Hi friends-

One of our beloved cats was bitten by a rattlesnake on Wednesday night. We took her to the vet right away and she was misdiagnosed with a “dry” bite. We took her home to continue monitoring her and she began to rapidly decline over the next 36 hours. We brought her in to the emergency vet on Friday night and found out she had been bitten by a rattlesnake and had extensive damage to her tissue due to the length of time the venom had been in her small body. We’re convinced that if we had waited till the morning to bring her in, she wouldn’t have survived the night. She’s currently hospitalized and receiving antivenom treatment. Unfortunately, she has extensive damage to the soft tissue all over her leg and belly where the venom spread. She faces an uphill battle to recovery which will require major wound care to heal the tissue she lost due to necrosis from the venom. We’re hopeful she will be able to fully recover and have a good quality of life. She’s only 3 years old and has a lot of life ahead of her. She started out her life dumped on the side of the road as a small kitten with an eye that needed to be removed. She was given a second chance at life then and we’re hoping she will make a full recovery again. Willie is our sweet, adventurous girl and our home isn’t complete without her.

The stay in the hospital and subsequent treatments have added up quickly and unexpectedly- If you’re able to help at all, we and Willie would greatly appreciate it.