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A friend of mine has had 3 dogs get bitten and they all died. He said he shot the last one. The first two their toungs swelled up in their throats and they couldnt breath. Neither even made it off the mountain. so when the last one was going the same way he put it out of it's misery. Benny G great info where do you get the dex and DMSO? If my friend had known this he might have saved these dogs.

i will also remember benny g's info.

The dex has to come from a veterinarian, and the DMSO - I get it from a local Pharmacy/ feed store. Since I hunt on the desert so much, I put these supplies in my saddle bags one day, and never took them out. That way I always have them. I have seen rattle snakes in every month on the desert in AZ.

That is definetly useful information.

Benny G, the dex and DMSO, what is their purpose, is one for swelling and one for antibiotic? I would like to know a little more about them, as we have rattlers up here pretty thick also. Thanks.

with the dex it is varry hard to get because it is a narcotix (spelling prob wrong) if you dont know your vet real well you cant get it ace you can in pill form only just fyi

It is correct that the Dex has to come from a vet. If you don't already have a good working relationship with a vet, you're going to have a hard time getting hold of some. The Dex is for the swelling. It is meant to keep the swelling to a minimum. When there is swelling, blood flow is restricted to some extent. Without proper blood flow, the white blood cells can't be effective in fighting off any infection or sickness. The DMSO is NOT an antibiotic. That is why is is so important to get started on Pennicilan ASAP! The ONLY function of the DMSO (a systemic, which is meant to carry something with it) is to dilute the affect of the venom by spreading it over a larger area than just the local contact site (bite). By spreading the venom over a larger area, you are in a sense, cutting the volume of venom in the imediate area. You could relate it to recieving a small burn from a match, versus getting burned by falling in a camp fire. In both scenarios you get burned, but in one, the burn isn't as intense. You can't get rid of the poison, but you can cut the effects of it by spreading it over a bigger area.

That is exactly what I wanted to know. I think I put my vets' kid through school, we have an excellent understanding, so I can talk to him and hopefully add these items to my first aid box. Thanks again for the info

Great Information Benny. I have had a couple dogs bit over the years and one in particular was bit in the eye along with the side of his face I made it to the vet two hours after the snake bite and he did have anti-venom on hand though two hour's is not a great amount of time it was well beyond the time frame to give the dog the shot. This was in the beginning stages of the use of anti-venom on dog's and the vet had, had mixed result with it and felt his method was better and yielded better results and it was the same method you described, although the dog did lose his eye from the direct bite he kept all other tissue and muscle the other dog never got the chance as I lost him the night he was bit and didn't find him until the next day bit in the leg by a large rattle snake he found a cool spot in a creek and died. I don't know if anti-venom is still being used on dog's or not but if it's anything like the old stuff it will come at a large price and if not give in a curtain time frame will do no good other than make the owner feel better as the flesh and skin slip away as the venom does what it was meant to do. Not all dog's bitten die from the venom. Infection can have lethal affects on them as well and should be addressed very aggressively as Benny pointed too. may you never have to deal with it!

sourdough