The American Beagler Forum

Does anyone use shock treatment on snake bites ??, I have read all about it and seems its about 50/50 if it really helps or not. If you do, do U use a low voltage stun gun or what.

Jumper cables per rufus.

Dogs already in pain and then you shock. Do the research shocking has no effect of snake bites.

bluemouse wrote:Dogs already in pain and then you shock. Do the research shocking has no effect of snake bites.

I have already did my research and like I put in my original post its about 50/50 for and against in.

Shocking a dog for a snake bite? For real??!!! Why? What does the stimulation do? I'm curious...not arguing. My wife was a vet tech. Snakebites are: keep calm, lay still (the faster your heart beats, the faster the venom travels). I would think shocking would make the dog jump and heart race. It seems counter-intuitive (to me). When dogs get bit here (mostly copperheads), we get liquid benadryl down them fast, then give a shot of dexamethasone. Repeat dex every 6-8 hours to control swelling. If sign of seizures, off to the vet. If it's a rattler, then we do the benadryl and dex and rush as fast as possible to the vet. We've lost dogs to the rattler.

My gut, Tuff, is that shocking doesn't make sense since the last thing you want is to speed up the heart rate. I'll read about it and see if reading changes my mind...Thanks for the research project!

Mike Franklin
OKIE DOG SUPPLY
www.OKIEDOGSUPPLY.com
918.633.3519

Okie, this is absolutely correct....

This mostly comes from a few articles that were debunked in the 80's.

Think about it this way... Once you "feel"a snake bite, if it injects venom, it is ALREADY in you central nervous system, blood and skin.. and dog with a higher heart rate and presumably hunting, will immediately exacerbate that condition.

by the time you could shock the wound, it is far too late....


The other thing is, think about how electricity flows, most of that shock is going to go through the electrolytes in the animal and radiate outward but in a low amp situation there simply isn't an amount of shock that would render venom useless and also not do considerable harm or death to the animal also.

One way to test this is to milk a snake, shock it with a collar and then inject it to see if you still feel the effects... or, you could test it on a rat or under a microscope lol. Would be super awesome to try out... I wonder if a local hospital would sell my classroom some antivenom to try it out on....?

Been a Paramedic for nearly 17 years now. Shocking a snake bite is in the same bag as cutting the wound and sucking out the poison with one of those little kits. As stated above even if either was effective (no medical evidence that it is) by the time you realize there is a bite it's already to late. The actual medical research seems to lean toward the reason some percentage of people that try one of these methods see positive outcomes is that there is an inherent percentage of bites that are dry anyway so it probably wasn't the shock or the "poison sucker" but more likely no venom was injected. I am speaking strictly about snake bites on humans but snake venom would interact the same with dogs as well.

A coon hunter in Alabama told me he carries turpentine and a jar with bacon grease. Put's turpentine on the bite to draw poison out and feeds dog bacon grease to counteract poison. Take it for what it's worth.

steve, i have a uncle that has coon hunted for 50+ yr's, he always carries turpintine, but insted of bacon grease he uses mineral oil, i have seen him use it,an he swears by it, but like u i don't know, i will goes as far 2 say if 1 of mine got bit i'd use or try it.

Well bacon grease and mineral oil shouldn't cause any more harm at the least. But shocking the dog will make the poison work quicker if it was injected during the bite because the dogs heart rate would spike.

I'm thankful that we don't have to worry about those dang things in NW Ohio. My experience with AED machines and shocking human hearts back into rhythm also has a flip side and that is causing a heart with a normal rhythm to go into what is called fibrillation. Theoretically, I guess it could buy you a few minutes by stopping the heart from pumping the venom through the bloodstream and allowing an administered anti-venom to be more effective. The problem is you are then starving the brain of the oxygen needed to remain functional. For humans that time frame is around 4 minutes, but I have no idea what that time frame is for dogs.

Realistically, the time it would take to properly shock a dogs heart into fibrillation and then back into normal rhythm to save it from a lethal snake bite makes it improbable. The shock must travel through the heart and there is little room for error. Then again, I am no vet and this is the extent of my logic, if you can call it that.

From experience: We have had 3 nice beagles bitten this year (1 in the pen by a copper head). We keep Dex and antibiotic, usually penicillin. All have recovered quickly and are fine. However, over the years we have run into an occasional rattle snake. Our experience has been that if a mature rattler bites and injects full venom, there is little to nothing that will give a good outcome. I would NOT try shocking. Bobby

Amen Rowco
Dogs and people bitten regularly around here. Had two little sisters 9 & 7 both bitten this year. Seldom have anyone go to doctor for Copperhead. Never knew of dog dying from Copperhead bite or Water Moccasin. Get sick but not die. Same with people as dogs.
Rattler most time will only give a little venom to human or animal if not aggravated and made mad or scared. Remember its all it has to catch things with so it doesn't want to waste it.
I too carry a gallon of kerosene under my tool box in truck. The old timey white kind is best.

I did my research and it is a theory that was debunked. Everything indicates getting bit is about slowing everything down and getting assistance. Slowing things so the venom slows down and you have a chance to allow professionals and/or meds to help (you or the dog). We run mostly in the NE part of OK, but also in the Ozarks in MO, in AR, in Louisiana, TN, and KY. The most aggressive snakes seem to be concentrated in OK and LA of the places we run in. I'm sure there's other more aggressive snakes (Montana, WY, and Africa come to mind). I've lost a dog to a rattler. Every dog but 1 in my kennel (I have 13) has been bit by a copperhead and/or water snake. I get a new bottle of dex starting in April of every year. I never run without it til about late October. It's a loonggg snakey season in OK. But, it's saved me many a dog. Small rattlers are survivable. The bigger ones, well, so far, not that lucky...lost a great dog to one-got to the vet but it had already impacted his kidneys and heart. He lived 2 days but couldn't overcome it (2" fang spread mark on his rib cage...so it was a BIG rattler). Hate snake season! I think after reading up on shock therapy, I think I will stick to Benadryl and dex. I could see how turpentine would work: an astringent...not sure about the bacon grease or mineral oil. But, who knows?

Thanks again for the research project. Just wanted you to know I did follow up on this. Lots of interesting reading. I don't think it pans out though...

Mike Franklin
OKIE DOG SUPPLY
www.OKIEDOGSUPPLY.com
918.633.3519

LOL SNAP ON GOT ONE HELL OF A JUMP BOX!!