Out-of-date adder antivenom: to use or not to use?

I am not going to go into any detail here suffice to say that when it comes to treating envenomation by the common adder (common European adder, Vipera berus), antivenom is the only therapy shown to have a beneficial impact on progression and outcome. It is true that mortality in dogs and cats from bites by this snake is (very) low but antivenom use can significantly reduce severity and duration of morbidity which attenuates suffering and saves pet carers money too! As I say, I am not going to get into any more about the treatment here – except to say NO STEROIDS and NO EMPIRICAL ANTIBIOTICS!