My cat was bitten by a rattlesnake again. Is it immune to venom?

Unfortunately there is nothing I would recommend doing at home, other than keeping Panther warm and encouraging water consumption as much as possible. Treatment of venomous snake bites is usually focused on pain medication with injectable opioids, IV fluid therapy, and antivenom. Monitoring blood work is important as well. If there is any way to get Panther to a vet I would recommend traveling.

Most likely this is an abscess due to a bite by another cat based on your description. A snake bite would have in most cases swollen instantly and caused serious pain and additional problems. Unfortunately this is a condition that requires systemic antibiotics to treat. You will need to get your cat to a vet for treatment. You may look to see if there are any low-cost clinics around you. Sometimes the local humane society or APL or ASPCA will have a lower cost veterinary clinic. You may find out if any of the clinics in your area offer a payment plan or allow the use of Care Credit which is credit line for medical costs you can apply for. Or you may need to ask family or friends to help out. This website may provide some other ideas/resources: http://m.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/trouble_affording_veterinary_care.html In the meantime you can help the abscess to drain by applying a warm compress (like a clean warm washrag) to the area for 5-10 minutes a few times daily and cleaning any drainage away afterwards. The longer you delay treatment by a vet the more expensive the issue may become to treat.

Poor kitty cat. Depending on what kind of snake it was, it may or may not require significant supportive care. As long as it wasn't venomous, the issue is just going to be wound care and avoiding infection. It is a little difficult to tell, but it looks like there could already be some purulent material coming from the wound site, indicating a possible infection. If this is the case, Toph will definitely require some antibiotics. You can try using something topically at first, but a lot of the times something systemic is required. You will of course need a veterinary visit to obtain such a drug. Otherwise, keeping it clean is the best thing you can do. I would stay away from things like peroxide, as they actually tend to delay healing. Use something like a dilute betadine or chlorhexidine solution. In an attempt to whet your kittie's appetite, feed something that you might not normally use that would be otherwise impossible for her to say no to. Hope this works out.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! You could try to keep it clean but aside from that, I am afraid that he will need veterinary care. Puncture or bite wounds can get infected rather quickly and result in a fever which may be why he is not eating. They can form abscesses that require local treatment and antibiotics. You could perhaps consider taking him to an emergency veterinarian who is open over the weekend. Good luck and have a great day!

First of all you can't know for sure if there was release of venom or not, unless you know for a fact that the snake was not venomous. secondly swelling should be expected with or without venom, but of course it would be less severe and will usually take more time to develop, an infection can definitely develop as well.

Is this the location where the envenomation occurred? There could still be residual swelling and gravity is taking it to the lowest place. Otherwise the skin could be becoming necrotic from the bite. I would recommend a follow up appointment with your veterinarian just to make sure that nothing serious is happening. I’m so glad he made it through that crisis! What a scare!

There is a rattlesnake venom vaccine that is on the market, but there is not concrete research to show hat the vaccine works and many veterinarians do not recommend the vaccine. At best, the vaccine might lessen the 'severity' of a bite but immediate veterinary care would still be recommended. Some veterinarians do recommend training clinics where dogs are conditioned to avoid rattlesnakes - you could ask your veterinarian if rattlesnake avoidance training is available in your area.