How Long Does a Snakebite Take to Affect a Dog?

While snakes will generally avoid you and your dog, your dog's natural curiosity may frighten a snake enough to elicit a defensive bite. Venomous snakebite is a medical emergency; if bitten, your dog needs quick, competent veterinary attention. Once he's bitten, the snake's venom can begin causing pain, tissue destruction or, worse, paralysis. At this point, your dog needs you to act quickly.

  1. Variation in Snakebites

    • Snakebites are not all created equally; the potency of snake venom and average yield vary between species and individual snake. When a snake bites a human, it usually is on an extremity; when a snake bites a dog, it usually is on the head or neck. This can cause much more serious consequences, especially in the case of cytotoxic, or tissue destroying, venom.

    Onset of Symptoms

    • It is difficult to determine how long it will take a snake̵7;s bite to affect a dog because, in many case, the owner is not present to witness the bite. Additionally, the symptoms and repercussions of snakebite vary widely. Neurotoxic venom kills by paralyzing the victim̵7;s respiratory system. Bites from snakes with neurotoxic venom, such as coral snakes, cobras and kraits, are often initially painless. It may take your dog 10 to 18 hours to display symptoms. By contrast, most vipers and pit vipers have cytotoxic venom that produces immediate pain and sometimes swelling or discoloration.

    Symptoms

    • Dogs may exhibit a wide array of symptoms following snakebite, including vomiting, diarrhea, drooling, lethargy, listlessness or excitation. They may attempt to lick or scratch at the bite site with their paw. They may withdraw if you attempt to touch the area near the bite. Sometimes, but not always, the telltale puncture wounds are present.

    Treatment

    • If you suspect a snake has bitten your dog, seek emergency veterinary care immediately. If it is safe and feasible to do so, and it will not delay your dog̵7;s care, try to photograph the snake, allowing doctors to identify the snake and provide your dog with targeted care. Upon your arrival, the veterinarian will examine your dog and determine a course of treatment based on the details of the bite and the way your dog̵7;s body is responding to it. In some cases, the vet will just recommend pain medication and supportive care while the dog̵7;s immune system battles the venom. In other cases, the veterinarian may feel that antivenin is necessary to save your dog̵7;s life. The use of antivenin is not without risk; a 2005 issue of the "Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care," written by University of Florida veterinarians, was the first detailed, published case of serum sickness in a dog that had an anaphylactic reaction to antivenin.

    Vaccines

    • In the early 2000s, companies began producing rattlesnake venom vaccines for dogs. According to Valerie Wiebe of the University of California at Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, little data support the administration of the vaccine; the school̵7;s veterinary medical teaching hospital does not stock it. According to the manufacturer of one vaccine, a small percentage of vaccinated dogs died when medical care wasn̵7;t provided within 12 to 24 hours of the bite.