Came home for lunch and found our dog's face badly swollen on one side, from her muzzle to her collar. Aside from the swelling she seemed fine. I figured maybe she'd just eaten a wasp or bee (she loves to go after insects) so I crushed up some Benadryl and gave that to her in some peanut butter.
A few minutes later, in walked the cat with his front paw totally swollen. That certainly didn't seem like a coincidence so I loaded up both animals (and both kids) and hustled to the vet, where the dr. confirmed both animals had snake bites....likely from a copperhead.
The dog is pretty protective of the cat (they are BFFs and love to play/cuddle together) so the vet guessed the cat was bitten first then the dog either came to his defense or tried to play with the snake. A few shots and a bunch of meds later and both animals are back home and doing fine. Whew!

Re: Snake bites!
our dog was bitten by a copperhead last year (2 days after i came home from the hospital with the baby, talk about tears in my house). e-vet told us that bigger dogs like ours can handle the bite without drugs but they do have a lot of pain so we had them treat it. He's was back to normal in a couple of days but that first night was so sad to see him hurt.
the e-vet said he'd seen 4 dogs that night, all bitten on the nose... it was apparently mating season and the copperheads put out a smell that the dogs are attracted to. most dogs get bit on the nose because they go to sniff the snake and then the snake bites.
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Oh yes, outside!! We back up to a greenbelt and have some natural growth in the back corner of our lot so I'm not too surprised the animals found a snake down there. We've cleared the rest of the yard where the kids go to prevent snakes in those areas. I guess we should clear the natural area, too.
No sign of the actual snake.
Camo - Wow, sorry about your pup! So far mine hasn't seemed to have any noticeable discomfort. I'm guessing both animals either just got a quick "warning" nip or it was a young copperhead (as they produce less venom).
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poor babies! so glad they are ok!
i had a dog that got bit inside her mouth when i was young. she was a large dog, but we had to put her down. i just remember coming home and she ran up to us with her muzzle swollen to twice its normal size. my dad took her to the vet and came home alone.
Scary! Glad they're both ok.
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