I was renting a house in Pittsburgh that I was thinking of buying.
I put the litter boxes in the basement, and everything was going great.
One day I noticed a small, two pronged "bite" on my cat Butters head. It scabbed up and went away with no problem. I didn't consider it to be a big deal, after keeping an eye on it, and it disappating, didn't see much to be done after that.
A couple weeks later, my cat Kimba appeared with the same two pronged scab on the side of his head, right where Butters was. This time I kept an eye on it.
As the day went on after the discovery on Kimba's head, his fur seemed to be fluffed up a bit. I wasn't sure if I was being paranoid, so I just kept an eye on it. By nighttime, his face was swollen. I webcammed with my mom in Florida, and she said take him to the vet in the morning.
Next morning comes, I wake up, and am totally shocked. A baseball sized lump was on his face. I immediately took him to the vet.
The vet asked me if Kimba was an outdoor cat, which I replied no, because he's never been outside. He asked me if I had any other pets, to which I replied I had Butters. He said "no snakes?" Nope. He said the bite looked like "two fangs." He decided the cats must have had to have gotten in a fight, which was an answer I wasn't comfortable with, because the two cats have never even lifted a paw to one another.
Then, the vet took his temperature in the back. When he came back, they said he has a 108 degree fever. The doctor gave him an antibiotic shot, and an anti-inflammatory shot. They said Kimba's fever was dangerouly high, and could cause organ failure or recover with brain damage.
The vet informed me that the abcess would burst in a day or two, gave Kimba the cone of shame, and I took him home.
Once Kimba was home, I went into the basement for whatever reason. When I walked up the stairs, I was confronted with a shedded snake skin. I proceeded to freak out, and call the vet. The vet said "I thought you didn't have any snakes." and to which I replied, "it was a wild snake that got in the house!" The course of action for Kimba's recovery did not change. The vet would not be able to identify what kind of snake it was.
I decided to call the Wildlife people. A man identified the snake as a 6-8 foot Black Rat Snake. They are not poisonous (which makes sense since Butters healed with not problem.) Kimba's bite seemed to get infected. The man would NOT remove the snake, aparantly the entire foundation of the house was cracked, and needed to be redone, or else the snakes would just keep coming in.
I moved the litter boxes up to the main floor, and closed the basement door once and for all.
At this point, Kimba was really suffering. He wouldn't eat, drink, or go to the bathroom. He would walk into a corner, and just stare at the ground, totally confused. I didn't think he was going to make it. I sat for hours holding him, rocking him on the rocking chair.
I decided to get him some wet food, and cats milk. When I poured the cats milk onto a dish, it happened. The abcess burst.
I've NEVER seen anything like this. It was like a dam broke- Blood and pus just POURED out. Kimba freaked out, and was running wild around the house, blood everywhere. I managed to get him, and calm him down. For the next 2 hours, I was busy cleaning the open wound, making sure it was clean and no dirt. I must have used over 200 q-tips and warm, damp towels to remove the excess blood and pus. He was moaning in pain- it was horrible.
However, from here on out, things started to get better. Kimba was coming around- eating, drinking, and FINALLY going to the bathroom.
I took him back a week later for his second round of shots. The doctor said the wound was healing, and a couple more weeks of the cone, and he would be good to go.
Luckily his organs didn't shut down. Since the bite, he isn't the smartest cat out there, but he functions well, runs around, and is a very happy cat.
Once he was healed, I moved out of the house, and stayed in a small apartment for a month before moving out of state.
I'm glad Kimba is happy and healthy again. He has a rough start to life prior, he was being terribly abused before I rescued him. Regardless, Kimba has turned out to be a great cat. I'm so lucky to have him!
I'm attaching the pic of Kimba's bite. This is on the side of his face. Second pic of him is him healed and healthy again.
Thanks for reading
!
I put the litter boxes in the basement, and everything was going great.
One day I noticed a small, two pronged "bite" on my cat Butters head. It scabbed up and went away with no problem. I didn't consider it to be a big deal, after keeping an eye on it, and it disappating, didn't see much to be done after that.
A couple weeks later, my cat Kimba appeared with the same two pronged scab on the side of his head, right where Butters was. This time I kept an eye on it.
As the day went on after the discovery on Kimba's head, his fur seemed to be fluffed up a bit. I wasn't sure if I was being paranoid, so I just kept an eye on it. By nighttime, his face was swollen. I webcammed with my mom in Florida, and she said take him to the vet in the morning.
Next morning comes, I wake up, and am totally shocked. A baseball sized lump was on his face. I immediately took him to the vet.
The vet asked me if Kimba was an outdoor cat, which I replied no, because he's never been outside. He asked me if I had any other pets, to which I replied I had Butters. He said "no snakes?" Nope. He said the bite looked like "two fangs." He decided the cats must have had to have gotten in a fight, which was an answer I wasn't comfortable with, because the two cats have never even lifted a paw to one another.
Then, the vet took his temperature in the back. When he came back, they said he has a 108 degree fever. The doctor gave him an antibiotic shot, and an anti-inflammatory shot. They said Kimba's fever was dangerouly high, and could cause organ failure or recover with brain damage.
The vet informed me that the abcess would burst in a day or two, gave Kimba the cone of shame, and I took him home.
Once Kimba was home, I went into the basement for whatever reason. When I walked up the stairs, I was confronted with a shedded snake skin. I proceeded to freak out, and call the vet. The vet said "I thought you didn't have any snakes." and to which I replied, "it was a wild snake that got in the house!" The course of action for Kimba's recovery did not change. The vet would not be able to identify what kind of snake it was.
I decided to call the Wildlife people. A man identified the snake as a 6-8 foot Black Rat Snake. They are not poisonous (which makes sense since Butters healed with not problem.) Kimba's bite seemed to get infected. The man would NOT remove the snake, aparantly the entire foundation of the house was cracked, and needed to be redone, or else the snakes would just keep coming in.
I moved the litter boxes up to the main floor, and closed the basement door once and for all.
At this point, Kimba was really suffering. He wouldn't eat, drink, or go to the bathroom. He would walk into a corner, and just stare at the ground, totally confused. I didn't think he was going to make it. I sat for hours holding him, rocking him on the rocking chair.
I decided to get him some wet food, and cats milk. When I poured the cats milk onto a dish, it happened. The abcess burst.
I've NEVER seen anything like this. It was like a dam broke- Blood and pus just POURED out. Kimba freaked out, and was running wild around the house, blood everywhere. I managed to get him, and calm him down. For the next 2 hours, I was busy cleaning the open wound, making sure it was clean and no dirt. I must have used over 200 q-tips and warm, damp towels to remove the excess blood and pus. He was moaning in pain- it was horrible.
However, from here on out, things started to get better. Kimba was coming around- eating, drinking, and FINALLY going to the bathroom.
I took him back a week later for his second round of shots. The doctor said the wound was healing, and a couple more weeks of the cone, and he would be good to go.
Luckily his organs didn't shut down. Since the bite, he isn't the smartest cat out there, but he functions well, runs around, and is a very happy cat.
Once he was healed, I moved out of the house, and stayed in a small apartment for a month before moving out of state.
I'm glad Kimba is happy and healthy again. He has a rough start to life prior, he was being terribly abused before I rescued him. Regardless, Kimba has turned out to be a great cat. I'm so lucky to have him!
I'm attaching the pic of Kimba's bite. This is on the side of his face. Second pic of him is him healed and healthy again.
Thanks for reading
!
I would just absolutely die.
