Rinkhals Bitten Weimeraner

This section will help you get first aid treatment protocols incase of an envenomation. This includes indigenous and exotic reptiles. Please do not use this forum for photo sharing, etc.

Rinkhals Bitten Weimeraner

Postby Marlene » Thu Jan 28, 2016 10:53 am

Yesterday, our friends' young female Weimeraner was bitten by a Rinkhals. She died in less than 45 minutes before we could get her to a vet. Is this usually the case that they die so quickly? Is there anything that you can do when you get to the dog and before it gets to the vet? I feel very sad that we could not save the dog(our friends are on holiday), and unfortunately she, or the other dogs, killed the Rinkhals as well.
Marlene
SA Reptiles Member
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2016 10:46 am

Re: Rinkhals Bitten Weimeraner

Postby Sico » Thu Jan 28, 2016 11:33 am

The severity of the bite is dependant on a lot of factors, including but not limited to
- the size of the dog (large dogs can handle more venom than smaller ones)
- the physical condition of the dog (age, is it healthy, does it have any medical conditions etc)
- the size of the snake (large snakes produce more venom than small ones)
- where the dog was bitten (a bite to the back leg would be theoretically less serious than a bite to the face)
- whether or not there were more than one bite (obviously)

There really isn't much you can do other than get the dog to the RIGHT vet (find out which vets in your area keep a stock of appropriate antivenom) in good time. It's an unfortunate event either way, on one hand you may have a deceased pet, on the other, if you are lucky, you may have an expensive vet's bill.
Mark
Good judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately, experience usually comes from bad judgment.
User avatar
Sico
SA Reptiles Member
 
Posts: 1092
Joined: Sat Aug 23, 2008 2:15 pm
Location: Randburg and the rest of the continent

Re: Rinkhals Bitten Weimeraner

Postby Allen G. Liebenberg » Thu Jan 28, 2016 3:39 pm

Hi A sad loss but of course dogs are predators and catch snakes.Also the identity of the snake is important.Was it a true rinkhals(Hemachatus haemachatus) or a Mozambique Spitting Cobra or Snouted cobra( which are called rinkhals by most people).
Snouted Cobras are the most likely to cause fatalities.
A.
Allen G. Liebenberg
SA Reptiles Member
 
Posts: 60
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2013 12:13 pm


Return to Venom Club

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests

cron