Pet of the month for June goes to this lucky boy- Marlow!
Marlow was brought down to the clinic because he accidently fell from the height. After the fall owners noticed that he was weak and not wanting to move around as he normally would. On examination, it was noted that he had weakness of the hind legs. X-rays and Bloods were run in house, however nothing major came up in the results to explain why he was so weak. Even his clotting results came back as normal. His pupils and swallowing reflexes were also normal (which would have indicated a snake bite).
It was decided that Marlow would greatly benefit being on IV fluids for the day, to see if this will help to improve his condition. During the course of the day he seemed to perk up and was eating small amounts of treats/food as provided. That night he was to either be transferred to an emergency centre, or taken home for monitoring.
Marlow had iv fluids during the day time for next couple of days but he was not improving any further. Repeat bloods were taken and sent to the lab to see if there were any changes. His results came back and this time his CK levels were very high. Creatine kinase, is an enzyme found in the heart, skeletal muscles, and brain. When these tissues are damaged, CK is released into the bloodstream. The normal range for Marlow should be between 0-444, his was 49964!!
Straight away the vets knew he had been bitten by a snake, which is rare in colder months. He was immediately given a vial of snake antivenom. For the next 2 days, he would spend the day with us on IV fluids and the evening at home being closly monitored by his family. On day 7, he was going much better, not 100%- but was on his way to getting back to his normal happy self.
We have since received an update from his family, Marlow is doing much better. Running around and eating- all as normal!!
We are very thankful to Marlow’s family for taking such a good care of him.