Beware of snakes

Molly is our Heroine of the month! She ducked under a shrub when she was outside with her Dad and came out with a Brown Snake!

The emergency centres were full of cats and dogs bitten by snakes last weekend – but Molly bucked the trend. She bit the snake! Fortunately her Dad was there to help and relocated the snake to a safer – for all – place.

Snakes like to hide in long grass, leaf litter, under low lying shrubs, in brambles, and under logs and rocks. They are particularly venomous at the beginning of the warmer weather. Keep your cat inside or under strict supervision outside.

A snake with a lot of venom at the beginning of spring can kill a cat within minutes. Once the venom load is less, cats will survive with antivenom and a drip.

Signs of snake envenomation include weakness and paralysis, a mournful cry, dilated pupils, bleeding from the bite site or in urine and faeces (with some snake species). Soon after the bite the cat may collapse, vomit, have diarrhoea, tremble, or fit. Often carers don’t notice that a cat has been bitten until they become partly paralysed.

The sooner the cat presents to the vet the better the chances of complete recovery.