Long story short, my cat who goes out and night and comes in during the day, wasn't at his usual perch this morning waiting to come in. I finally found him a few minutes ago and one of his front legs is swollen pretty bad. No signs of broken bones or other injuries. I've looked and don't really see any spots on his leg but think this could possibly be a snake bite.

I live in eastern NC so there's a ton of snake possibilities including several poisonous. If he has gone all day without medical care and is acting happy and fine (other than huge leg and very slight limping) is there a big need to rush to the vet tonight?

Google says go right away but also lists symptoms as vomiting, convulsions, diarrhea, etc.

Thoughts, ideas, suggestions?

6/8/2010 8:29:25 PM

a venomous snake bite would hit pretty quickly so if he is doing ok right now you can go ahead and rule that out. I dont think a regular snake bite would case such inflammation but I have never run across that situation so my opinion could be wrong. IMO if he is eating, drinking, and generally acting like normal you can wait until the morning to take him to the vet.

Any of the signs you mentioned then definitely take him to the vet. Also watch for lack of movement, slow reaction or lack of awareness, and infection.

[Edited on June 8, 2010 at 8:39 PM. Reason : a]

6/8/2010 8:37:33 PM

Quote :

"GO IMMEDIATELY VET"

6/8/2010 8:39:51 PM

Yea...my assumption on something venomous would be a more immediate reaction. I managed to hold him down long enough to shave part of his leg and there is a very small wound but it is definitely not a puncture wound. He's also not pulling away like he would do if there was any extreme pain. Just an insane amount of swelling. Thanks!

6/8/2010 8:42:43 PM

Mine was bit by a copperhead(I assume, they're plentiful here). Had two nice fang marks. All the fur fell out around the wound and it ran a fever for a couple weeks, but the cat was fine otherwise.

I suppose it could have been incisors from some mammal, though.

6/8/2010 10:02:02 PM

I'm going to guess a wound and infection...

6/8/2010 10:34:30 PM

should be fine, but if you are super worried, then just go ahead.

6/9/2010 12:58:35 AM

Basic wound/bite with a staph infection is worse than a snake bite. Go to the vet.

6/9/2010 1:36:43 AM

might be a spider bite....one of my dogs got one on his nose a few months ago. Puffed up pretty big for a while. Vet said to just watch the swelling and come in if he started acting weird.

6/9/2010 10:10:02 AM

Leg is almost back to normal size today. The cat isn't limping, no wound, no pus, etc.

6/9/2010 8:48:26 PM

Catastrophe avoided.

6/10/2010 9:59:02 AM

Quote :

"I managed to hold him down long enough to shave part of his leg"

I bet that was fun

Cats seem pretty impervious to bites in my experience, so if he's acting fine now then he should be alright. Keep an eye on the wound and if it doesn't show progress in healing then go to the vet

[Edited on June 10, 2010 at 10:02 AM. Reason : within a few days or this week]

6/10/2010 10:02:20 AM

Snakes are venomous, not poisonous.

6/10/2010 12:03:12 PM