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This snakebite incident did not occur while hunting, it happened right next to the house.

Is the injectible liquid vitamin C is easily portable or does it have to be kept refrigerated?

The snakebite that my dog Gigi had was from a pit viper and probably nothing like the symptoms of a bite from an Aussie elapid but injecting 15ml of liquid C subcutaneously would be a lot easier than trying to use any oral medications. The reason i resorted to antihistamines is because the bite from a pit viper ordinarily causes immediate extreme swelling, and as this swelling was all in the face, it looked as if it would cut off the dog's ability to breath if the swelling continued.

Also as I later found out, in the USA, for a copperhead or water moccasin, antivenin or serum is normally not required when a dog is bitten. For most rattler bites it is apparently absolutely necessary.

When I directed questions to venom research experts who said everything docs do is wrong, none of the venom experts would say what they do differently themselves when bitten except for an immediate injection of epinepin (spelling?) if starting to go into shock. However a couple of them stated that most dogs are far more likely to recover from an untreated bite than a human being.

Apparently the epinepin is prescription only and a doctor will not give you the prescription without giving you a ton of instructions on when to use it.

Richard

ps, not sure if i spelled the epinepin name properly or if i spelled it phoenetically, but the epinepin is available under the same name in Australia and the USA. I think the people who work with snakes all the time carry a supply of it because they apparently breath in traces of venom at times while working with the snakes, and become progressively more susceptible to serious problems when bitten as compared to those of us who don't work with snakes. Although it seems to me that if they are working with Taipans and similar species there wouldn't be much difference between them being bitten and a regular guy who steps on a Taipan once in his life - rgp

Edited by rgp (13/04/06 03:06 PM)

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