21/10/2022
Snake season is upon us. What signs to look for in your dog or cat?
Venomous snakes produce different types of toxins that cause different clinical signs in your animals.
Brown, black and tiger snakes produce neurotoxins which affect the nerves of your animals. This can result in weakness/flaccid paralysis (loose and floppy limbs), dilated non-responsive pupils, and protrusion of the tongue (in cats). If the neurotoxins affect respiratory muscles, your animal may struggle to breathe. Neurotoxins usually take effect between 1-6 hours post bite however if severe envenomation has taken place then effects could be more rapid. You may also notice pre-paralytic signs, particularly in dogs, such as vomiting, salivation, urination, defecation and sudden collapse with apparent recovery which can indicate severe envenomation. Cats on the other hand most often present after being noticed to not have moved for some time and to have missed a regular meal.
Myotoxins, found in tiger and black snakes damage the muscle of your animals and can cause muscle weakness, tenderness, pain on movement, tremors, collapse and red to black coloured urine. It can take hours to cause observable clinical signs.
Procoagulants are a major toxin for brown snakes, tiger snakes and taipans. These toxins affect your animals ability to be able to form blood clots. Clinical signs can include continued bleeding from the bite site and bleeding from internal organs. These signs can occur within 30 minutes of envenomation.
Your animals can be affected by multiple of these toxins and can show a combination of the clinical signs above.
Most snake bites occur in your backyard. Snake bite is still possible even if you haven’t seen a snake.
If any of these signs are observed in your animal, seek veterinary medical attention immediately as snake bites can be life threatening.
