Last week was a first for us at Coquet Vets, in that we treated an adder bite. One of our clients phoned to say that their little young female Cavalier King Charles cross, Ruby, had been bitten by an adder on top of the Cheviots. They were 2 miles from the car and a good hour’s drive away from the clinic.

Luckily, the owners were prepared and knew to carry Ruby to prevent circulation of any venom and were already running to their car. If you can clean the wound, you can also do so. You should then get to your nearest vet clinic.

We contacted Cheviot Vets who were much closer to the Cheviots hills than us, and thankfully, they were ready and on standby to see our patient for us.

Adders are more common this time of year, and although they are quite shy snakes, they will bite if they feel threatened and we think Ruby, in her enthusiasm to jump in the grass, disturbed Mr Adder by mistake.

Generally, with appropriate supportive care, adder bites are not fatal; though they take a good while to heal and can really be quite sore for a few days. You can see the aftermath of little Rugby’s nasty adder bite in the case study gallery below.

The area where bitten and surrounding tissues will generally swell and become bruised. In very occasional cases the skin can die and slough away. In this case, the area swelled but the skin remained viable (alive).

Ruby was treated with pain relief and supportive fluid therapy and we are pleased to say that she is making a good recovery. I'm not sure she will be returning to the Cheviot hills any time soon though!

Thank you to Ruby’s owners for sharing these photos with us to help others see what can happen following an adder bite.

If this article has raised any questions or concerns about your pet, please don’t hesitate to contact us on 01665 252 250 or email us at info@coquetvets.co.uk.

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