Barry Stabeck shows the area where his dog Boomer was bitten by a rattlesnake on May 30, 2018 near Tranquille Creek Park in Kamloops.

(KAREN EDWARDS / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS - After a Kamloops man’s dog was bitten by a rattlesnake near Tranquille Creek Park while being off leash, Barry Stabeck was told the closest vet clinic carrying a supply of the antivenin treatment was at an animal hospital in Kelowna.

Stabeck says he was outraged when he learned none of the local vet clinics in Kamloops offered the treatment for his 100-pound dog Boomer. Royal Inland Hospital carries the treatment for humans who have suffered from a rattlesnake bite but are reluctant to give it to animals.

A Kamloops veterinarian says at his animal practice at Oriole Road Animal Hospital, the number of rattlesnake bite cases he sees is low enough to not keep the antivenin in stock.

“We see one maybe two a year, they are pretty rare right around our area," Andrew Reid says. "It kind of makes sense to have a centralized location in Kelowna that offers the antivenin."

Like other animal clinics in the area, Reid says his practice gives pet owners the option to go to Kelowna, just as Stabeck did.

“I think it’s admirable this one gentleman took the responsibility to take his animal there,” he says, adding that most of the time pet owners are in a situation where they aren't able to make the drive or afford the medication.

Reid says if a dog is bitten by a rattlesnake, animal clinics in Kamloops are still able to offer supportive care and medical advice to make sure they recover safely.

"We do make that offer for them to go (to Kelowna), but we do supportive care, hospitalize them and monitor them,” he says.

The problem veterinarians run into, Reid says, is not knowing how much venom is injected with a bite. He says there is no way to tell from a wound.

"It's on a case-by-case basis, if a smaller animal is injected with a small dose (of venom) that may still impact the animal significantly," he says. "It's a challenging situation... the best thing for pet owners to do is seek medical advice."

Kathy Blackford, a veterinarian with the Kamloops Veterinary Clinic, says in her experience, it’s not always necessary for an animal to receive the antivenin treatment to make a successful recovery.

“If you take a dog down to Kelowna, they can be out of the hospital in as short as 24 hours,” she says.

Blackford says the biggest difference in not receiving the shot would be a longer stay at the hospital.

Both veterinarians say the number of rattlesnake bite cases they see in the area is low. Reid says the best thing to do is keep animals on leashes and keep an eye on where the snakes are.

"It's good to be aware where the snakes are located, the bottom line is that (rattlesnake bites) are a very rare occurrence," Blackford says. "People don't need to get terrified about it."

To contact a reporter for this story, email Karen Edwards or call (250) 819-3723 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2018