Episode 5: Prevention and Treatment of Rattlesnake Bites

In this episode, Dr. Ted Burghardt discusses rattlesnakes, their habitat, and the risks they pose to pets. He explains the nature of rattlesnake bites, their effects on animals, and the importance of prompt treatment. The episode also covers preventive measures pet owners can take, including rattlesnake aversion training and vaccination options.

Takeaways

Rattlesnakes are active from April to September in San Diego.
They are venomous, injecting venom through hollow fangs.
Most bites occur when pets provoke the snake.
Swelling and pain are key indicators of a rattlesnake bite.
Antivenin is critical for treating rattlesnake bites.
Rattlesnake aversion training can help protect pets.
Vaccination can delay symptoms but is not a cure.
Treatment is necessary even if a pet is vaccinated.
Rattlesnake bites can lead to long-term health issues.
Understanding rattlesnake behavior is crucial for prevention.

Keywords

rattlesnakes, pet safety, venomous bites, treatment, prevention, rattlesnake vaccine, pet care

Transcript

Dr. Ted Burghardt (00:01.986)
Hi, thank you for listening to Ted the Vet. I'm Dr. Ted Burkhart. This episode is about rattlesnakes. I want to provide some background information about rattlesnakes and ways we can protect our pets from their venomous bites. It's a little bit late season now in October in San Diego to be talking about rattlesnakes as most bites occur when it's warmer. however, I had an interesting case lately that made me want to talk about this subject.

The rattlesnake season in San Diego is typically April to September. Rattlesnakes rely on external heat from things like the sun and warm rocks to keep them warm since they can't maintain their own internal warmth. This is ben deemed the misnomer cold-blooded. Their blood is not actually cold, they just need external assistance. They are front fang snakes.

and the fangs have a hollow center which allow the venom to flow from the venom gland through the lumen of the tooth as they bite. Adult snakes have a better control of delivering their venom than the younger rattlesnakes who are kind of wild cards. You don't know if they're gonna deliver a lot of venom or no venom with a bite. I say venomous because that's the correct term since rattlesnakes inject the poisonous substance into their victim.

The term poisonous actually refers to an animal who can cause harm when something else touches or eats it, like some frogs and even some fish. So rattlesnakes are venomous technically, but not poisonous. Rattlesnakes mostly prey on rodents and serve as a natural pest control for us. Animals that eat rattlesnakes include raptors, coyotes, and even king snakes.

So why is this relevant to our pets? Well, most snake bites are not from the snake hunting the pet, but rather from being scared or provoked and striking out with a bite in order to protect themselves. Rattlesnakes don't usually bite unless they're provoked or if they're hunting prey. They usually only hunt things that are small enough for them to eat and they rarely ever hunt and bite something larger than what they can eat. So most of the time,

Dr. Ted Burghardt (02:25.59)
when they bite our pets, it's because they're provoked. Following that rationale, most curious pets will investigate the snake and they smell it and they stick their face near it or paw it and take a bite. So the pets that get bitten, most commonly from what I've seen, get bitten on the nose or the face or the neck or the front feet as the most common locations. The amount of swelling and tissue destruction

from the venom is dose dependent on how much venom gets delivered. Smaller animals will typically have a more severe reaction than larger animals. So the prognosis for survival of the end venomation depends on the amount of venom injected and the size of the animal that's bitten. Not every bite causes a problem. A bite where no venom is released is called a dry bite.

And also different snakes have different types of venom, which can have a variety of different effects on the victim. Local rattlesnakes around San Diego have venom that typically causes tissue damage and bleeding and inhibits the clotting process. Venom from other kinds of snakes can affect the heart, the nerves, breathing, et cetera. So now that we know what a rattlesnake bite does, let's look at how to identify a venomous bite.

Rattlesnake bites tend to be very painful. They cause swelling that extends around the bite wound and over a short period of time continues to extend and causes more swelling and more pain as it spreads. The swelling is very painful to the touch and initially the affected tissue is firm and it can be red from all the inflammation. Sometimes you can actually see the tooth marks from the bite.

But a lot of times we have to shave the area to be able to identify the bite mark. The swelling can look similar to a bee sting or another insect bite, but bee stings tend to be more localized, while rattlesnake bites tend to be more expansive and more painful. If we were to collect cells from the affected tissue from a snake bite wound, we sometimes see changes to the shape of the red blood cells.

Dr. Ted Burghardt (04:50.178)
they change into a of a speculated type of shape called echinocytes. And sometimes we can see that as evidence of a rattlesnake bite. When the bite victim goes to the bathroom, sometimes it might look like he's peeing blood. And this is because the venom destroys the muscle. And as the body eliminates the damage and the destroyed tissue, some of that muscle material goes

out and gets eliminated through the urine. So although it looks like blood, that red tinge is actually a muscle byproducts called myoglobin. And this can happen about a day or so after the bite occurs.

So once we identify a swollen, painful wound as a rattlesnake bite, it's imperative to get the pet to the veterinarian for treatment as soon as possible. Usually the wound gets shaved. Oftentimes we start antibiotics because as the tissue dies in necrosis, it can become infected. So some important treatments include things for a snake bite wound victim include things like intravenous fluids.

pain management, definitely, and wound care. But one of the most important treatments is antivenin. This is a serum that has antibodies specific against the rattlesnake poison. There are different types of antivenin for different types of venomous snake bites. And just a side note about antivenin, it's created by injecting horses with a small amount of snake venom.

and the horse's body naturally reacts and makes antibodies to the venom. And then the horse's blood can be collected and filtered, and we can isolate the specific rattlesnake antibodies that it has created. Because they're large animals, horses require a larger dose to cause problems. So giving them a small dose of venom is a safe way to have them produce antivenin.

Dr. Ted Burghardt (06:54.412)
The survival rate for our pets after a rattlesnake bite varies. I've seen animals recover completely with minimal intervention. I've also seen others hospitalized for three plus days before eventually succumbing to the venom.

So on a happier note, there are some things we can do to protect our pets from being bitten by rattlesnakes. And if you've listened to my other podcasts, you'll hopefully see that I love to focus on prevention. One way to prevent a rattlesnake bite is what's called rattlesnake aversion training. There are multiple centers, at least here in San Diego, where they will either tape a rattlesnake's mouth shut or find another way to make it harmless.

in order to expose dogs to a live rattlesnake safely. The trainers that run these programs will make noises and help create a negative association for the animals that are being trained and around the rattlesnake noise. Another preventive way is for cats is keeping them inside or in a protected catio. There also is snake fencing that can be

placed around the bottom of the fence that helps block snakes from being able to enter into the yard. Lastly, and maybe most importantly, there is a rattlesnake vaccine that's currently only available for dogs. Vaccinating the dogs with this toxoid vaccine helps boost the pet's immunity system to help it make antibodies. However, this is not a cure for rattlesnake bites.

it only delays some of the symptoms. So even dogs who have been vaccinated with the rattlesnake vaccine still need to be treated if they are bitten by a rattlesnake. The vaccine essentially gives a few extra hours for the animal to receive care before the clinical science set in. At my hospital, we carry the rattlesnake vaccine made by Red Rock Biologics. Earlier, I mentioned a case regarding a young dog about 45 pounds

Dr. Ted Burghardt (09:07.692)
that was bitten by a rattlesnake and it had delayed symptoms. The day after the bite, Stone started showing severe swelling around the face and neck and she was hospitalized for three days. She recovered, but over the next five plus months, she had unusual gastrointestinal changes and became very sensitive to a lot of different foods and had chronic diarrhea and lost over 10 pounds despite having a good appetite.

After a lot of workup and surgery, and I even took biopsies of her intestine, and it was determined that she had developed inflammatory bowel disease. All of these changes happened after she had been bitten by a rattlesnake. So we know a lot about the effects of rattlesnake and venomation, but we're still learning more. I grew up with snakes and reptiles, and I could go on and on about snakes, but I'm gonna end the episode here. Thanks for listening, and I hope you come back next time.