Ask Dr Claire

Our 10 year old Rottweiler X Boxer has ingested a brown snake about a week ago. She now has a large spleen, snake or something else?

A significant factor in the outcome of a venomous snake bite is the amount of venom that was injected, but there is no way to determine what that amount is. 

It is hard to find information on dogs who eat venomous snakes, in theory snakes can still “bite” and inject venom after they have died, this is a reason we advise not to let pets investigate even “road kill” snakes. 

It is possible that the large spleen is unrelated to the snake as well, a 10 year old Boxer X Rottweiler could have other causes of an enlarged spleen (such as haematomas, cancers etc) but without more information it’s impossible for me to be able to know.

Your local bricks and mortar vet is the best one to make this assessment.

If you’d like to chat in person, you can get a vet on a live video call or start a chat to discuss in more detail now.

We’re here to help!

Chat soon,

Dr Claire