Q&A for How to Treat a Cat for Snakebite

Snake bites are painful so you can expect the cat to be distressed. Observe the cat to see where she is in pain. If she was bitten on a leg, then she will limp on that leg. Then carefully part the fur to see if there are a pair of puncture marks. There may be some ooze or bleeding from the wounds. In addition, the surrounding skin may look angry, reddened, or swollen. If in any doubt, take the cat to the vet immediately.

There is no easy answer, since it depends on the type of snake and how much venom was injected. In the worst case, a snake bite could be fatal in less than an hour, while for the cat that is bitten but recovers, it may have tissue damage where it was bitten which causes skin to slough and fall off, and could take weeks to recover from.

Absolutely. A cat that disturbs a snake is every bit as likely to get bitten as people or dogs. Unfortunately, a young, playful cat may even regard a wriggly snake as something good to pounce on, with disastrous consequences.

There are a lot of variables which govern the recovery period. A 'dry' bite (where no venom is injected) will be sore, but if it doesn't become infected, the cat will be better in 7 days or so. If venom is injected, how quickly the cat gets to the vet for treatment also has an impact. Some cats need hospitalization for a week or more, and it can take weeks or months to recover.

Sadly, no. Cats are just as vulnerable to snake venom as dogs or people. Sometimes stories of this sort get into folklore because the animal was bitten by a 'dry' bite, or a bite during which the snake did not release venom because they had recently bitten another animal.