Successful use of camelid (alpaca) antivenom to treat a potentially lethal tiger snake (Notechis scutatus) envenomation in a dog

Abstract

This report describes a confirmed clinical case of tiger snake (Notechis scutatus) envenomation in a domestic dog that was successfully treated with a novel polyvalent camelid (alpaca; Llama pacos) antivenom. Samples collected from the dog were assayed for tiger snake venom (TSV) using a highly sensitive and specific ELISA. The TSV concentration in serum and urine at initial presentation was 365 ng/mL and 11,640 ng/mL respectively. At the time of initial presentation whole blood collected from the dog did not clot and the Prothrombin Time was abnormally increased (>300 s). Serum was also visibly hemolysed. The dog was administered antihistamine, dexamethasone and 4000 Units (sufficient to ne..