my cat was bitten by a snake!

butler_helen

as the title says... my cat was bitten by a snake, he has a massive foot and leg and has had it all shaved for where they released the goo from inside.

however my point is... has anyone else experienced this? how common are snakes in the UK?

how long till his paws look lovely again? and also, is there any food or vitamins to help him recover? the vet said just keep him in and keep him fed and watered, although he still looks a bit peaky.

any ideas? we've got him a blanket and a radiator seat, so he seems ok in terms of rest, though his pink nose is still a lighter shade of pink than normal.

H

tanith

I'd say its pretty uncommon for a cat to get bitten by a snake to be honest. Did you see it happen? what kind of snake was it? Unless it was an Adder I guess the bite would just of gotten infected to cause it to swell up like that. The cat should recover and the swelling go down but if it was an Adder then its a bit different and I really don't know how long that will take to return to normal.. I hope your cat recovers ok

Errata

The only venomous snake in the UK is the adder. If the cat wanders over heathland regularly it could be an adder bite, but that's pretty unlikely.

MrsE_2

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

I'm always scared in dried grassy sort of places of coming across a snake.

Your poor cat:(

Milford_Cubicle

I suppose there's a chance a venomous snake had escaped from someone's home and bitten the cat - an Adder bite wouldn't cause that sort of a reaction as it is only as bad as a bee sting.

How long between the cat being upset (i.e. "telling" you something was wrong) and it getting to the vet for treatment?

picklepick

An adder bite can be fatal to some animals actually, i guess if the animal has an allergy. much like a bee. And if it was a grass snake bite, it could have gotten infected.

It may have been a horsefly. I know from bitter experience how much a limb can swell as the result of one of those. Think elepahant man and u wont be far wrong!

lostinrates

Our cats have brouht dozens of slowworms home this summer. In the hot spell I noticed a few adders on the roads, soaking up the heat.

Its by no means unheard of, and adders can cause significant inflammation. I'd be interested to know if your cat i insured and what your insurers say if you claim for treatment. We found, many years ago, this a difficult claim.

butler_helen

lostinrates wrote: »

Our cats have brouht dozens of slowworms home this summer. In the hot spell I noticed a few adders on the roads, soaking up the heat.

Its by no means unheard of, and adders can cause significant inflammation. I'd be interested to know if your cat i insured and what your insurers say if you claim for treatment. We found, many years ago, this a difficult claim.

well.... the vet only 'suspected' that it was a snake bite because it didn't just drain like an absess, it's still slightly swollen even now.

however, he has two perfect puncture wounds and behind our house there is a lot of overgrown areas.

ive claimed from petplan- i expect them to cover it because the vet said they would and because their t's and c's say they should, as it was an accident and an emergency.

we've been giving him some oily tuna for his coat and have been putting more water bowls around the house incase he needs hydrating.

MrsE_2

lostinrates wrote: »

Our cats have brouht dozens of slowworms home this summer. In the hot spell I noticed a few adders on the roads, soaking up the heat.

Its by no means unheard of, and adders can cause significant inflammation. I'd be interested to know if your cat i insured and what your insurers say if you claim for treatment. We found, many years ago, this a difficult claim.

Christ! Where area are you in that you've seen addrers on the roadside?

I think I would faint:o

lostinrates

MrsE wrote: »

Christ! Where area are you in that you've seen addrers on the roadside?

I think I would faint:o

SW. They like the heat from the tarmac I think, which is odd because we also have some under the cold damp water trough.

lostinrates

butler_helen wrote: »

however, he has two perfect puncture wounds .

Yes: that was our only evidence too

ive claimed from petplan- .

Ah, I imagine you'll be fine. Our claim was not for a cat, and not with pet plan. since then when we've insured its been with petplan and the service has not just been as good as we hoped, but better and more generous than I'd ever have expected. :beer: