Rattlesnake bit my dog: 5 golden lessons learnt
Her name is Shiba and SHE IS ALIVE. It’s all that matters.
I feel compelled to share her story. What we did and what we could have done better. Truly hoping you do not have to go through this.
Mission Peak, Bay Area. Late June
We were especially excited this time because it was our first real hike in around 5–6 months due to COVID-19. Our dogs sensed the energy as well. They were wagging their tails and ready at the door since early in the morning. Too excited to care for breakfast. The day started off positive.
After 1.5 hrs of hiking. The sun was starting to hit hard. Our main worry of the day was that Shiba’s dog brother — who’s a fluffy Samoyed named Tofu — would overheat. We were about 2/3 up the way and felt lucky when we found a perfect tree shade to help Tofu cool down. Shiba is the energetic one of the family, and since no one was around, we decided to give her some off-leash time…
BINGO!
Lesson #1 — do not let your dog go off the trail.
The first sign that something had gone wrong was Tofu barking as if he had sensed something.
Shiba was running back and forth looking confused. She finally stopped at a bush, put her muzzle straight into it and rubbed herself in discomfort. We rushed to her and noticed few spots with blood on the left side of her face.
“She must have caught and killed a rat” — I naively commented.
We rinsed the blood with water and heard Shiba yelp as we had never heard before.
At this point, the bite was not visible, but blood instantly popped up again in full thick drops.
It clicked in our minds. “It’s a snake bite”.
Lesson #2 — time is critical. No matter where you are, your focus must be to get professional care as fast as you can.
TWO things I knew about snake bites:
a. Time is critical — dogs have 30 min to 2 hrs of life depending on the size of your dog and the type of the snake
b. Dogs need to be carried — because activity will cause the venom to spread inside their body more quickly
Remember we had been hiking for 1.5 hrs?
Shiba is a medium sized Husky-mix, 45 pounds of well exercised muscle that right now refused to take a step. The way down seemed incredibly long, but we did not think twice. We scooped her up and began rushing downhill.
Lesson #3 — find a vet that can take you in (in advance).
At this point, there is a slight swelling on her face. Blood is there too. We are taking turns in carrying Shiba and calling vets that can take us in.
Frist vet we called: “sorry, we are fully booked”
Second vet: “sorry, we don’t have antivenin”
— We switch tasks —
We are still running downhill as we call and it’s incredibly hot now.
My partner calls the third vet: “we can’t take you, but try calling Beacon”
Fourth call was to Beacon Veterinary Specialists, they said they could take us!!!
Ok, swelling is getting worse; her left eye is struggling to keep open. I feel her nails hanging on to my shoulder. “Hang tight girl, don’t give up!” — I say out loud.
We keep rushing.
Lesson #4 — divide and conquer.
We are a family of two dogs and (luckily) two humans too! Hope you can always go on hikes accompanied because teamwork is key during critical times.
As we had done with finding a vet that could take us. One of the best things we did was buy time by one of us going to bring the car closer to the park’s entrance (…yeah… we had parked quite far).
So, my partner left with Tofu, running faster.
I was left with Shiba, still panting on my shoulder.
“Good girl, you’re strong” — I told her as we kept on running our last mile sprint in something that felt like a sauna of hell.
When we reached the bottom of the hike, we began seeing people, and I did not hesitate to try asking for help since my limbs were shaky after a 30- 40ish min running downhill carrying my wimping Shiba.
“Please help me get her to the entrance, she was bitten by a snake” — I would approach strangers with Shiba’s swollen face and my somehow matching red sweaty face.
“I don’t think I can” — was the reply I got from a masked stranger. It’s the middle of a pandemic and people are taking their necessary precautions. I had totally forgotten about that.
I apologized and kept going as fast as I could to reach the car.
Lesson #5 — have a medical insurance for your dog.
Luckily, we had a car and our drive to Beacon Veterinary was only 10min. I still cannot believe that we averaged only 50min from where Shiba got bitten until we reached the vet. We really run!
When we arrived, they were ready to receive us in the parking lot — we applaud finding a place in advance that would be ready to take us in (and had antivenin).
We patiently waited for around 3 hrs in the vet’s parking lot — due to COVID we could not go inside — before they gave us the good news that she had high chances of living!
<woop woop!>
We love Shiba and we wanted her to keep on living her happy life. That’s it.
We were shown the bill’s estimate and we were sent home because she would have to spend the night there with IV fluids, painkillers (also through IV). Plus, blood tests and yet to be know doses of antivenin depending on how her body would react to the first dose and the blood test results.
I do not want to emphasize the bill because the expense incurred was irrelevant compared to the love and joy Shiba gives us on an everyday basis. However, we want to say that we encourage you to get a medical insurance for your dog. Just in case, you know?
We had paid few hundreds in vet bills before and we thought we would be fine paying out of pocket… until this incident… which came to be in the more than a few thousands. We cannot stress enough how pet insurance could potentially save your family member and shield your savings account.
We have no idea where the snake came from or where it went.
We do not recall any audible rattle to indicate its presence — we only found out it had been a rattlesnake when we spoke to the vet.
We share Shiba’s story as a warning to all pet owners in the Bay Area and other places known to have rattlesnakes.
We are aware that we live in a world where venomous snakes coexist.
We are thankful you read us until here. Please be careful and we hope you find the above 5 lessons helpful.
Lots of love,
Shiba (the rattlesnake bite survivor), her brother Tofu, and the two humans behind this story.
