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My outside momma cat (she is spayed now of course) seems to have gotten bit by a snake. We found her laying on her side. Her tongue was swelled up and she appeared to have diarrhea. We called the vet and they said it sounds like a bite or a sting. Mom went to the store to get liquid Benedryl, which the vet recommended.
Anyway, while Mom was gone I found the bite on her back right food. The foot is swollen. The cat has shown signs of improvement. She tried to walk, except she didn't put any weight on that leg. Before when I picked her up she was very limp. She tried to drink some water. She is perkier now than she was.
She is now sitting up on her side. She is still breathing hard, but I don't know if that is from poison in the bite or if she is just nervous (cats pant when they are nervous). We'll call the vet again soon and see what they say. We'll take her to the vet if we need to, but since those bills can run into the hundreds of dollars we want to see first if she improves. She is showing signs of improvement. She's drooling and her breathing sounds weird, but I suspect that is from the swollen tongue.
If it was a poisonous snake I guess the diarrhea and the swollen tongue would be signs of that. Since she is showing signs of improving we're hoping it was not a deadly snake. Of course, the bite could be from something else. We are not positive. Are some snakes poisonous to cats but not deadly?
Looking at her foot, I can't find any bites actually. She has something hard and cylindrical where it shouldn't be in her foot. I'm wondering if she broke her foot, but then why would she have those other symptoms? There's no blood that we can find.
We may end up taking her to the vet. We're just watching right now to see if she improves.
Her back right leg is completely limp and turned around and her left leg has a really bad scratch looking mark on it. I'm not sure what to do. I don't think I can afford to take her to the vet and get all of this treated. If it costs hundreds of dollars and she got bitten by a snake anyway I don't think I can afford that, nor can I continue to ask my parents for help.
She may have been hit by a car. I know cats are safer in the house, but that's not really possible with five cats. This cat in particular was very territorial and would not do well in the house with my other cats, one of whom is territorial. I wish I could do more for this cat, but I just don't know what to do. I don't have hundreds of dollars to spend to fix her foot. Maybe I'm a bad pet owner, but I just don't have that kind of money.
You are not a bad pet owner. You have cared for so many of the strays that have shown up on your property. It's not as though you are actively adopting animals that you can't afford. You do all that you can do with the limited resources that you have and the fact that you are in a very rural community.
If you must take her to the vet - clearly state that funds are limited. What can the vet do to make her feel better, for the least amount of money? He/she should be able to give you a number of options. You may not be happy with the options presented, but understand that you can only do what you can.
The closest animal hospitals are at least a half-hour away. They all close at 5. Any animal hospital I contact within an hour-and-a-half of us closes at 5. I hope we don't have to wait until the morning to take her. She appears to be in pain.
Fortunately our other outside cat appears to be fine. I guess they weren't together when this happened.
I hate to see her suffer, but every vet's office within 2 hours of here is closed. We'll just have to try to keep her comfortable until we can take her to the vet in the morning. I don't know what to do.
One vet's office has an emergency service. I called the regular vet office and got the emergency number. The answering machine said that it can cost $100 just to see her. She doesn't appear to be in pain, so she may have to wait until morning.
Last edited by STLCardsBlues1989; 06-27-2012 at 04:26 PM..
I'm responding because I can tell your distraught ,I would be too, if I was in your situation.
But since I'm not, it's easier for me to try and access the situation based on available vet services and whether it would be better to spend that $100, just to walk in the door, on actual vet services tomorrow if necessary.
You said she is suffering, what did you base that on? What symptoms? Maybe you/we should look those symptoms up online and see if they are possibly life threatening.
It seems she is doing better now than when you first found her. If she continues to improve maybe she can sleep through the night, that way she won't feel any pain.
As always, on these forums, we aren't a substitute for vet care and we don't have the ability to see first hand what you can see.
I've had to weigh going to the emergency room against waiting until morning, 3 times in the year I've had Meeko, so I know it is difficult, and a different decision could be made in each situation.
Keep us updated, or ask for support if you feel overwhelmed.
I can't really tell if she is suffering or not. She is breathing kind of hard, but part of that might be because her tongue is swollen. Cats pant when they are nervous, anyway. She isn't making any noise. She doesn't appear to be in pain, but I can't really tell. She might be thirsty. Her tongue is all dried out (it's still swollen). I could try forcing water down her, but I'm afraid she might choke on it. The Benedryl we gave her earlier calmed her, but I'm afraid I might overdose her if I give her more.
Last edited by STLCardsBlues1989; 06-27-2012 at 05:31 PM..
My thoughts for now: since you won't be sleeping much tonight anyway, keep an eye on her and if she has trouble breathing (whether it's because of her tongue or could be because of her lungs) or her tongue swells up again, then I would definitely take her to a vet. Breathing isn't optional.
I've had too many experiences where the vet can't figure out what the problem is anyway, so if she can rest or sleep tonight, it might be just as well not to put her in a carrier and drive 2 hours with her.
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