What you didn't know -Share to help others

[AmberLops]

I have had dogs bit by copperhead snakes. While poisonous, their bite is rarely fatal. It is painful and the area around the bite swells up. We had a mini dachshund puppy about 6 months old get bit in the face one night. Her face swelled up. She was so small, her face swelled up so big, it was scary. We followed my protocol, giving her medicine every 4 hours for 3 doses and by morning she was much better and the swelling was greatly down.

My copperhead snake bite kit is Arnicare pills for pain. Give 4-6 pills, depending on size.

https://www.arnicare.com/

Arnicare is great stuff, we use it for arthritis, aches and pains, in the pill and rub on cream form. It isn't just for the dogs! LOL

Also in the copperhead snake bite kit is Benadryl in either liquid or pill form. The liquid seems to work faster, but they hate the taste, so sometimes it is easier to give the pill.

And baby aspirin. 1 baby aspirin every 4 hours.

Since we moved here 4 years ago, we've had 3 dogs get bit by copperheads. I give them the above medications every 4 hours, usually 3 times will do it, let them sleep it off and baby them for a couple of days and they are back to their bouncy self.

Symptoms are limping, swollen and painful (usually a paw). If a face is bitten, the head swells up.

Our male Great Pyrenees, Trip came in one night, limping. His front leg was so swollen that I couldn't find where he got bit. He didn't want me touching it, it hurt. I started him on my snake bite medicine every 4 hours, for 3 doses, until late at night, then I put him on the porch and we went to bed. I let him in the next morning and started over with the medicine. He got 3 more doses, sleeping in between. Finally he went outside to potty, got a drink and came back in. Trip slept in the floor and the swelling went down. His bite site was on the inside of his front leg, up near his chest. It left a hole about the size of a quarter. He licked and licked it, I did not treat it. The wound took a couple of weeks to heal.

Good to know! Just moved to Tennessee and I guess the most snake bites here come from Copperheads.
I lived in AZ for college (vet tech) and I worked at a clinic there for about a year. We always used Benadryl and chlorhexidine works great for healing wounds up in no time. It's pretty easy to get and it's great for all animals and humans too!

 

[Daxigait]

I can’t get all of the urine/ammonia cleaned out of there. The only thing that is preventing my goats from getting really sick is the fact that it’s so cold even our barn floor is frozen, except in the goat stall. That is a few degrees warmer than the rest of the barn.

so did you try the Sweet PDZ or something else suggested?

 

[Carla D]

so did you try the Sweet PDZ or something else suggested?

Actually I boys bag of barn lime. They were out of PDZ and Stall Dry at all of our local farm stores. It does help some. I also did a bit of digging up the old gravel and filled with sand.

 

[Daxigait]

I learned last night that sugar makes a good bloodstop.

 

[Stephine]

I can’t get all of the urine/ammonia cleaned out of there. The only thing that is preventing my goats from getting really sick is the fact that it’s so cold even our barn floor is frozen, except in the goat stall. That is a few degrees warmer than the rest of the barn.

Since you‘re stuck and the goats are affected - can you clean out and then try deep bedding? Also add lots of Sweet PDZ. That Should definitely help.

 

[Stephine]

I had tried doing that up until about two weeks again when I had to clean out their quarters as quickly as possible. I had discovered that the smell of burning corn or burning hay that I’d been smelling for about a week was actually in the goat pen. I found some really hot smoldering hay in their pen. It took me 6 hours to remove all of it on my own. My goat are in an area that is roughly 10’x12’ which equates to them having about 15 square feet each. It isn’t ideal, but that is what we had available to use when we built their area last November. They were itty bitty baby goats at that time. We didn’t expect them to grow as fast as they did. We were thinking that that space would be more than adequate for them until spring when we could get them outside permanently. We are down to 4 straw bales to get us by until spring for bedding. We are also down to 8 or 9 hay bales for feed to last us until first crop bales became available from local farmers. We may end up using alfalfa pellets to get us by.

Pine shavings are much better than straw for keeping odors down. Not sure they are safe to use for goats, but switching to shavings would be a huge improvement.

 

[momto6Ls]

My experience is shipping fever. Our very first goat was a 7 year old Nubian doe in milk. She was born and raised in one place and never moved. We almost lost our sweet Sal, right away! Her milk supply tanked, and the previous owner suspected mastitis so we treated her for that. Scours came next, and she was off feed. Goats are such nervous and sensitive creatures! I learned that Bovi-Sera is a must have for goats as well as cows and sheep. I give it to all kids as well as adults before they are sold. It is recommended to give to all kids after birth to boost their immune system. (Annie, at Hoegger Supply won't be without it) I used it last kidding season on a kid that was weak. Do yourself a favor and keep a bottle on hand.

Thanks for this thread!

 

[Baymule]

My experience is shipping fever. Our very first goat was a 7 year old Nubian doe in milk. She was born and raised in one place and never moved. We almost lost our sweet Sal, right away! Her milk supply tanked, and the previous owner suspected mastitis so we treated her for that. Scours came next, and she was off feed. Goats are such nervous and sensitive creatures! I learned that Bovi-Sera is a must have for goats as well as cows and sheep. I give it to all kids as well as adults before they are sold. It is recommended to give to all kids after birth to boost their immune system. (Annie, at Hoegger Supply won't be without it) I used it last kidding season on a kid that was weak. Do yourself a favor and keep a bottle on hand.

Thanks for this thread!

I never heard of this, can you explain in a little more detail please? You use it to prevent shipping fever when you sell an animal? Sounds like miracle stuff!

 

[Daxigait]

My experience is shipping fever. Our very first goat was a 7 year old Nubian doe in milk. She was born and raised in one place and never moved. We almost lost our sweet Sal, right away! Her milk supply tanked, and the previous owner suspected mastitis so we treated her for that. Scours came next, and she was off feed. Goats are such nervous and sensitive creatures! I learned that Bovi-Sera is a must have for goats as well as cows and sheep. I give it to all kids as well as adults before they are sold. It is recommended to give to all kids after birth to boost their immune system. (Annie, at Hoegger Supply won't be without it) I used it last kidding season on a kid that was weak. Do yourself a favor and keep a bottle on hand.

Thanks for this thread!

I keep that right beside the antitoxin and the tetanus antitoxin in my fridge. I swear my fridge looks like a pharmacy half the time. Isn't that what the meat drawer is for?

I have never dealt with shipping fever I had someone suggest giving selenium and E paste and eletrolytpe paste a week before you travel. But I don't know.
It amazes me how sensitive goats are two leaving and moving or having someone leave the herd.

 

[Daxigait]

I need to read back through and see if I've mentioned anaplasmosis. Speaking of an animal you sold for that one can sneak up on you it masquerades like coccidia.

It is an easy treatmentwith la300 if you catch it early. If you don't it's sneaky cuz they often seem toto better and tgen worse then crash as it makes them really really anemic and eventually kills. Often spread by ticks and biting black flies.