Dog Healed of Rattlesnake Bite

Doris: Last Thursday afternoon, I was sitting at the computer and heard a loud cry coming from the back yard. I immediately knew that it was our youngest dog, Fonzie, who weighs only 12-13 lbs. He was sitting in the middle of the yard with his right paw up, trying to rub his head. Meanwhile, his dad, Archie, ran up to Fonzie and began sniffing him all over and trying to find out what was going on with his son. Then, I called for Kaile and told her that something had happened to Fonzie.

As Kaile came into the room, we called Fonzie and Archie to come inside. I watched Fonzie struggling to walk up the four stairs into the house. When Fonzie got closer to the door I realized that his head was beginning to swell up. At the time, the only thing that we could think of was that a wasp must have stung him, since he was trying to catch and kill one two days before. I also noticed a little bit of blood on Fonzie's head and a streak of blood down Archie's neck and mane but I didn't know what to think at the time.

Kaile: According to Matthew 18:19, which says, Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven, my mom and I agreed that Fonzie was healed as he went to lay down in a corner. Then, my mom sat back down but I was still watching Fonzie closely. It was very concerning for me to see that Fonzie's head was swelling so much that his right eye was swelling shut. I began to cry but I immediately told my mom that I was not going to accept anything that I physically saw happening with Fonzie. He was already healed. Then, my mom asked what I saw with my eyes and I told her about the swelling and she hopped back up again.

Doris: The Lord then reminded me of what happened to Paul in Acts 28: (3) But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out by reason of the heat, and fastened on his hand. (4) And when the barbarians saw the venomous creature hanging from his hand, they said one to another, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped from the sea, yet Justice hath not suffered to live. (5) Howbeit he shook off the creature into the fire, and took no harm. (6) But they expected that he would have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but when they were long in expectation and beheld nothing amiss came to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god. Then, I got anointing oil and Kaile and I agreed that even as Paul was bitten by a venomous snake and the venom took no harm and had no ill effects, whatever poison that was in Fonzie's body would not harm him either.

Kaile: As the afternoon continued into the night and next morning, Fonzie's head, neck, snout, mouth, lips, tongue and chest became extremely swollen (five times the normal size). He looked more like a bear than a little dog. It was very difficult for him to even stick his tongue out to drink a little water. I hand-fed him little pieces of soft food which most of the time would fall out of his mouth once or twice before he could even get it down. He wasn't walking around, just mostly laying down, only to get up to use the restroom about once a day. Even though we saw Fonzie struggling, we continued to stand on the Word and believe that we received Fonzie's complete restoration and healing.

Doris: All the while this trial was happening, we began to ask each other what could have happened to Fonzie and what could do this to him. Well, it wasn't until Saturday night we realized how similar Paul and Fonzie's testimonies were. I began to think about the meerkats on Animal Planet and how they looked after being bitten by a puff adder and how swollen their heads and bodies would get. As I was massaging Fonzie's head, I felt a hard object that felt like a thorn but more like a fingernail. About 30 minutes after I stopped massaging his head, we noticed that he began to swell up even more. I then began to think, what kind of thorn would be releasing poison and realized that it was a fang. At that time, the blood that I saw on Fonzie's head and Archie's neck and mane all made sense. The only way the fang could have broken off is if Archie ripped the rattlesnake (the only venomous snake in our area of Texas) off of his son.

Kaile: A little while after my mom felt the fang, I saw it sticking out of his head, clear as day, which was yet another confirmation that it was indeed a rattlesnake fang.. We began to praise the Lord for preserving Fonzie through a rattlesnake bite as we realized that he was still alive and getting better as each hour passed. It was truly a miracle from the Lord that a 12-13 lb. dog survived a rattlesnake bite. The following morning, Sunday, he began to wag his tail a little. A tail wag seems like such a little thing but we had not seem him wag his tail for days, so we praised the Lord even more. His swelling had gone down tremendously and he even began to drink water and eat a few pieces of food by himself.

Doris: We called David to ask for prayer for wisdom and guidance on how to get the fang out of Fonzie's head and he told us humans generally survive a rattlesnake bite but most definitely a dog as small as Fonzie would not; it was only by the grace of God that he survived. Now, Fonzie is 100% better and back to normal, except for a scabby hole in his head and missing hair around the bite site. Thank you, Father. We went to get the fang out a little while after David prayed with us and, to our surprise and God's glory, we found that the Lord had already removed the fang for us. All we had to do was clean him up a little bit. Praise the Lord!

We give all the glory, honor and praise to the Lord for healing, restoring and preserving Fonzie through this trial. We also thank Him and praise Him for giving us the gift of faith to believe for Fonzie's healing. In the natural, when we looked at Fonzie and how swollen he got, there is no way that the mind of the flesh could conceive that he could have survived. Thankfully, with a renewed mind of Christ, we could look past the physical and by His grace, He allowed us not to walk by sight but by faith. It also makes us realize that if the Lord will save a little puppy, He will surely save us. Praise the Lord FOREVER!

We also ask that all of our brothers and sisters agree with us that no more poisonous snakes are allowed on the property of any of God's children anymore, in the name of Jesus. It was good to have this testimony to share; He certainly does work everything together for the good of those who love Him and those who have their hearts toward Him. Thank you, Father!

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