Viper attack

Our cat came in last Sunday afternoon, making even more noise than usual.  On inspection it turned out that his rear right paw was very swollen, so we suspected a snake bite.  We called up the vet's office, on the sunday of a bank holiday weekend, and got an immediate response.  We explained the situation and the vet said he would see us at his office as soon as we could get there.

The very unhappy cat got his leg shaved, revealing several puncture wounds, and ended up on the recieving end of several jabs.  We left the vet's with instructions to keep a close eye on him, call immediately if he got worse, and otherwise bring him in on Tuesday for a checkup.  The cat spent the rest of the day and the following night curled up on a sofa, not moving.

I didn't realise but Vipers can kill cows.  They tend to bite the neck, which is a bit close to the heart for comfort, but also, a necrosis can set in and spread.   We have to watch out for signs of this (paw swelling again) in the cat.

The bill? 80 euro for two visits including an emergency call-in on a bank holiday weekend.  Not bad.