Was my cat copperhead bit?

14 years ago

Dawn, I asked in your post about the rattler you killed, but you didn't revisit that post, so I will ask again and anyone else who may know. Two weeks ago my cat started acting very funny. Like he was paratially paralyzed, couldn't walk. His head twitched and his eyes flickered. He just laid in one place and didn't eat for two or three days. I was afraid maybe rabies, as he hadn't been vaccinated, so I put him in a shed and watched him. After 10 days he seemed to have recovered, was eating and drinking again, so I let him back out--and vaccinated for rabies. During that time my husband found a little 18" copperhead in the garden so I wondered if the cat had gotten bit? What are symptoms of snakebite in cats? He's a mature, 4 year old cat. Dorothy

Featured Answer

Okiedawn OK Zone 7

14 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Hi Dorothy,

Oooops! Sorry I didn't go back to the other thread.

I do think it is very likely that your cat was bitten by a copperhead and am relieved to hear that he is feeling better.

Putting him in the shed and watching him was a good decision, because restricting a cat's movement after a venomous snakebite is recommended.

If you do not actually see a snake bite a pet, you may never know for sure, unless you find fang marks or the telltale copper-colored rash that appears with some bites (but not with all). Sometimes, too, you never find the fang marks because a pet's hair hides them. And, too, you may only find one fang mark, especially if the bite was on a smaller area, like a paw, nose, tail, etc. as opposed to it being on a larger area like the body, head, or neck. Sometimes, people think cats have been bitten by a snake when, in fact, the cat is having a reaction to an insect bite or bites too.

Snakebite symptoms in cats include the following, but you won't necessarily see them all: dilated pupils, rapid pulse, sudden and severe swelling, labored breathing or panting, extreme drowsiness, drooling, muscular weakness, vomiting, diarrhea, collapse, seizures, coma and death. Some dogs foam at the mouth after being bitten by a snake (I don't know why) but I've never seen a cat do that. The lack of appetite can last for several days and, in severe cases, a week or two. A cat suffering from a venomous snakebite may experience excrutiating pain and may express the pain by making very mournfal meows. THE FIRST 1 TO 2 HOURS IS MOST CRITICAL when a cat is bitten by a snake.

Based on personal experience, most of our cats who've been bitten lie very still, have no appetite, experience visible swelling about 50% of the time, experience the copper-colored rash (if bitten by a copperhead) about 10-20% of the time, have no appetite, sleep a lot, have no energy, and just want to be left alone in a quiet, moderately dark location. I do try to get them to eat and drink, sometimes using an eyedropper to get some water into them. They normally are eating and drinking, albeit with a noticable lack of enthusiasm, by the 4th day after the bite, but I've had them go for almost 2 weeks without eating.

When a cat is bitten by a snake, you usually see the onset of symptoms within the first hour or two. Depending on the location of the bite, though, you may see symptoms within minutes. By the way, 90% of venomous snakebites are to the cat's head or legs, which is a good thing, because bites to the body tend to be lethal. Also, cats can be bitten by nonvenomous snakes too. Although such bites usually do not cause many symptoms, sometimes you get a bacterial infection at the site of the bite wound. If the bite is from a non-venomous snake, you won't see fang marks but instead you'll see teeth marks in a horseshoe shape. However, the presence of fang marks doesn't necessarily mean venom was injected, since some bites are "dry bites" with no venom.

With dogs, I use Benadryl to counteract swelling IF the bite is to their face or limb. With cats, I've never used it but it is my understanding that some vets do recommend it for allergies in cats at the rate of 1 mg. per 1 lb.of body weight. (I'd verify dosage with vet before giving it if I thought a cat needed it.)

IF you witness the snakebite, at least you know what you're dealing with. Copperhead bites are significantly less lethal to cats and dogs than rattlesnake bites, and some kinds of rattlesnakes are much worse than others. Not all snakebites are from venomous snakes, either. About 50% of snake bites involve evenomation but sometimes the bite is a dry bite with no venom injected into the pet. Snake venom contains neurotoxins and hemotoxins, among other things. All snake venom contains both, but some have more neurotoxins, which are fast-acting and kill by paralysis, and others have more hemotoxins, which are slower-acting and kill by hemmorhaging. (Pit vipers' venom is mostly hemotoxic.)

IF A PET IS BITTEN:

1.) If you witness the bite, kill the snake if you can do so SAFELY and put it in a bucket or box with a lid and take to the vet with you. If you can't kill the snake safey, at least try to get a good look at it so you can describe its' appearance to your vet.

2.) Fast medical attention is the key. Most cats (and dogs) begin to react with 1 to 2 hours, but.....in worst possible cases, death can be almost immediate. So, if you are going to take the animal to the vet, the more quickly the better. If the animal was bitten and you can't get the animal to the vet within 24 hours, you probably don't need to go, since most anything that is going to happen that might be deadly will occur in that first 24 hours.

3) Your vet may do a lot for the animal, or almost nothing at all. Treatment can vary from the use of antihistamines (to reduce swelling and anaphylactic shock), steroids, antivenoms (rarely used and incredibly expensive, if available), and antibiotics (more commonly used with rattlesnake bites as they get infected more often). Some vets use IV fluids to help flush venom from animal's system.

4) If treating at home without a visit to the vet...expect a reaction to the bite within 30 minutes to 1 hour for cats (or very small dogs) or within 1-2 hours for dogs. It is very important to maintain control over the animal if you can....restricting their movement slows down the spread of the venom internally. Keep animal in a quiet location where movement can be fairly restricted. Keep fresh water available at all times. Keep food available, although pet may refuse it for several days. DO NOT clean the wound as the effort to clean it can cause venom to spread more rapidly internally and also can encourage infection. Do not attempt to suck out the venom. Seek doctor's advice for antihistamine dosage info with cats. With dogs, I dose at the recommended human rate...treating a small to medium dog with the amount recommended for a child and treating a large dog with the amount recommended for an adult. (You may want to get your vet's advice before doing this, but it has worked for our pets.) Most pets show improvement by 3rd or 4th day.

FYI-bites to the body of the cat tend to be fatal more often than bites to the head or limbs. I've only had one cat survive a bite to the abdomen (so low that it was almost in the groin area). He was bitten by a copperhead, had the telltale copper-colored rash, laid almost motionless and without an appetite for about 10 days, and really didn't start eating for about 14 days. He lost a LOT of weight, but made a full recovery. His hair, though, never grew back in the area here he had the copper-colored rash (which slowly faded over a couple of years' time).

I've never had a cat survive a rattlesnake bite. I have had a dog survive a bite from a timber rattler, but it was touch and go that first hour after the bite.

I hope this info helps. In the 9+ years we've been here, we've had two dogs bitten (both survived) and several cats (2 survived, the rest died). One cat, Spots, survived two separate copperhead bites, both to the head, about 1 year apart, which surprised the vet. Often, the first bite won't kill them, he said, but the second one will. An old wives tale, here, though, is that each bite helps an animal build immunity, so the more an animal is bitten, the more likely it is to survive future bites--I HAVE NO IDEA IF THAT IS TRUE THOUGH.

Here's a good link on snakes in Oklahoma. I often see copperheads and rattlesnakes (western diamondback, pygmy and timber, most often, but others as well) and an occasional cottonmouth, but have never seen a coral snake here although they are said to inhabit some of the Red River counties in Oklahoma.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Venomous Snakes of Oklahoma

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Comments (21)

susanlynne48
14 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
You can give Benadryl to cats because my vet recommended it to use on my cat that had an allergic reaction to one of the flea/tick controls we applied to his neck. I never used the combination after that. My cats have not had ticks since they are indoor cats, so I only use the one for just fleas.

However, call your vet to see how much to give your cat. I don't recall how much we used, and I think we got the children's liquid Benadryl because it is easier to get it down the cat than pills. I would keep some on hand for emergencies.

Susan
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When our son was dating a young woman who had a little girl who was then just a toddler, she and I built a Peter Rabbit potager garden. We spend oodles of time playing in the dirt, reading the simplest versions of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, and planting similar crops in our Peter Rabbit Garden. She was so excited, and so was I, but for different reasons. We had a darling little picket fence, but we had completely different attitudes towards the fence and the Peter Rabbit Garden. I wanted to close the gate to keep the real cottontail rabbits out of the Peter Rabbit Garden, but she wanted to leave the gate open at night so that Peter Rabbit and his friends could come into the garden and eat! Clearly, we had different ideas about the purpose of the garden, and this experience taught me to remember to look at things from a 2 or 3 year-old child's perspective and not just my own. Be sure your hoe is sharpened so that it will chop a snake in half. 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Snakes are typically animals that prefer "edge" habitat - this habitat is often the area at the meeting of say, a forest, and perhaps what naturally might be a field, or a clearing. This edge habitat can be artificially created by humans in the form of agricultural lands or grazing lands, but also in the form of say, gardens. The benefit of these edge habitats is that it gives snakes ample opportunity and options to better thermoregulate, not to mention the fact that many species of prey animals (predominantly birds and mammals) are also attracted to edge habitat. Now, piling up a bunch of rocks in this already beneficial edge habitat can provide these animals with yet a better opportunity to thermoregulate. In essence, laying out rocks (especially if these rocks have space beneath them) is no different than what many scientists and field herpers do when they lay out boards and tin - they are creating artificial cover to (for the sake of argument) better observe/attract animals. I myself have personally laid out rocks, tin, and boards to attract animals in the past, and much of the time such effort is successful. Inadvertently several years ago I piled a large number of rocks in an area of my yard that was virtually unable to be gardened - within a few weeks I was seeing numbers of racerunners and fence lizards utilizing this rocky area (I had never observed racerunners anywhere near my yard until this incident). As for the issue with water, a birdbath certainly would not cause a snake to come to your yard whereas a larger body of water (a pond for example) might be enough to attract some species, especially during times of heat and drought. I would be rather interested in seeing the citations to such papers that state where copperheads utilize morning dew as a source of rehydrating themselves, if they could be provided. Now, to get to the question at hand, I completely agree with Erik. You really can't deter these snakes from using your yard, but then again as he stated, while venomous these snakes are highly inoffensive and quite beautiful. I have literally stepped on these animals before (unknowningly of course) and they have remained unaggressive. If they are in your area, just use a bit more caution and "look before you leap." I would rather enjoy finding the occasional copperhead in my yard! I hope this helps ~Mike
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Lets hope that it was an older, experienced snake. A strike by a young snake that has gained near adult size is the most dangerous. The young inexperienced viper may inject the whole load whereas the older experienced snake may inject only what it preceives is enough while holding back more venon for later strikes. This may explain the differences of reaction to viper bites of the same species. It has been my experience with copper heads that they are mean snakes. When approached they do not slink away and hide, but stand their ground. If you don't see it, you may not get much warning, and they will strike with little provocation. A close approach is all that is needed.
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mulberryknob
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Thanks for the info about Benadryl. I will get some and keep it on hand in case I ever need it.

But unfortunately, my cat died. It seemed to be almost back to normal, running to the woodshed where I feed it inside a hog wire enclosure (to keep my greedy dogs from bothering it) when I came out and called Kitty, Kitty. Then last Thurs an almost starved hound without a collar showed up in the yard. My well fed dogs ran it off and I thought it was gone, but the next morning I found my cat dead, it's food dish completly empty--he wasn't eating all his food at one time yet--and the wire to the shed spread apart, and my cat lying dead behind the shed in a large wallowed down spot. I don't know what happened, didn't see the stray again, but doubt that my dogs who have been docile towards the cat for all his life would have hurt him. The cat often went up to where they were laying and laid down snuggled up to one or the other of them.

So now I am without a cat, my older cat dying last fall at 18 years of age, 16 of which were here with me. This one was so young, it's sad. Dorothy
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
14 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Oh, Dorothy, I am so sorry about your cat.

I have my suspicions about that stray dog. Like you, I can't imagine dogs that allowed "snuggling" would turn on a familiar cat. And, more than likely, the cat seemed out of the danger zone even though its' appetite was still lacking.

You know, you need another cat or two one of these days. Those little purring furballs add a lot of spice to your life! My cats think they are people, and I am not about to tell them they aren't.

Sending you hugs on this sad occasion,

Dawn
susanlynne48
14 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Oh my, I'm so sorry Dorothy! I have 3 cats myself, and 2 of my big boys turned 11 years old this summer. Can't believe it - time flies! The baby is Kenna's (my GD) age, about to turn 7 next month. They are my babies and in the morning when I get up and sit in my chair in the living room, they come running to the chair for attention - like I don't give them enuff! LOL! All 3 are boys, and all are neutered, 2 of them declawed as they are indoor cats. All are spoiled rotten, too! Too many dangers on the streets of OKC - like horrible traffic for one, feral cats and dogs everywhere it seems anymore. Not everyone likes cats either, and gangs are known to torture and kill them if found on the streets. So my guys stay inside with me in the safety of their own house.

George (the alpha cat) does escape outside sometimes and it just worries me sick until I can get him back inside! My daughter worked for a vet for a long time and she usually can tell me what I can and can't give them so I'm lucky.

My sympathies are with you, Dorothy, and I do believe in "kitty heaven" where the cats run free among the grasses and flowers, can climb the trees, play with each other, and have a grand time.

Susan
celaena
14 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Dorothy, my deepest condolences on the loss of your furkid. I believe she waits for you at the Rainbow Bridge. May your good memories bring you comfort.

Just an added word of caution on picking up recently killed snakes -- use a shovel, stick, anything but your hands, and keep pets away. Even decapitated snakes can and will bite as it is an automatic reflex to strike at a heat source. It takes a while, sometimes an hour or two, for that itty-bitty brain to realize it's actually dead.
jaleeisa
14 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Well, we found our first copperhead of the season last night. We took the dogs out to potty for the last time of the evening and they found a baby copperhead. Cliff said it was about 6 inches long and smaller than a straw. He killed it anyway. I'm sure the poor little thing was new out of the nest and just looking for food, but I can't have them making themselves at home where my kids and dogs play. Not only concern for my very inquisitive 11 and 8 yr olds, but though Snarf is a Boston Terrier, Ginger is a very small Chihuahua/Dachshund mix. She only weighs about 1 1/2 pounds. A baby copperhead could do some serious damage to her.

So, since it was such a small baby, we're going to make a through inspection of our small storage building and under the house for a nest and make sure our neighbors knew we found it so they can check as well.

I know they have a purpose on Mother Earth and help balance the ecosystems, but I really don't want to need to worry about copperhead nests in my backyard.

Kathy
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
14 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Susan,

I think it is smart to keep your city kitties inside. I'd like to keep my country cats indoors, but they wouldn't stand for it.....AND, most importantly, it is their job to keep down the rodent numbers in the yard so the snakes have no food source to attract them to the area around the house.

Our cats ARE trained to come inside before dark. Cats outside at night in an area heavily populated by wildlife don't live long. Interestingly, it is the very vicious raccoons that seem to kill cats most often. Some friends of ours lost several mother cats and kittens to coons last year. Bobcats also take out a lot. We've had several cats live to be 18 to 20 years old but they wouldn't have lived that long if they were allowed to be outside at night.

We have some wonderful neighbors who've lived here forever. People have been bitten by copperheads on their property twice since we've known them. A couple of winters ago, they suddenly had mice in the house, which had never happened before. Knowing how strongly I believed our cats kept down the number of rodents--and, consequently, the number of snakes--they got several cats. The result? The mice were exterminated, and they said they went the whole summer (their first ever) without seeing a single venomous snake around the yard. I don't think they'll ever be without cats again.

Celaena,

That's an excellent point. Around here, the local old-timers say that a snake can bite for up to 12 hours after death. We treat dead snakes just as carefully as if they were alive.....and dispose of them.

Some people leave dead snakes lying where they died (believing a dead one will 'warn' other live ones to stay away), but I don't want my cats or dogs to hang around a dead, unmoving snake and develop the attitude that it is "OK" to hang around a snake since the next one they encounter might be alive.

Kathy,

I'm glad y'all found that copperhead before it found you. Now, watch closely for others because usually if you see one, you have more. On our property, they have certain spots where they hang out year after year...almost like they have little snake "roadways". One spot, in between our neighbor's driveway and our driveway (which are about 150' apart), is so commonly used as a snake crossing that we joking call it the copperhead crossing. It's not a joke, though, when you're walking the dogs along the road and the copperheads are crossing the road! It happens a lot in that spot.

We try to live in harmony with wildlife as much as possible at our place, but venomous snakes cannot be allowed to hang out in the areas where our family (including the pets) also hangs out.

I haven't seen a live snake in about 48 hours now, so I am starting to calm down a little....and I hope I didn't jinx myself by saying that.

Dawn
jaleeisa
14 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I agree completely, Dawn. We're going to be thoroughly checking the entire yard, under the house since we have a raised foundation, as well as our storage shed. Letting the neighbors know as well so they will also, hopefully, check. One neighbor keeps pigeons, so I'm sure he will check. The others are rather odd and keep four to five pit bulls, I so wish animal control would do something about that. Off topic, I know and apologize, but these dogs are rather vicious. I know that pits can be raised and trained to be loving, protective companions, I've had one in the past that I raised from five weeks old. But these dogs are not even well trained, much less being something I'm comfortable having so close. Especially since they have EATEN the privacy fence three times. Our landlord has contacted this neighbor, wanting him to help with the cost to replace the slats and panels, but he won't... just ignores all attempts. The last time one managed to eat a hole through the fence boards, my son was outside with my Boston and was playing near that fence. The dog finished the hole and managed to get his head almost completely through! Snarf, my brave little man, held him off by biting and clawing at his eyes while Vince ran inside to tell me. We got an old side table top over the hole and forced him back and nailed it in with many 16 penny nails until my husband could get home. Any time any of us or the dogs get near that fence, they keep clawing and chewing at the wood. It's very uncomfortable. I've sown several HOT peppers around that area as well as "allowing the wind" to carry several seeds over the fence :) I need to check and find out what Edmond's laws are on pits. I hate to deprive someone of a loved companion, but I'd rather that than for one of my dogs, or worse, my children to be hurt by it.

But back to the copperheads, I'm really dreading finding the nest, and I know there is one. This baby was VERY young, so I'm sure there are several more either in the yard or still in the nest. Our yard is pretty open, so there are only a couple of spots that it could really be, if the nest is in our yard. When we find it, I'm calling wildlife control to come and clean it out. They can release them into the wild, as long as it's FAR away from my home and kids!

Kathy
celaena
14 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Dawn, you're absolutely right about keeping all cats inside at night. Most predators are nocturnal, and even fully-clawed cats can't defend themselves against a wild, hungry predator several times their size. Owls are dangerous for cats, too; and they are so quiet that there is almost no warning. Their strikes usually snap the prey's neck before it can react defensively.

Kathy, much as I love dogs, I'd be more than a little concerned about your pits next door. If at all possible, put up your own pit-proof fence on your side. Hog panels firmly attached to the wooden fence should keep them out of your yard and away from your kids and pets. It is a shame that not all dog owners are responsible people, but it is a fact of life.

Celaena
mulberryknob
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Thanks for the condolences, everyone. I like cats but a cat allergy means they have to live outdoors. Our last cat lived for 16 years outdoors. They have places they can get out of the weather and up high away from many night roving predators--woodshed, gardenshed. I think that if this cat had been fully recovered he would have been ok, but he wasn't quite.

Concerning snakes, I have a copperhead story too. One day last year I was at mother's and we were painting the porch furniture. Mom stepped off the raised concrete floor into the flower bed and as she did I heard a rustling sound. She didn't hear it, but she is hard-of-hearing. I told her to step back up while I looked. There was a copperhead coiled up under a boxwood shrub. The rustling sound was its tail rattling dried oak leaves. I had Dad bring the twenty two and I shot it. That was on Thurs aft. By the following Monday, Dad and company he had over the weekend had killed 6 copperheads in the yard. This in a yard where not one had been seen all summer. I think Dawn is right. Snakes are like ants; they follow each other down invisible--to us--trails. I know that is true of Black Snakes. When my older son was 12 he and I killed 8 large black snakes in our chicken house in one summer after not seeing any for years. I leave snakes alone if they are harmless, but poisonous snakes aren't and neither are Black Snakes. Just ask the chickens. Dorothy
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
14 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Kathy,

Usually a mama copperhead gives birth to 10 or 12 snakelets (snakelings? snakettes?) at one time, but sometimes up to 14. The most I've ever seen, though, together in one place was one mama and 7 or 8 babies.

I sure would check the ordinances on pit bulls (and also on how many dogs are allowed on one piece of residential property)!

Some friends of ours in Marietta had their little English bulldog killed by a pit bull about 3 or 4 years ago....and that pit had come onto their property and attacked and killed their dog. They loved that little dog and were grief-stricken. Just a couple of weeks ago, their daughter stopped by the house to tell us that her parents' "new" dog that replaced the murdered dog had also been attacked and killed by a pit bull. Again, just like the other time, the pit came onto their property and killed their dog. It is just so wrong!

We had neighbors (fortunately, their house is not terribly close to ours....more than a mile away as the crow flies) that raised pit bulls. Those dogs were always running loose and scared me to death. It was not uncommon for their dogs to turn on and kill one another. I don't think they have pit bulls any more, and I think the reason was because the dogs kept killing each other. Here, there are dog ordinances in town, but in the county there are no dog ordinances and so the sherriff's policy basically is "do what you have to do" to protect yourself. Most people out here, though, won't shoot a dog unless they catch it attacking a human, an agricultural animal or a pet.

Celaena,

A red-tailed hawk picked up my cousin's cat once and carried it off some distance, and it was a big old tomcat. She figured the cat was a goner. A couple of days later the cat showed up, scraped up and cut up but alive! We don't have many owl problems here because the crows dog them mercilessly. We used to have a barn owl and a little screech owl who hung out together and hunted on our property at night, but I haven't seen or heard them much the last couple of years.

Dorothy,

I know your cat had a safe spot to retreat to, and do feel the snakebite contributed to its inability to fend off the stray dog (or whatever other critter might have gotten it). It is just such a shame that it happened.(sigh)

And, y'all, remember the "copperhead crossing" area I mentioned above? Well, this morning DS and I went for a 30-minute fitness walk (no dogs). On our way back to the house, we saw a dead rattlesnake in the middle of the road....a little one about 15" long. Guess where he was? Right there at the copperhead crossing! I laughed out loud and then had to explain to DS that I was laughing 'cause I had JUST written about the copperhead crossing this morning, and here it was....occupied by a rattler!

Dawn
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
14 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
OK, if the last snake put me "one snake away from a nervous breakdown", then I guess breakdown time is here. (sigh)

Tonight's special, served up on a driveway of gravel near the garage, was a very small rattlesnake, only about 15" long and, as it was about 8 p.m. and there was little natural light left, it got away from me. It is looking like it will be a long autumn.

If I'd had a gun in one hand, and a flashlight in the other, I wouldn't have almost stepped on the snake, would I? This is turning into the worst autumn ever for close encounters of the snakey kind. We need for some cold, cold weather to get here and send all these critters to their winter dens.

Dawn
helenh
14 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Sorry about your cat. I love my outdoor cats. Dogs and wildlife are a real threat, but a copperhead bite would only cause a swelling and temporary illness. We once thought our little kittens were playing with wasps until we found two copperheads under flowers on the side of the rock house were the kittens played. One had a severly swollen head and the other's little paw was 4 times as big. Both little kittens recovered. Copperheads come to my yard in July when the cicadas come up. They come out in the evening; I wouldn't walk outside without a flashlight for anything. One year I killed three out my back door in one evening almost stepping on one while killing another. This year one came in my back door in the evening. I haven't seen any since the end of July. I have also seen them go after the beetles that are buzzing around mid summer. They are in my yard for the insects. In years when put tick granuals down heavily; I didn't have as many. In fall you see them on the road because the nights start getting cold and the road stays warm. I have posted this picture before; copperhead at least two feet up in a yew. Click to enlarge.
helenh
10 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Bump
melissa-davis
9 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
My cat just got bit by a water mocasin we do beleave. We did home remedies cause vet said it would be 2000 to bring him there. Anyway here is what they told me to do. Get Crisco and take a tablespoon full and melt is and put iit on there food or get it to them best way you can. It blocks the venom. Also Viamine C. If you dont have the powder kind do like I did and i took 2 of my 500mg ones and put them in a little warm water and melted them and sucked it up in syringe and give them 10-20ml every 15 to 30 mins. That right there saved our baby.... Hope this helps soneone else
captainkittens77
7 years ago
hey i need some advice my 4-5 year old cat has got bitten by a snake right above his eye serve swelling pinkish redish and yellow color really small rye pupils so what should i do i dont no what kinda snake it was but please help me im so worried
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
7 years ago
captainkittens77, None of us are vets. If your cat doesn't seem well, you really need to take it to the vet.

We live in an area with many venomous snakes and our cats have been bitten many times. Most survived, some did not. Sometimes we have taken them to the vet (usually when it is a rattlesnake bite) and sometimes we haven't (usually when it is a copperhead bite).

WIth a bite that close to the eye, we take the cat to the vet. One of our cats was bitten near the eyes and it took impeccable care from our vet to keep her alive as she was partially paralyzed by the snake venom. He had her there at the vet clinic for almost a week on IVs both for hydration and medication. When he finally let her come home, her eyes remained paralyzed and wide open for almost 3 weeks. She slept by goinginto the bedroom closet and burying her face in a blanket on the floor (to block out the light, I suppose). She ate and drank very little at first, and it was another 2 or 3 weeks before we could relax as we saw her slowly return to normal. I'll never forget how hard our vet worked to save her life. It has been several years now and she is perfectly fine with no long-term health issues, and I'm just so grateful he saved her life.

Mos the country vets fhere where I live really do not/can not do a lot for a snake-bit pet dog or cat. Antivenin is prohibitively expensive and is not even kept in stock at the vet clinics we use. Nor is it recommended. Often it can cause complications as bad as or worse than the snake venom itself. Often they use a steroid shot or something else for the swelling and then an IV of fluid to flush the venom on through the animal's system as much as possible.

The old remedy our neighbors have used for decades and tell us to use is to mix some bacon grease with a egg yolk and feed that to the cat. It seems to help if you can get the cat to eat it. Often, the cat is either in pain or very letharic and doesn't want to eat anything after being snake-bitten, but sometimes I can get a cat to lick the bacon grease/egg mixture off my fingers.

Don't necessarily panic over a snakebite. There are so many variables involved and you cannot predict how a cat will react, or whether or not it will recover. Most of our cats that have been bitten have survived, and sometimes it has taken weeks. They mostly just lie around and sleep as they recover. You really have to encourage them to drink so they don't get dehydrated. You might even have to use a syringe to squirt water into the cat's mouth in an effort to get it to drink some water.

Based on my experience with the venomous snakes we have here (water moccasins, rattlesnakes and copperheads), if the cat makes it through the first 24 hours, it usually survives.

Good luck,

Dawn
scottcalv
7 years ago
Snakes are still out even though it's january. I saw a water snake curled up at the edge of a pond yesterday. And saw several snakes, mostly garters but not all, in December.
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
7 years ago
Yes, it is horrifying! I wondered if we were the only ones who have had them out sporadically this winter. Normally I can just go wherever I want and do whatever I want in winter without having to watch for snakes, but this is such an odd year that I'm not even able to do that now, except on really cold days.

We had snakes out in December, though I don't think I've seen one in January, which has been a bit colder.

One day near Near Year's Eve, my son came in from the chicken coop and said a snake had been out there....he could smell it. I told him "I know". He has had some epic battles by hand with snakes in an attempt to get the non-venomous ones out of the chicken coop before shooting them (firing a gun inside leaves bullet holes, you know) and the snakes urinate and defecate as a defense mechanism, so he knows their smell all too well, unfortunately. A couple of days prior to his pronouncement that he could smell the snakes, I had noticed that smell myself but couldn't find the snake. This winter snake experience has made me be extra careful when in and around the garage and greenhouse, both of which might be harboring snakes at this point.

We had temperatures as high as 77 in December (on the 26th) here, so it isn't surprising snakes were out on warm days looking for food. We've only been in the 60s since then though, so I'm hoping the trend towards colder weather makes the snakes go back to hibernating and stay there. Before this winter, the latest we'd ever seen snakes out was at the very end of November---the weekend after Thanksgiving. We have, however, had them out as early as February before, so some years, the snake-free season isn't nearly as long as I'd prefer for it to be.
stockergal
7 years ago
Last week we had a water well go down at one of our places. My hubby pulled the top off and it was full of water moccasins, we pulled out and killed 12 of those mean suckers. Then when the well man got here he started down and jumped back out and we killed two more. To many snakes for me. I guess they crawled down in the hole and were hibernating. I have never seen any water moccasins on this place. I think the spring flooding moved them to strange places.

Was my cat copperhead bit?

Okiedawn OK Zone 7

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