Snake!

Only a couple of days after we returned from the second San Saba sheep dog trial, one of the things we most dread happened…and right in our front yard.  We had come back to find all was well at Goat Hill.  The cows and calves were fat and happy, as were the sheep, and the kid goats were keeping busy climbing on everything in sight.  

As some of you know, on Tuesday afternoon, March 10, our 3 1/2 month old border collie pup, Tess, was bitten on the chest by a large western diamondback rattlesnake.  Because of the location of the bite and her age/size, her prognosis was “guarded” and the doctors were not optimistic about her survival.  Thankfully, after a series of Godly interventions and miracles, Tess not only survived, but sees to have suffered no permanent damage.

  

First, thankfully we saw it all happen.  As I was taking the two pups across the front yard to their kennels for supper, we heard one of them yip and knew something had happened.  If we hadn’t been right there to hear her, it could have been some time before we discovered a problem.  As it was, we saw Tess huddled next to her kennel and knew immediately that she was the victim.

Second, even though the vet said the bite was in the worst possible location, it was just low enough to avoid damage to the esophagus, trachea, veins and arteries that flow through that area. A bit higher, and to the center and she probably wouldn’t have made it to the clinic.  

Third, I was right on the pups' heels, but fortunately heard the snake’s rattle and managed to dive to the side and avoid getting bitten.  When I heard and saw the snake, I flung the food buckets in its direction, and as I crashed to the ground I screamed, "Snake!"  John grabbed an axe handle we keep next to the door and quickly dispatched the serpent.  (I’ll have a story to tell the next time I visit our doctor and he asks the ominous question, “And have you fallen lately?”)  

Fourth, our vet, Dr. Douglas Mabry, was working late at Coryell Vet Clinic in Gatesville.   As we were racing to the Animal Emergency Center of Temple-Belton, we took a chance and pulled into the parking lot.  Dr Mabry answered our frantic knock and immediately started administering fluids and antivenom.  I’m sure his quick response was instrumental in saving her.  

After Dr. Mabry’s treatment, we went on to Temple and Tess and I spent the night at the emergency center, where she received excellent care.  Wednesday morning, on the suggestion of the emergency center veterinarian in charge, Dr Travis Twining, we took Tess to a facility in Salado for an hyperbaric oxygen treatment, then back to our vet in Gatesville.   Late Wednesday afternoon, we took her back for another hyperbaric oxygen treatment.  At each visit, she spent an hour in the hyperbaric chamber, receiving pure oxygen at a pressure of, I believe, 2.5 millibars.  This treatment provided an oxygen-rich atmosphere to her cells to help with prevention of tissue damage and to promote healing.  

Through all this, her bloodwork has been normal except for a slight elevation in one of the clotting factors they measure.  I can’t say enough good things about the treatment Tess received from the veterinarians, staff members, and the folks at All Creatures Hyperbaric Care, LLC.  Her recovery was remarkable, and she appears to have no residual issues.  

Here is what her chest area looked like as necrosis of the affected tissues left her with a 2.5 inch wound.

There was no way the area could be closed with stitches, so Dr. Mabry recommended that we simply keep the area clean and let natural healing take place.  So that is what we did.  After the first couple of days, Tess seemed to experience no pain, and went about her business as usual, wrestling, tussling and running with Bit and the other dogs.  

The wound took several weeks to close completely, and here is what it looked like a couple of weeks after the bite.  Nature is amazing.

Today the hair has come back on her chest, and there is hardly any evidence that it all occurred.  We are grateful and blessed.