Rattlesnake Shot

[Tree'd up]

Anybody out there use this shot to help thedog become imune to rattlesnack venom ??? It is produced by Red Rock, just google it.
I am thinking of getting my pups the shot, 1 shot, then anoither 1 month later, then afterwords just one shot a year.

[Hazel Hill Blueticks]

I voted yes, I don't have a lot of rattle snakes in my area, but I still want some extra insurance. I could see this shot being very useful out west and down south. It's a good idea.

[bluesman]

It does not make the dog immune to the venom, they still get sick. What it does do is keeps you from having to buy a dose of antivenom at around 300 bucks a pop. Cuts the vet bill and gives them a much better chance of surviving a bite

[tman308]

As Bluesman said it is just a step to help if they do get bit. I have been vacinating mine for several years now and figure the $25 is a good investment.

[desertdog]

My clinic said that the dogs with the shot have about one-half of the swelling when bitten, as opposed to the dogs without the shot. There was a lady in the waiting room with a swollen red-heeler, she said he got bit and she had spent 2000.00 fixin him. The anti-venom is 5-6 hundred dollars per vial, and they usually need more than one vial. With the rattlesnake shot, they shouldn't need more than an antihistemine.

[nhunter84]

All the research on the shot has not proven any efficacy of the vaccine? The shot is made from a certain species of rattlesnake and then sold across the US whether or not that particular species of snake is in that area or not. So it is assuming that that there would be cross protection among the various species of rattlesnakes, again which has not been proven? It is hard to assess the efficacy of this vaccine anyways as each snake bite presents differently and each snake could inject varying amounts of venom? If a snake administered all its venom during the bite the shot would not work anyways because of the mechanism of action of the shot.

So I guess in my opinion I would spend my 25 dollars per dog elsewhere.

[tman308]

The shot I get is made to counter the effects of a hemotoxin. Most not all rattlesnakes have hemotoxin venom. There are a few snakes that I know of in AZ that have neurotoxin, like mohaves. The shot was designed to counter the effects. Nothing is fool proof when dealing with snakes. I had a husky get bit on the face and other than some blood you would have never known she was bit by one. No swelling or anything and that was long before the shots. I view it like rabies. Not every dog that gets the rabies vaccine is actually immune to it, but the majority still gets the vaccine for the peace of mind. Ultimately it will be up to how much money you want to invest in a dog and how much that dog is worth to you.

[nhunter84]

Yes a lot of rattlesnakes have a hemotoxin component to the venom, but saying that each hemotoxin is the same antigenically among different species is not necessarily correct. The vaccine supposedly works by the dog having circulating antibodies to the toxin prior to getting bit. These antibodies then bind to a certain component of the toxin and effectively inactivate it before it can cause any deleterious side effects. I used to give the rattlesnake vaccine to my dogs, but after having learned more about it I dont spend the money anymore. I have learned a lot about vaccines and vaccine efficacy in the last three years and cant say as I buy into the rattlesnake vaccine. Plus, most dogs actually do pretty well when bitten with just a little bit of supportive care like antiinflammatories, fluids, etc...