Bodicote dog bitten by Adder

Alexander Hammond was walking his dog, Penny Lane for a regular evening walk when the attack took place.

Alexander said: "Penny Lane and I had just returned home after our evening walk on a popular foot path between Adderbury and Bodicote.

"Soon after getting in I noticed Penny was limping and seemed quite agitated, I picked her up and to investigate what the matter was when I noticed a lump the size of a golf ball on her right shoulder, bear in mind Penny is a five year old Miniature Dachshund so this lump felt huge.

"Very worried I immediately called my local vets Hawthorne Lodge in Banbury to book an emergency appointment thinking she must have been stung by a bee or wasp. The vets was just closing so I booked an early appointment the following morning. I kept a close eye on Penny over night, she did seem uncomfortable but slept OK.

"In the morning I noticed Penny's shoulder had doubled in size so we rushed her to the vets as quickly as possible. The vet, David Bemrose, thought she had been bitten or stung by something but we couldn't identify what it was.

"At this point an Adder bite was way off the cards being as they are so very rare in this part of the country. She started antibiotics that morning.

"At our Monday check up I told the vet I noticed another smaller lump coming up on her back, the vet shaved a small patch from her back which reveal two puncture marks and bruising which seemed a very obvious snake bite.

"The next day the massive lump on her shoulder bust open so we took her straight back to the vets. At this point the vet noticed the Tissue Necrosis had started and the swelling had gotten much larger spreading to her neck.

"She was started on a second stronger antibiotic too. Penny had really started to get sick at this point and the vet at Banbury admitted he'd never seen an Adder bite before and didn't have any experience but would do some research."

Alexander also did his own research finding a YouTube video of a vet talking about how he has previously treated Adder bites and called him up.

Alexander said: "He said my vet was doing all he could at this late stage of Penny's bite and Anti Venom wouldn't be effective as she would have metabolized the venom already.

"Over the next few days all we could do is keep her comfortable and bath her open and weeping wounds with warm salt water and hoped the antibiotics did their job and her fever reduced. She lost her appetite completely and was very quiet and lethargic."

Penny Lane is still recouperating from the ordeal and Alexander has set up a GoFundMe page to pay for the unexpected vet bills.

Alexander added: "She is still very weak and is very unstable on her legs we think because of swelling pressing on nerves near her spine from the bite on her back. We hope there will be no lasting nerve damage.

"It's been two weeks now after being bitten and she is still weak and the open wounds are slowly healing. She may have to have these stitched up after all the inflammation has gone down."