Snake Bite

We had a very harrowing night on Sunday.  I had just come home from a concert and Phil was in the utility room holding Roy.  He said that he thought a snake had bitten him while Roy was out in the yard.  Phil went hunting for the snake but couldn't find it. By the time he came back, Roy was obviously in distress.  I changed clothes and we took him to the UGA Vet Emergency Clinic since our local Vet was obviously closed on a Sunday night.  (Why do these things always occur after hours?)  We waited at the ER for 3 hours while Roy was observed and treated.  They wanted to keep him overnight to make sure that the swelling did not close off his wind pipe, but we decided to bring him home.  Phil stayed up all night keeping a watchful eye on him.  Monday morning I took him to our local Vet who said he was obviously bitten by a venomous snake.  She gave him another shot and put him on antibiotics since the venom can destroy tissue which in turn can become infected.  He was bitten on his chin and you can see the two puncture marks where they shaved his chin.  It looks like it must have been a fairly large snake from the width of the fang marks.  Today (Wednesday), Roy is much better.  The swelling has gone down enough to where you CAN see the fang marks, which you couldn't on Sunday night.  He is eating and acting normally now.  

Glad that ordeal is over and we don't want a repeat.  No more playing outside the fenced area until we catch our snake!