Many people associate snake activity with the warming weather so Summer is known as snake season. However they are also quite active as the weather cools as they try to find places to warm up so it is best to be vigilant in Autumn too.

Snakes are shy creatures and will avoid contact if they can, but our pets (and many people!) don’t know that. If a snake feels threatened, it will bite.

Most common around this area is the eastern brown snake. Not all eastern brown snakes are brown in colour and not all brown coloured snakes are eastern browns. Non-venomous snakes can be easily confused with the very venomous eastern brown snake.

Other common venomous snakes in this area are...

the red belly black, tiger, whip, rough scaled and small eyed snake.

If you see your cat or dog getting bitten or you have a strong suspicion, DO NOT WASTE ANY TIME. Contact the vet immediately for a examination of your pet.

Snake bite envenomation can present in many different ways. Most obvious is when the animal continues to bleed from the bite site or is staggering. Your animal can be restless and anxious, unstable on its feet, paralysed, can even start fitting - all this within an hour of the bite. After this first episode they can improve, only to severely crash a few hours later.

Sometimes the animal might only present depressed without appetite or will to move - symptoms you can see with basically any other disease!

In cats the onset of symptoms is slower. Cats commonly become completely paralysed. The cat can also be restless and anxious, might be drooling or bleeding from the bite site.

Envenomated animals often can’t clot their blood, so a simple clotting test can be an important diagnostic tool. Furthermore their red blood cells can break down and this can easily be seen in a few drops of blood. Finally their muscles react strongly to the venom and this can be tested in the blood as well.

Antivenin especially for brown snakes is available, but if the snake species in question is unknown, treatment with multi-antivenin is used.

With appropriate treatment, animals can recover well from snake bite envenomation, but the sooner the treatment- the better the chance of full recovery! Treatment includes hospitalisation with intravenous fluids following antivenin administration, but may also include oxygen therapy, medication to stop seizures, antibiotics, and more.

The take home messages – don’t mess with snakes and don’t delay bringing your pet to the vet! Treatment for snake bite can be expensive. To find out about treatment, costs and pet insurance please contact our friendly staff.