Phew…good thing you forgot about John Coltrane!
Dani…how is Rocket today?
[B]ps / btw …
MMEEEOOOOOOWWWWWWWW!! :winkgrin:[/B]
Dani…hide Rocket, our Zu Zu is on the prowl for ginger kitties!
Rocket stays with dani0303 ~ he needs his mom for recovery ~ at least for the time being :winkgrin::lol:
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Rocket is a total superstar. He lost another scab off of his head wound today which revealed even more healthy tissue underneath. He’s 100% back to normal and thankfully showing no interest in bolting outside.
This evening I mowed our overgrown leech field in the backyard and in the process mowed right over top of a rattlesnake and killed it (without even seeing it :eek:). It was probably only 50’ from my backdoor. I’m telling myself that it was the snake that bit Rocket so I can finally have closure from the whole incident. My credit card debt will last a while but my baby is completely healthy and that’s what matters most.
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Be very careful with those mowed over rattlers, they are not always dead.
I did just that the other day, may have been the one that bit my horse six weeks ago, was right behind the horse barn.
It was not completely dead and could have still bitten someone, scary.
We have a badger that moved in and I think it has taken care of all snakes, rabbits rats and mice around.
Badgers track prey into holes and then dig until they get to them, some times feet down in there.
They can dig many huge holes in one night out.
The badger itself is a problem also.
Glad that Rocket is doing so well, maybe he won’t again have one of those hair raising encounters.
He is a real trouper, he made it when many cats don’t.
That’s fantastic, so glad that he’s okay and doing so well.
What are the chances of a cat surviving such an episode?
Also, this shows what a dedicated cat mum you are and how much you love Rocket.
I went back and removed the head to ensure he was dead. He was only there for about an hour before I saw a hawk take the body from my living room window
He’s the only one my medium sized er clinic in a small city has seen survive. It’s pretty rare because most cats who get bit run and hide and don’t get help in time. Rocket actually came and found my husband so we were able to get him to the vet quickly
She was a beautiful cat. I’m so sorry you lost her.
I think we just got really lucky. The vet could only find one fang mark. He didn’t think it was a dry bite but he likely didn’t get a full dose of venom either. Being young and a cat, Rocket was likely antagonizing the snake and it bit him out of self defense. I don’t like killing wildlife but I don’t feel bad about killing the snake last night either.
It’s the driest and hottest part of the year and they’re coming close to the house in search of water. I just have to be super diligent about keeping everything mowed short because they seem to avoid it when there isn’t much place to hide.
[B]I Hate snakes:mad: !
I LOVE ROCKET !
So glad he is back to being ‘Rocket’ ![/B]
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Would it be possible to put a couple hoses together and put a sprinkler on and make a wet spot to attract the snakes far away from the house?
Glad your kitty will be ok!
I’m resurrecting this recent-ish thread with my snakebit cat in my lap.
Two weeks ago I was dressing for a funeral and my typically non-vocal cat came through the cat door yowling. I tracked her to the closet, where she was hiding balled up and panting and blinking one eye rapidly. Threw her in a rubbermaid tub - because of course someone had borrowed the cat carrier - and got her to the vet.
Within eight hours she was paralyzed except for the tip of her tail. Couldn’t blink, couldn’t swallow, couldn’t move. Heartbreakingly, she did purr when I spoke to her and pet her head. The paralysis and lack of necrotic tissue points to a Mojave rattler. She could not be given pain relief because of fear that the drugs would further suppress her breathing, which already took great effort on her part. She was given an IV to help her kidneys function. The vet opted not to give antivenin because initially it was not clear which variety of rattler bit her: diamondback, Mojave, black tail or rock. Different snakes have different neurotoxins or hematoxins; you don’t want to give the wrong antivenin.
So she got no treatment except for the IV and a heating pad. We visited every day. At five days, she could move her head. On the sixth, the vet arrived in the morning to find her sitting up quite shakily. On the seventh day, in the evening, she ate for the first time. Her palate and the top of her throat were terribly ulcerated…that’s why she waited so long to eat.
Monkey is a very small cat to begin with, about five and a half pounds. We brought her home after eight days at the vet and she was very thin. She ate and slept like a teenage boy for five or six days after coming home. It took her awhile to be able to jump. She is just now beginning to blink more or less normally. She has some muscle wastage in her back legs and her cheek where she was bitten is not symmetrical yet. She limps a little. But she’s happy, back to normal, if a little slow moving. We’re so glad to have her home.
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Ugh! Say what you want about snow, but I definitely now want to keep WNY!!!
So glad to hear of the cats doing better, but sounds like a very rough road.
So happy that Monkey survived and is hopefully doing well!
I hope she got pain meds when her breathing wasn’t compromised anymore.
No, she never got pain meds. Her vitals were all normal - surprisingly enough - once the paralysis began to lift and the vets thought she was doing well without it and, frankly, they believed that she was pain free other than her ulcerated mouth.
Apparently this is not the case with diamondbacks. Diamondbacks are painful; Mojaves and black tails are thought to be not nearly as painful but you get the paralysis.
The vets see 100 snake bites a year; I figured they really know what they’re doing and I trusted their judgment. But she’s doing real well now - thanks for your good wishes!
Thank you for explaining that, I know nothing of snake bites or the differences of symptoms between different types of snake bites.
She’s a lucky Monkey!!
I’m surprised that there are different anti-venins. In humans, the treatment for nearly all venomous snakebites in the US is Crofab, which handles bites by any pit viper species.
I’m so glad your cat pulled through.
StG
I just saw your story rockymouse and I have grateful tears in my eyes for you and Monkey!!
It took Rocket a good 2+ weeks for all of his neurological symptoms to resolve. He’s also a fairly small cat at 7 lbs. He’s now 100% back to normal with the exception of a small scar on the top of his head. We were lucky that there’s only one species of rattlesnakes (prairie) in my area.
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Thanks for the good wishes, everyone. StG, I’m no vet and so the following may not be 100 percent accurate, but apparently there are several antivenins used in animals. The one that includes eastern/western diamondback and Mojaves apparently does not work - or at least does not work well - on Mojave cases here. (I’m talking animals that are bitten, not people.)
My horse vet has been in contact with an antivenin maker and they’re apparently working with him to strengthen the Mojave aspect of the product. The horse vet believes we have a strain or subspecies of Mojave locally that is extra potent. It’s very frustrating for him, as a vet, and for livestock owners. We have friends who have lost - brace for it - 11 horses to rattlesnake bites in the last 18 months, plus three dogs. A fourth dog was bitten and survived. Part of the issue is that horses are obligate nose-breathers. Horses are usually bitten on the nose and if it’s from a diamondback, it will cause swelling and the airway closes. As I understand it, when a horse is bitten by a Mojave, they are encumbered by the paralysis, lie down and eventually suffocate.
We’re ready for the cold weather to come so they’ll go away for a few months!
We let Monkey have access to the cat door a few days ago as she was desperate to get outside again. She’s not a candidate as an indoor cat. I walked into the kitchen on Monday, three weeks post-bite, and on the floor was a dead bird and a very proud cat. Monkey twined around my legs as if to say “I still got it!” She is back to normal now - jumping with ease, no more limping, her mojo is restored.
We’re all real pleased…
