Poisonous Bites In Dogs: How To Recognize The Symptoms
The curiosity of dogs is one of their virtues, as they love to search and follow the tracks of other animals, especially in the countryside. However, due to this curiosity dogs can sometimes take risks, especially if they suffer from poisonous bites.
Symptoms of poisonous bites can be difficult to recognize. Fortunately, there are some common manifestations that we can identify. In this article, we help you recognize the symptoms of poisonous bites in dogs.
Poisonous bites in dogs: a common accident
Unfortunately, both in the countryside and in homes, there are several animals whose bite can be poisonous to dogs. In any case, these animals – in most cases – do not use their weapons until they are disturbed.
Dogs don’t understand that they don’t have to “bother” them, so they run that risk. This situation can cause the dog, in his curious innocence of knowing the world around him, to receive in exchange a bite from that animal that does not want to be disturbed.
There are many animals that can cause poisonous bites : from spiders, to bees and wasps, to snakes, passing through aquatic animals such as jellyfish or some fish. Since there are so many and so varied, we will try to enumerate a number of symptoms common to all of these poisonous bites.
Non-fatal poisonous bites
In this section, we will focus on the symptoms of bites that come from animals that are not too poisonous and without potential risks to the life of the animal, such as ants, bees and some spiders. However, it is worth remembering that, under certain circumstances, any bite, wherever it comes from, can be fatal. For instance:
- In dogs with a known allergy to a certain sting.
- If the number of bites is very high.
- Bite region: Normally in the mouth they are more dangerous, as they can produce respiratory complications.
Symptoms of mild poisonous bites
Unless we are in the presence of the above cases, symptoms of mild poisonous bites can commonly be included in the following injuries.
- Wound, accompanied by irritation of the area, of varying size. The shaped lesion is common in poisonous spider bites.
- Associated local inflammation. The area will appear red, hot, sore, and lumpy. If it occurs in the facial region, the inflammation can produce some degree of deformation, with inflammation of the eyes and lips.
- Presence of reddish spots.
- In some cases there may be tissue necrosis, so the area may turn black.
Fortunately, most of these accidents are caused by non-poisonous bites. In these cases, the local reaction usually subsides and is not a major problem for the dog.
Lethal bites
In this section the topic becomes serious, because we will talk about poisonous bites that represent a real risk to the life of the animal. In the following lines we will focus on the bites of poisonous animals, such as some snakes or some species of spiders.
In these cases the local symptoms may be similar to the previous ones, even if brought to their maximum potency. The inflammation associated with a wasp bite will be much less than the reaction to the bite of a poisonous spider, such as the violin spider, common on the American continent.
The real problem with this type of bite does not stem from the local reaction, although it can cause serious injury. The real risk of these poisonous stings has to do with the systemic reaction that can endanger the animal’s life. In these cases there will be the following symptoms:
- Hyperthermia.
- Convulsions.
- Paralysis of the affected limb.
- Vomiting and diarrhea.
- Weakness, lethargy.
- Muscle twitching, that is, it can feel as if the dog’s muscles are undergoing small twitches.
Prevention is better than cure
As we have seen, the symptoms produced by poisonous poisons can be varied, ranging from mild inflammation to serious complications such as seizures. Preventing them is tricky, as these accidents happen when we least expect them.
For this reason it is vitally important to always have the telephone number of a trusted veterinarian at hand and consult him when these situations arise. In these cases, speed is the key to healing your pet.
