deltron

He is really great! He hasn't thrown up since he is on the diet of strictly roo mince, and is 95% back to normal. He is still a bit more sleepy than usual, and i'm lapping it up because soon he will be back to his usual self (staying up all night and running around the backyard like a loon)

Hi deltron, I'm so sorry to hear about your boy's ordeal. I really hope it works out well for you. You are doing all you can. We live in brown snake heaven and really, have been very, very lucky to date. Unfortunately though, I sadly lost my much loved 4yo lab bitch 2 years ago (almost to the day!) to brown snake bite. She was bitten in our yard while we were away at work and never stood a chance. On a separate occasion, one of other our lab bitches was bitten but we were unaware of it till we went to feed up and I noticed she wasn't all that interested. Within minutes, she was looking decidedly unwell and not long after that began to really struggle. We made a quick phone call to our vet follwed by a mad dash to the surgery 10 minutes away. By the time we arrived, Sunny was unable to walk. Since we were unsure what kind of snake had bitten her (and we were sure it was a snake bite from all the signs), our vet administered the 'general' antivenene but this had little effect. By this stage, Sunny was completely still and barely breathing. We took a gamble and decided that since 90% of snakes at our place are browns, we administered brown snake antivenene. Within 20 minutes, Sunny was already much improved. She stayed overnight and we picked her up next morning and it was as if nothing had happened! My BIL owns Sunny's litter brother and his dog was also bitten by a brown snake. At the time, he lived a good 3/4 of an hour from the nearest vet. By the time he got his dog there, Major was literally on death's door. In spite of that (and in no small part due to how fit he was at the time) he was treated with antivenene and after quite a battle, survived. It took many months for him to fully recover and I can't recall all the details but I know it was nowhere near as simply a recovery as Sunny's. Having said that, Major and Sunny are both now 11yo and fit and healthy...so fingers crossed that all will be well for you too. Cheers and best of luck. w2s Wow... your stories are inspiring. It's good to know how resilent dogs can be Charlie went to the vets and he said that the tummy upset might be him having a reaction to the allergens in food. (apparently he might be hyper sensitive at the moment because of what he's been through) We were told to give him plain roo meat, and slowly add in vegies over time. Charlie gobbled up the roo tonight, so here's hoping that he's on the mend!

Unfortunately I tried giving him chicken and rice, but he refuses to eat it Beef is the only thing he will willingly eat. I'll cook it and see how that goes. He threw up again last night. It's back to the Vet's at midday.

Charlie is still faring ok. I definitely think it was a snake. It just fits. My aunt's mini foxie got bitten by a brown years ago, and her experience sounds just like what happened to charlie. Charlie threw up yesterday and today, and has been off his usual food. The vomit had grass in it. He is drinking normally. I fed him some beef mince this morning though, and he ate it, and a few cubes of tasty cheese. I'm keeping an eye on him to make sure he keeps it down. If he doesn't - then it's back to the vets. He is also more distrustful of people at the moment, and barks at pretty much anyone he doesn't know. I'm hoping his upset tummy his due to his antibiotics (metrozine). He will be finished his course in a few days, so fingers crossed he will feel better soon.

Everything we do causes CK levels to change. The good news is that Delt's dog is home and well. If it had been brown snake envenomation the poor little bloke would be dead by now. Pretty frightening thought. Great news, Delt. Post some piccies. No problem. Unfortunately, my mug is in the photo... but it's the only one I have that's recent this is from 3 days ago, after he was released from hospital

Lucknow - very interesting. What you are saying is basically what the AEC told me this morning. At the moment Charlie is probably 80-90% back to his former self. I think he still doesn't feel completely better though. He is being a lot more cuddly than usual, and his appetite isn't completely back. Although... you could say the exact same thing for me right now too. Miranda - you are right. I think all I can do at this point is just keep him away from potential dangers, to the best of my ability. There are about a million buzzy insects in my backyard at the moment though :/

Just talked to AEC. They still think it was a snake. Apparently anaphalaxis would not prolong clotting time to the extent that Charlie had (his was over 1000 apparently). They also say that CKL could potentially be normal with a Brown Snake as they don't necessarily break down muscle. The vet I talked to is going to chat to the other Vets, get thier opinions and give me a call back. The vet also said that allergy testing probably isn't going to help much, and it would be best to keep a close eye on him and avoid insects.

NOT A SNAKE BITE!!! CKL is NORMAL. The levels would have been sky-high if it was a snake. SO... now we need to find out what he is allergic to. The allergy testing at Melbourne Veterinary Specialist Centre is $700. ARGH! That will take our bill up to $5,200. It's a bit annoying that we were told the wrong thing by the Emergency Centre about the snake. I might call them up and talk to the vet and get thier opinion on why they were wrong. BUT... he is alive and well. So that is good.

Didnt you say they used a venom test kit when he first went in, Delt? How stressful for you. Yep - they did and the venom kit showed up negative. However, he recovered right after the antivenin was given to him. The Monash vet says there are lots of other 'goodies' like antihistamines in the antivenin which could possibly have made him better too. But the AEC Vets were adamant it would have been a brown snake. I really concerns me that it may not have been a snake. I can keep him away from snakes... but some unidentified insect that lives in grass? That's kind of harder.

Thanks everyone CKL is being done today, tests will be back at 7pm. Monash Vet thinks it may not have been a snake bite! However, he has no idea what it could have been. This concerns me as I would like to know what caused his collapse, so I can keep him away from it in the future. I'm utterly confused. I guess we will know for sure tonight. Charlie is home today and very spritely. He was chatting up a Rhodesian Ridgeback at the Vet's so he obviously is feeling more like his normal self again!

Just went and visited him. He is in fairly good spirits all things considered. I gave him a pep talk and I told him that he needs to focus his energy on passing a blood free poo for me. He told me "mrrrrrrorrrr" which I think is dog speak for "get me out of here"

Yep - we have a crate and he thinks it's pretty awesome (he has to go in there before we feed him) so crating is a definite possibility. I'll be avoiding Jells too. It's sad as it's a great park. Although, I think you're fairly safe if you stick to the paths.

Thanks Raz, really appreciate it. I just rang the vet, they say he is spritely but there is still blood in his poo. They are running urine tests and testing for snake toxin and liver function. I have to call back at 2pm, and i'll ask then about the CKL. I'll definitely PM you with any questions I have. I'm also going to ask them to write down EXACTLY what I need to do for my dog. We didn't even get briefed about it as we left the Vet Hospital (AEC Blackburn RD), which was unusual. I felt the Vet Hospital was a bit cavalier about his recovery when they released him. I'm glad to hear your dogs pulled through - sounds like you went through hell with them. I'm going to keep him very quiet, which will be hard as I think he spends about 3 hours of an average every day jumping and harassing the neighbours dog :rolleyes: I'm lucky that my boyfriend and I are able to take turns working from home so he will always have someone keeping an eye on him.

Thanks, I appreciate it :rolleyes: No puncture marks. A snake wasn't even on my 'radar'... it was only when the vet mentioned it that I realised it was a possibility. Apparently Brown snakes are common at Jells, as I rang them to let them know what happened. They have signs up about it... but I didn't see any. BTW it happened halfway between the the kiosk and the lake, near the BBQs... lots of people and kids around. I'm kind of amazed it didn't bite me or my friends.

Hi... haven't been here in ages, but I'd love to hear from anyone who has had a dog survive a brown snake bite. Charlie, my gorgeous little 5kg Tenterfield Terrier got bitten by a Brown Snake on Sunday. He recovered and came home from the animal hospital, but this morning he had bloody diarrhea, so he is back at his usual Vet's (Monash Vet) and is on a drip. The Monash Vet says he might need a second vial of anti venin. He is a little fighter, and he has come so far already. I am mentally exhausted and this is another blow as I was told he would be fine by the Vets at the Animal Hospital. We have been super careful with him and have not let him out of our sight since he came home as he is on strict rest. Anyone been through this? Did a similar thing happen to your dog, and what did you do to aid your dog's recovery? I'm sitting here with my stomach doing flips, waiting until noon, which is when they said I could call back. I'm so grateful they could save him, and I am so glad my boyfriend and I are in the financial position to pay for his treatment (it's already cost over $4000) I guess I just need some hope, so I can be strong and let Charlie know that he will be OK. Here is the back-story: Sunday 4:30pm: He was on the lead, walking to the car in Jells Park (melbourne) in short grass He yelped, I looked down, and he was limping. I suspected a bee sting, as he is allergic. No sign of a bee or snake. I scooped him up, he started vomiting. Ran to the car, I put him on the ground, he defecated and slumped over. Got him in the car, and he emptied his bowels. Non responsive pupils and shallow breathing, he couldn't move or see 5pm: Got him to the vet. They suspected ratsack or a snake He starts vomiting and defecting blood, and his blood is not clotting. They ran a snake kit which came back negative. Vet starts giving blood transfusions & treating for ratsack Sunday 10:30pm: He is getting worse. They decide to try the snake antivenin as a last hope, and it works. Vet confirms it being a brown snake because of the symptoms and how quickly the venom acted. Monday: He starts slowly recovering Monday night: He eats some chicken Tuesday afternoon: He gets released and comes home with us. Tuesday night: he eats some more chicken and is very cuddly but in good spirits Wednesday 5:30am: still in ok spirits, but looking a bit unwell. Bloody diarrhea

Charlie, my 4.5kg Tenterfield terrier just ripped the wing off his duck toy and swallowed it. The duck looks similar to this Except the wing isn't as thick - it's basically 2 pieces of fabric stitched together with no stuffing in it. the wing itself is about 4cm X 6cm X .5cm My OH says not to worry and that the dog isn't a delicate flower. Obviously I will be keeping an eye on Charlie in case he gets sick/obstructed but is it generally not a problem for dogs to swallow items of this size?

My puppy ate a whole packet of silica gel at 10pm last night. I caught him just too late, although I did hold him upside down and tried to flick out as much as I could from his mouth. They were the tiny crystals, not the balls of gel. I rand up the animal emergency centre and talked to a vet who recommended bringing him in, so we made the trip out there and paid $180 for them to induce vomiting. Apparently if they swallow it in one go, it can swell up and cause a blockage. They gave him something that sounded similar to morphine so it was nice to have a well behaved sleepy dog for a couple of hours.

Sorry I didn't post this earlier, I was sleepy At puppy school we were taught that to get rid of mouthing, you should actually get the puppy in the situation where it mouths, and then train it not to. Rather than wait for mouthing to happen - you set it up so it does happen - like a training session. And then you use whatever technique works to stop the puppy mouthing. If the puppy doesn't respond to the negative reinforcement you choose, use a 'higher level' one. So if saying 'no' doesn't work, move to scruffing the dog, if that doesn't work - try a lead correction etc. We are currently using the coke can of doom when Charlie mouths us. With him, mouthing happens when he is in play/prey drive. Being a hard headed terrier, he needs a high level correction to pull him out of that drive because he basically feels no pain, and has selective deafness when in drive.

Sounds exactly like Charlie. He mouths (very light) & licks for attention. I am trying a few different methods at the moment but will be watching everyone's replies with interest.

I find it's OK but nothing specical. My dog is eating it at the moment as we ran out of food and needed to grab him something ASAP. His poos are at least 3 times the size of normal though! and quite... aerated. And he reguarly gasses us with his SBD's It also doesn't last long. A bag of Innova lasts us at least 4x longer than Supercoat - but it's mostly because Charlie would rather not eat than eat Innova.

AWWW that's nice If you have a labrador, you could lose even more weight as it will eat all your food :wink: I found that getting a puppy was great for my state of mind. I'm usually easily annoyed and I spend a lot of time paying attention to my appearance. I was focusing a lot of my energy upon myself. When I got my puppy - I found I was spending much less time choosing outfits to wear or applying make-up, as I was using that time and energy to play and pay attention to my puppy. When I'm at work I will get SO tense if someone is making distracting noises like cracking their knuckles, fiddling, bangles scraping on the desk when they use the mouse etc. Well - the dog running around with his dog tags tinkling and leaving his trail of destruction in his wake has cured me of that too! Having a puppy had made me less vain and less uptight

Thanks Rom. This is working quite well. Charlie is giving my good eye contact lately. I notice he looks in my eyes more when we go for walks and he has a VERY positive association with his lead now. Today I put him out and he went into a drop, but kept on jumping around and then dropping again. I realised he was being bitten by ants!! Poor thing. He was trying so hard to be still and make eye contact.

Clipsal (I think that's the brand) make a handy plastic strip that pulls apart - you run your electrical cable through it and clip it together to protect them. Perhaps try that until your dogs grows out of chewing. You should be able to find it at Jaycar, tandy and dick smith, type shops. Maybe even Bunnings? It's really handy stuff - you can put double sided tape on the back of it and stick it along your skirting boards.

I am still doing the TOT... Charlie is slowly learning to make eye contact with me. Quick Q: Do I put the bowl down on the ground out of his reach when I stand next to him? Because I have been standing next to him while holding the bowl with my arm outstretched.

I usually go and have a look at whatever he is barking at before I tell him off. Yesterday he was barking and defending the house.... from a snail... *sigh*