But although I am not afraid..yes, I'm not afraid of them, I am always on the lookout for them as you never know when one might appear. I respect them, give them their space and we have a wonderful relationship.
However, that does not hold true for our dogs. We have two dogs. A Schipperkee that is 15 years young and a Blue Lacy that is about 5 years old. Pepper is the Schipperkee and she has been bit twice in her lifetime. Once when she was a puppy and then again when she was about 2 or 3. Both bites were on the face...which tells me that she was just sniffing around like dogs will do and was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Because the bites were on the face then you have a whole lot less to worry about. There are no major blood vessels in the face and so the reality of the situation is that there will be swelling and pain and maybe even infection but there will be no death...unless of course the dog is very old or very health compromised in some way. So a trip to the vet to get some medication for pain and steroids for the swelling and something for infection is usually all you have to worry about.
The day before my mother's funeral we were all sitting on the porch...my younger brother and his family were staying with us until after the funeral and so we were all out on the porch enjoying a morning of reflection and memories of my mother. Bonnie was over by my clothesline sniffing along the ground to see what creatures had passed that way the night before. All of a sudden she jumped back and my husband ran to see what she had jumped from...knowing it was probably a snake. I also ran to see and grabbed Bonnie to see if she had been bitten.
Yes it was a snake and yes it was a rattlesnake and yes she was bitten.
Bonnie was bit on the face and although she does get a shot for rattlesnake bites she soon began to show signs of shock. Her gums turned white, she got a far away look in her eye and began to pant rather rapidly. Bob loaded her into the truck and off to the vets he went. He called the vet on his way to tell her to expect him and so that they would be ready to receive him once they arrived. Our vet is only about a 10 minute drive away so that was fortunate.
This picture was actually taken late the next day. The vet decided that it was in Bonnie's best interest to keep her overnight and into the next day as we had my mother's funeral to attend.
But she's right as rain now. A few days of swelling and medication and you would never know that she was bitten. Which is something that we try to avoid but sometimes happens.
I'm off this week to Seattle, WA. I'm going to a high school reunion and to see old friends of mine and some friends of my mothers. It's going to be a fun trip but I'm also sure that there will be a few tears shed when I have to visit my mother's friends. I'll post pictures of that trip when I get back.
No comments:
Post a Comment