Nick, my sister’s Siamese, asked me to confirm the goodness of raw rabbit for cats’ teeth and condition. He lives in country NSW and often brings home feral rabbit (thousands are currently swarming the farm) to supplement the meagre offerings of his staff.
Nick’s favourite stashing place for rabbits and other treasures is under my niece’s bed. One morning my niece woke up to a crash and snapped on the light in time to see Nick disappearing under the bed with a 6 foot long brown snake hooked to his ear. After some commotion Nick emerged with his usual elegance leaving the snake writhing under the bed for the staff to clean up.
The family were left in a quandary. Should they rush him to the vet or not? In the end they did but the snake must have pushed his fangs through the ear and wasted the venom on the ground because Nick didn’t develop any signs of snake bite.
Most people only know that their cat has been bitten when he becomes paralysed by the venom next day. Antivenom, intravenous fluids and TLC save most cats from Australian brown snake envenomation.
PS Nick has flawless teeth and a perfect condition score at 12 years of age – from all that raw meat and exercise! My city cats can only dream of such freedoms and good health.
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