Adder bites

Re: Adder bites

Leanne Henderson — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:13:41 GMT

my first practice i worked at in Flintshire, i never came across any snake bites and i was there for 16 years!!!!! But since moving to Anglesey ( 12months ago) i have seen 4 cases of adder bites, 1 particularly bad one on the fore limb, very painful , but thankfully fully recovered after antivenom + IVFT. thanks for the vpis link Danielle, have made a note!!!

Re: Adder bites

Danielle — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 21:01:12 GMT

For those of you having problems finding antivenom when you need it, might be an idea to try the VPIS "ToxBox" service....

http://www.vpisuk.co.uk/portal/Vets/Toxbox/tabid/145/Default.aspx

Re: Adder bites

Katie Tallett RVN MBVNA — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 21:58:26 GMT

We see usually 4-5 a year that need to be hospitalised. My branch is a 2min drive from the local common where they are found so it is usually my clients. I wont walk my dogs up there apart from in winters deep snow! Very rarely do we give the antivenom these days as i think it can have some long term side effects., we usually hospitalise to monitor, and supportive tx- fluids/ABs and pain relief/anti-inflammatories. We have to get the antivenom from A+E now and they are also quite stingy with it- it was in short supply on the human side last year which is why we dont keep it anymore.

Re: Adder bites

supamog — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 18:32:36 GMT

we have had two in the last few weeks.North York moors. Right on the soft bit of the nose, two very distinct puncture wounds. We are not able to get the antivenom either as we were also told that the nhs are low in supplies. Although both dogs were quite poorly and have now recovered i was told a while ago that dogs that dont receive the antivenom can go on to suffer from heart poblems later in life. Has anyone else heard of this?

Re: Adder bites

Louise B — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 23:28:43 GMT

Wow. reading this my dog must have been lucky! He got bitten on the foot by an adder - one rimadyl injection later, some tablets to follow and a lot of feeling sorry for himself on the sofa for a few days he was fine. Leg blew up like a balloon though and took about a week to go down.

Re: Adder bites

samantha thomas — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 13:40:51 GMT

Live in the welsh valleys in the last 6 weeks we've had 4 dogs brought in with bites. They have all been on limbs not face. We've managed without the anti-venom by using fluids,piriton,antibiotics etc. They have all made good recovery.

Re: Adder bites

Tracy Windler RVN — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 12:51:01 GMT

Sounds like its good news for Adder populations, then! But bad news for us. I've had 2 friends with snake bites recently and never heard of it being common, so they must be on the increase. Got to be a good thing for our Briish Wildlife!

Re: Adder bites

Leggy — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 22:30:10 GMT

Yep we re from south yorkshire and we had a springer spaniel three weeks ago that was bitten (twice - you could see the puncture wounds in its mouth) . The owner had to travel to Lincoln to get antivenam. Although the dog was pretty ill for about a week I am pleased to say it has made a wonderful recovery including clear renal bloods ( re test about 6 weeks) . Oh and its managed to go shopping for a massive box of chocolates. Yum!

Re: Adder bites

GremlinNurse — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 22:18:52 GMT

Aww, hope pooch was ok :(

I can imagine how bad a bite could be in a dog, or cat, as my dad works with Adders and keeps venomous snakes. He said it can be extremely painful and he's quite a tough guy ;)

Re: Adder bites

NIckie — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:27:08 GMT

Yip i live in the north east of scotland and we have had three dogs in over the summer hols, this is the first year we have had this many. We got our antivenom from the local A & E dept, who said they could only give us a single vial as they were short on supply, guess its not just the dogs getting it!