Last Wednesday we had a really traumatic incident at our place.

Each evening about 6-6:30pm we go outside with our two dogs. Sometimes we pull weeds from the melon patch, sometimes just admire what’s growing in the garden, and occasionally we just sit on the swing close to the fire pit and enjoy the evening.

The day had cooled off by then, the backyard was shaded, and the hill behind our place changes color with setting sun. We watch the dogs poke around the backyard sniffing, chewing sticks, playing, and sometimes barking at a distant coyote. A really pleasant time, one we cherish.

Wednesday evening turned bad fast…then worse…then worse again.

About 7:30pm our 10-year old female dog was poking around by a juniper tree about 50’ from us or so. She was sniffing around one of the 8 sprinkler heads that water our grass. Both my wife and I noticed her head snapped back from the sprinkler very quickly and she ran for the porch.

While my wife went to check on her as I headed over to the juniper to see what was going on. Nothing.

My wife called to me and I met her and our dog on the porch. She was daze, looking hurt, and increasingly confused…the dog, not my wife. Then the saliva started, tinged a little red. She started to hang her head low and just stare at the door. We let her in and she was really confused by now and in obvious distress.

We figured she got stung by a bee, wasp, or hornet. And it was then we noticed part of her face was a little swollen and her breathing was more like panting. Yup, a bee sting and an allergic reaction. I got her 50mg of Benadryl (1mg per pound of body weight), wrapped it in some peanut butter and down her throat it went. It was then I realized just how swollen her tongue really was. She was really hurting by now and lethargic, etc.

Here’s what really worried us…she was now bleeding from her mouth. It was about 75% blood & 25% saliva by now. That was not consistent with a sting of any kind. But, we thought maybe she had bit her tongue or lips and that was causing the bleeding. We were wrong.

About 20 minutes went by and she came over by me and just laid down, tired, lethargic, still bleeding, but resting. The Benadryl had kicked in and she was just laid out, breathing was fine. But the bleeding has increased and pooled up under her head. The call went to the vet. I ran the symptoms past him and he agreed it sounded like a nasty sting. We figured if it has been a snake bite, especially a venomous snake, her head would be swollen like a basketball…or she would be dead.

She slept through the night, mostly. We took turns staying up with her. In the morning she wasn’t any better and the bleeding was till there and her tongue was really swollen as well as fer face. We called the vet back, they said to continue to monitor her and give another round of Benadryl, and to call back if it worsened. And, they gave us a prescription of an antibiotic for her.

By noon it had worsened. Wife called the vet back…they said to bring her in. Thirty minutes later the vet was diagnosing a classic rattle snake bite…on her tongue. A direct bite on the end of her tongue. They gave her a super steroid shot to reduce the swelling of her tongue. We brought her home.

She had not eaten, drank, or urinated for the last 18 hours. But she simply couldn’t use her tongue and her mouth was mostly shutdown due to her swollen tongue.

About 6 hours later she took her first small lap of water. And a small nibble of food…really small.

She slept through the night, as did we.

In the morning I got up and she was hungry…and she drank a medium size amount of water…although awkwardly. By that night she was eating a respectable amount of soft canned food. And drinking water when she wanted. She was also up and around, even wagging her tail when we petted her or called her name.

By Friday morning she was a different dog. Still tired but eating drinking and puttering around the backyard…after I had cleared it, making sure there were no more snakes around.

We’ve had our share of snakes around the place, 2 or 3 non-venomous rodent killers. But, I’ve killed 4 rattle snakes in 10 years. Two were small prairie rattlers about 16 – 18” long, both in the garden. A 30” rattler that was curled up and cold one morning in the garden. Another rattler curled up at the woodpile about 12” from my hand when I was getting wood.

Yes, I killed all 4. If they stay away from us they are safe. We haven’t killed two others that were on the property but not inside our 1 acre chain-link fence area. I just won’t tolerate the threat to family inside that fenced area.

So, what’s the message? Nothing really. We are just very grateful we still have our precious pet with us and she has recovered really well and mostly back to her old self now. She is still a little cautious about running around the backyard. Good thing if truth be told.

If you are interested in the details:

• 150,000 (+/-) dogs per year are bit by rattle snakes.
• 100,000 or so survive.
• She took a “dry bite”. That’s when a snake bites but injects little, or sometimes no, venom.

She was lucky that evening. We are blessed. The quick does of Benadryl really helped that night to reduce the swelling enough that she could breath normally.

And if you are wondering…if she would have been treated normally with anti-venom it would have cost between $2,000 – $4,000 depending on how many doses. If it would have been a severe case…as much as $10,000. Considering all of that…what would have been the realistic option at that point?

We were blessed.

Be careful folks…be careful…and be ready.