Adder bites

[Snowdell]

I took my dog on the moors in Northumberland last Wednesday and the next day she was off colour and looked to be in some discomfort. She had a slight temperature and was walking a little stiffly behind. She was not sick and her stools were normal. I took her to the vet and she was given anti-inflammatory and anti-biotic and for two days appeared to be a lot better. I started to notice a swelling on her side which got bigger and filled with fluid and she was very stiff and obviously in pain. I took her back to the vet and he drew completely colourless fluid from the swelling. She had a high temperature but still ate a normal tea and although in pain she looked quite bright and her tail was wagging. She had a short walk and was interested in her surroundings although she did not go faster than a slow trot and was still moving very stiffly. We saw adders whilst we were on the moor. Could the symptons I have described be caused by an adder bite? We cannot see any bite marks but would probably need to shave her hair off to see it anyway,

[Za]

Hi Snowdell, welcome to WAB, shame about the circumstances that brought you here.
Sorry, I cant help with the symptoms, but did the vet not give a good examination of the area with the swelling ? I would have thought he would have spotted any puncture wounds.
Hope the poor dog gets better soon!

Hopefully some of the rescue people or animal carers can be of more help than me

Za

[Dorts]

It could have been an Adder bite but might also have been a wasp or bee sting.
They all can cause a very large swelling.
In humans bee stings cause deaths every year. Adder bites are rarely fatal, however, they should always be taken very seriously and the patient must be taken to hospital.
I hope your dog recovers soon.
Dorts.

[ViperaBerus]

I'd say it was an insect sting rather than adder bite. A bite would have shown watered down blood and fluid around any bite mark.

[nigel_b]

I'm not an expert but a good friend's dog was bitten by an adder recently and it ended up very poorly and she had a big bill, so I'd suggest a bee sting rather than adder bite.