771
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posted May 12, 2004 11:22 AM
Our cat got the anti-venom shot the day after. Maybe different for cats though. Ours wouldn't let us catch him until his back end was so swollen he couldn't run away any more. Lol, he just looked so pitiful. He was on antibiotics for about a week, but his wasn't an injection. I am not a huge advocate of antibiotics. They are great for some purposes, but then again, overuse is a really bad thing. Why do I have to have the one horse in the world that isn't afraid of snakes... ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif) (j/k, I know there must be other horses out there like that)
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I love my babies!!
Beauty--Heinz 57 mare
Prince--TB gelding
Black--Arab/TW mare
Buffy--Belgian mare
Angel--Arabian mare
Desiree--Arabian mare
Eventually I have to get up off my lazy butt and do something.
Posts: 908 | From: Mississippi | Registered: Feb 2004
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Blistering Winds
Member
Member # 843
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posted May 12, 2004 11:25 AM
No, your's isn't. My mare that I had, took her to the beach. Well, we were riding behind the dunes, and heard the rattles of a snake. While the other horses were shying away, she was LOOKING FOR IT!!!! Nose to the ground, ears up, and moving TOWARD IT!!!! Now, the other horses were allowed to bolt, but she stayed. I'm turning her, kicking her, beating the sNOT it seemed like out of her to get away, NOPE> I had to GET OFF AND LEAD her away. Copperhead snake too. NOT very good.
Anyways, good luck. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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Horses should not be treated as people. They should be respected for who they are and what they are capable of doing!
Born Free Now Expensive
Posts: 4337 | From: Texas | Registered: Oct 2003
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HorseCrazy1981
Member
Member # 1771
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posted May 12, 2004 11:30 AM
I always thought mine was a little cookoo. She would walk up to them, and if they didn't slither away, she would put her nose down and spin around on top of them. Then she would walk away after they stopped moving. Horses can find the oddest way to get their owners worried. I just wanted to make sure that it wasn't a huge deal so I wouldn't have to worry so much about her. When I looked at her this morning, she seemed content, munchin down on her grub, nose still swollen, but she didn't act like she was too uncomfortable, like she was yesterday afternoon (raising her head up to the sky trying to breathe better).
Thanks for the info BW.
[ May 12, 2004, 11:31 AM: Message edited by: HorseCrazy1981 ]
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I love my babies!!
Beauty--Heinz 57 mare
Prince--TB gelding
Black--Arab/TW mare
Buffy--Belgian mare
Angel--Arabian mare
Desiree--Arabian mare
Eventually I have to get up off my lazy butt and do something.
Posts: 908 | From: Mississippi | Registered: Feb 2004
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Cyn
Member
Member # 1208
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posted May 12, 2004 04:49 PM
I had a horse with a snake bite to the nose before. It was so bad we had to put about 8 inch long peices of cut hose in her nostrils just so she could breath. (the vet did this, don't try it yourself) it took about three days for the swelling to go down enough for her to breath comfortably. she was stalled about a week and a half. she healed back to normal in about two weeks. she always had two little scars on her nose to remind us.
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*Cyndy*
Counting the days Til Sugar foals...DUE APRIL 29.
Posts: 1021 | From: Central, Ca | Registered: Dec 2003
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OwnerofWillow
Member
Member # 2012
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posted May 13, 2004 12:52 AM
I love horse behavior haha its fabulous isnt it. When my mom was a kid (in the mountains of Idaho) she use to take Airedale dogs with her they would attack and kill the snakes. Accourding to her only two out of the 18 years she was there died from snakebite. (now before anyone gets upset remember that she didnt live by a vet she lived like they did back when there werent cars and no she isnt that old ![[Razz]](tongue.gif) ) It was pretty amazing though.
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Two Tru Willow (pending)
If you don't know how to spell a word use this link Spellcheck
Posts: 809 | From: AZ | Registered: Mar 2004
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HorseCrazy1981
Member
Member # 1771
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posted May 13, 2004 07:12 AM
Just an update. He nose hase gone down about halfway. We gave her the tetanus antitoxin and another steroid shot yesterday.
My dog got bit by a rattler a few years ago and she was rushed to the vet. He gave her the antitoxin and some steroids to bring the swelling down. She got bit in the mouth and on the throat, so I know she was messing with it. She has large scars on her mouth and down her neck where the venom killed the tissue. Our vet said she would have died within a few hours if we hadn't got her treated. He also said the fang marks were far enough apart to have been quite a large snake.
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I love my babies!!
Beauty--Heinz 57 mare
Prince--TB gelding
Black--Arab/TW mare
Buffy--Belgian mare
Angel--Arabian mare
Desiree--Arabian mare
Eventually I have to get up off my lazy butt and do something.
Posts: 908 | From: Mississippi | Registered: Feb 2004
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