Venomous Snakes  - Coral snake bite

Obviously this kind of injury is very specific to country, state and area where the horse is cared for. For example, only in Israel there are 7 kinds of coral snakes.  This situation is much like toxicity from a plant source, one should learn to recognize the species in the area and know what the clinical signs and therapies available for the specific aggressor, may it be a snake or a toxic plant.

One this I would always keep in mind is to always be faithful to what the experience veterinarian has to say and trust is the key in this situation. Treatment methods for snake bites are often controversial between Veterinarians which means that there is no write or wrong, but the main goal is to treat and ensure the safety of the animal at the same time, which the both sometimes do stand side by side.

As you can see there are four pics below, the first two are hours after the bite and the two below are two days after immediate initiation of treatment.

Coral snakes chew there venom into the victim which largely consists of toxic proteins that can cause coagulation and hemorrhage. A snake bite may look like an allergic reaction that one would be acquainted with, but what really happens at the site is a lot of hemorrhage (bleeding, the toxins affect the clotting ability of the blood). The toxins have certain enzymes (proteolytic and phospholipase), that cause damage to the tissue at the local site of the snake bite. taking into consideration the damage to the tissue and the blood vessel (necrosis  - cell death, not in a natural way) and diminished clotting ability, the result is massive swelling. What is tricky about the local site of the snake bite is that it does not react promptly to the initiative therapy like a trauma injury (a fall or a bump) that is largely fluids trapped (edema) that are the result of inflammation, which are different from the massive necrosis and hemorrhage that a local snake bite would have. This means that the swelling will take patients and time to clear  (at least 36 to 48  hours).

The site of the snake bite is also very crucial to the treatment and the prognosis. It is clear that a snake bite on the nose (muzzle) is much more life threatening then one in the extremities (usually the the hind end)

The horse below was bitten on the muzzle. In this situation I would promptly initiate therapy to clear and air way and make sure that the swelling does not progresses to the throat (pharynx) where it would occlude the passage of air into the lungs and put the horse in life threatening asphyxia. In this situation the possibility of inserting a clean tube from the nose to the pharynx can help in allowing a small amount of air through (sometimes massive bleeding is seen, this is not serious and will stop after 5-10 minuets, it is caused from hitting mistakenly the ethmoid sinus which bleeds very easily).A tracheostomy is also a possibility if the horse is really in respiratory distress. I always check the larynx  area (throat) and the color of the tongue to be sure that there is no swelling around it and that the tongue is not blue but pink (blue would mean that the horse is not getting enough air)

Signs of the bite include pain on the site of the bite and edema, within 20 minuets. The swelling and edema progresses rapidly, especially in the hind limb area. When bitten on the muzzle the swelling progresses caudally (towards the tail).

Even when signs of improvement are seen one should remember that the Systemic effects of the venom may not peak until 4 days after the the bite. Local necrosis is also seen at this time and should be treated and addressed as well.

Treatment should include local and systemic support.

shortly after the injury cold therapy may be applied, systemic antibiotics (controversial), anti-venom (controversial), steroid therapy (controversial), non steroidal  anti inflammatory treatment, intravenous fluids (if needed). Long term treatment includes, treatment of the site itself for necrosis and infection that mite arouse, another treatment with the anti-venom ( controversial) and systemic support with IV fluids until the horse can drink and eat again.

Fresh water and high quality hay are a good way to start.