MY PET HAS BEEN BITTEN BY A SNAKE, WHAT SHOULD I DO?

A little knowledge can reduce the likelihood of your dog (or you) being bitten by a snake and improve the chances of recovery if bitten. In the warmer summer months, snakes become much more active and pet owners need to be careful and safeguard their pets from snake bites, plus look out for the warning signs should an animal be bitten. Only about 10% of snakes in SA are venomous and importantly, a bite from a venomous snake is treated differently from that of a non-venomous snake. “In fact,” says Dr Clarke of Glencairn Veterinary Clinic in the Western Cape, “true anti-venin (sometimes referred to as anti-venom) isn’t only expensive, it can also be dangerous. There is a risk of anaphylaxis – an allergic reaction that can be fatal – so we don’t want to give anti-venin for non- venomous bites.”

Most snakes will attempt to avoid you and your dog, but dogs can be surprisingly keen to get stuck into a snake if they spot it. (Most dogs are bitten on the head, neck or shoulders – which suggests that they weren’t trying to run away at the time). Some familiarity with the habits of snakes will help you stay out of their way. Choose open paths and stick to them – off-trail hiking can stir up snakes. Be alert and look ahead along the path. Puff Adders are responsible for the majority of snake bites in SA, mostly because they enjoy basking on warm paths and rely on camouflage for protection – so they don’t move away when something approaches. Cats, being hunters and chasing anything that moves, are also quite susceptible to snake bites. Keep your dog on a lead to prevent him from pursuing high-risk activities like sniffing enthusiastically around rocky outcrops, bouncing through patches of long grass, digging in holes or excavating under logs. This will also protect the local fauna (including snakes), which your dog may harass or even kill if he gets a chance. Snakes are fascinating creatures but don’t allow your dog to investigate a snake that appears to be dead, as many snakes sham death. They don’t always react immediately to provocation, so that ‘dead’ Puff Adder might strike to defend itself – at the mind-boggling speed of 1/26 of a second. If you encounter a snake on your property, remove children and pets from the snake’s proximity. Without getting too close, try not to lose sight of the snake – and call your local wildlife removal service, Mark Marshall on 082 261 9280

The sort of reaction your pet has to a snake bite is determined by a number of factors: the type of snake, the amount of venom injected and the site of the snake bite. Generally the closer the bite is to the heart the quicker the venom spreads to the rest of the body. In addition, at the beginning of summer, snakes’ venom glands are fuller and their bites are much more severe.
If you think your pet has been bitten by a snake, you should keep calm and quiet and take them to the vet immediately. The chances of recovery are much greater if your pet is treated early, with some pets making a full recovery. Pets left untreated have a much lower survival rate and many die. Don’t try to kill the snake or allow your dog to attempt the task – you will be putting yourself and your dog at serious risk. A snake’s first line of defence is to retreat or remain undetected. Thereafter, it will issue a series of warning gestures, such as hissing, spreading of the hood and mock strikes. However, if this fails or if it is challenged directly, it has no option but to bite.

The dark day has dawned – your dog has been bitten. What now? Without endangering yourself try to identify the snake and if practical use a cellphone to take a photograph of it. Walk the pet slowly back to your vehicle or carry him (to slow the spread of the venom), but be careful. Snakebites are extremely painful and even a gentle pet may bite when in considerable pain. Ignore all the backwoods dogma about first aid for snakebites (such as applying tourniquets and cutting wounds to suck out the poison) as these interventions have limited benefit, if any. Use every moment you have to get your pet proper veterinary attention. Snake venom acts immediately on the body, so quick action on your part will increase your pet’s chances of survival. Please be warned that antivenom is expensive and can result in a very large vet bill, so it is best to try and keep your pets safe and away from snakes in the first place.

Venomous snakes by area

Cape cobra
(Naja nivea)
EC, FS, GP, KZN, NC, NW,WC

Rinkhals
(Hemachatus haemachatus) 
WC, EC, FS, KZN, NW, GP, KZN (southern)

How to identify some of SA’s most dangerous snakes

• Boomslang – a placid, but extremely venomous tree-dwelling snake with very large eyes. Colouration is highly variable, from light brown to black, and even bright green.

• Puff Adder – a belligerent snake whose colour pattern varies geographically. It may be light yellow, brown or orange with bright or dull chevron markings.

• Black Mamba – so named due to the inside of its mouth being black, this aggressive and highly venomous snake is grey to olive-brown.

• Cape Cobra – one of the world’s most toxic cobras, the Cape Cobra’s colouration varies from a beautiful gold, through to brown and even black, sometimes with speckling.

• Mozambique Spitting Cobra – this snake may be grey, olive or brown, with black-edged scales. Its underside is yellowish or pinkish, with black bars across the neck. It is second only to the Black Mamba in venomousness.

• Snouted Cobra (previously known as the Egyptian cobra) – less venomous than the Cape Cobra, but far more deadly due to the larger amount of venom it injects. Its colouration varies from a slightly golden or slatey brown, to dark brown or black with dull yellow bars.