Frail, elderly cat survives encounter with the world's second most venomous snake

NEWS AND VIEWS - BRISBANE: The experts have decided that this was an Eastern Brown snake. It is described as having venom which is rated as the second most toxic of all snake venoms in the world. An untreated Eastern Brown snake bite can kill a person in under an hour and it is arguably the quickest killing venom in the world. An expert said that no other snake in the world has killed people so quickly and so regularly.

Frail, elderly cat survives encounter with the world's second most venomous snake. Picture: Rebecca Daynes.

And this snake was found wrapped around the neck of a frail and elderly cat by the cat's owner, Rebecca Daynes. It seems the stake came out of the bush as her home backs onto the kind of habitat where this snake lives.

She says that she was terrified which is entirely understandable and that she removed the snake from her cat describing that moment as "probably the most stupid thing I could have done". It is reported that she used salad tongs to remove the snake. 😊

The remarkable aspect of the story is that the snake didn't bite the cat or Rebecca Daynes. In fact, the story says that the snake was injured but survived the encounter as did the cat.

The snake wriggled off back into the bushland and Rebecca Daynes hopes that it will survive.

It's not known why the snake decided to wrap itself around her cat's neck but it is suggested that it was to defend itself.

RELATED: Do cats have the quickest reflexes of all land-based mammals?

A while ago I did some research on reaction times of snakes and cats. Cats have faster reaction times than snakes which is remarkable considering that snakes have a very fast reaction times. It's partly why cats can kill snakes and avoid a bite. When a snake lunges forward to bite a cat, the cat simply rears backwards and outpaces the snake's movements.

RELATED:  Domestic cat reaction times are scarily fast compared to ours and most other animals (comparison table).

An then the cat will bat the snake around the head and ultimately kill the snake. That is how the diminutive sand cat operates to kill snakes as prey animals.

This snake was injured so it looks as though it was attacked by the cat in defence. Of course domestic cats do get bitten by snakes from time to time perhaps partly because the domestic cat is out of practice with dealing with them.

The last point to make is that Craig and Jackie Adams who ran a Facebook group about snake and spider safety awareness said that "Snake identification isn't always straightforward and many factors can make identification from a photo difficult". This implies that they are not sure that they snake was an Eastern Brown snake on my interpretation.

After the encounter, Rebecca Daynes said that her cat tried to go out again and hasn't learned any lessons! It looks as though she doesn't need to learn any lessons because she is well able to deal with snakes despite being frail and old.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Female cat of 14 years keeps wetting herself when she sleeps. Cause?

Matsa has urinary incontinence when sleeping. Image: Reddit. com.

'My elderly lady of 14 years keeps wetting herself when she sleeps. Is this common in older cats or should I take her to the vet ASAP?' The person is asking the question on social media. I don't really like that. But anyway, I answered the question as follows:

"The age may be significant. My top-quality vet book states: "Geriatric cats may lose some or all of their control over urination and leak, especially when sleeping."

That seems to cover your cat's problem but it could be something else as the guys below have mentions such as FLUTD. Normally urinary incontinence is caused by a neurological problem or a recurring urinary obstruction causing a distended bladder.

But the fact that it happens when sleeping...plus the age indicates an old age problem. I guess malfunctioning anatomy due to age. Last point. Your cat is obese - no criticism intended but obesity is a risk factor for urinary incontinence. Diabetes? Kidney problems? 

The source for that response is: Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook Third Edition. It is a great book. Very comprehensive and very readable.  But no substitute for seeing a vet in a timely manner.

Also, I noticed the cat is obese and queried it. Obesity causes all kinds of health problems. Especially in old cats. Obesity in old cats is likely for shorten their lifespan.

I expect this to be a rare problem. There may not be a lot the owner can do to improve things if it is due to old age and the only way to find out is to take the cat to the vet as soon as is convenient.

I sense that age and obesity are behind this problem.

Infographics on cat behavioural changes linked to health and on osteoarthritis in elderly cats

The information in this infographic about osteoarthritis in elderly cats may surprise you. It is a major health issue about which cat owners should be aware as it affects cat caregiving. Looking after domestic cats entering old age demands a little bit more vigilance to spot changes in a range of activities and sounds etc..

Observant cat caregivers can see changes in their cat when they are ill. They might not be able to identify the illness but to observe changes in activities, vocalisations, gait, and general behavior can be a signpost to understanding an as yet unidentified illness. 

The infographic below may help a cat caregiver in guiding them through these difficult times. This is a double cross-post from 2 other posts. They are overlapping topics concerning cats entering and during old age.

I hope you find them handy and if so please leave a comment and share your personal experiences to expand on the topic.

90-year-old couple take their elderly cat for a homemade cat stroller walk daily!

Cool. What makes it even cooler is the homemade cat stroller (re-purposed) used by an elderly couple to give their equally elderly cat, Angus, some mental stimulation. 

This is not the real thing but a neat substitute for an elderly cat who stays put. There's no roof on the 'stroller'. No problem. He has no intention of jumping out. They are a great elderly threesome, and I bet they catch the eye of pedestrians.

90-year-old man pushes a homemade cat stroller with elderly cat on a walk for himself, his cat and his wife who is the same age. Image: Screenshot.

It is their granddaughter who posted the video below on TikTok. They've got some attention there too as the video is heading towards 1 million views. Although TikTok fudges the viewing figures because they put the videos on a loop which probably doubles the true number.

Look, there is hardly anything better in the world of cat ownership and caregiving than seeing an elderly couple adopt an elderly cat (I presume from an animal shelter) and then use a cat stroller to provide some mental stimulation for their cat and some exercise and mental stimulation for themselves at the same time. Wise.

Shelter says: "The only cat left on our adoption floor is Bell" -video

This is a TikTok video of an eight-year-old shelter cat named Bell. She is female which is unusual for a ginger tabby and she is the only cat at the shelter as you can see when the video camera roams down the aisle of shelter cages with not a cat in sight. By implication, Bell is the only cat left because she is middle-aged in cat years. She looks very cautious when the person making the video enters her cage. This is understandable.

Bell emerges from hiding in her shelter enclosure. Screenshot.

On the outside of her enclosure there is a sign saying "free roaming". I am not sure what that means in this instance. I don't think Bell was free-roaming but she might have been. Perhaps it means that she is able to roam freely in a larger than usual enclosure or area at the cat shelter.

@gcace_rescue The only cat left on our adoption floor is Bell💔 #adoptaseniorcat #foster #rescue #animalshelter #fyp #catsoftiktok ♬ original sound - m.a.r.y s.h.a.n.t.i

Once again, it looks like a very nicely set up cat shelter with great facilities. It is a sad video and it provides an insight into how shelter cats feel.

I wonder if they could have provided a better hiding place for Bell? She hides under what appears to be a plastic stool. A customised hiding place might be better. She needs to hide because she is timid or understandably anxious. That is very clear judging by the video. She is out of her normal environment and in a very strange and rather sterile place.

This shelter cat she needs a nice home where she is loved. It is, of course, sad that she has been rejected by potential adopters. Elderly cats are not infrequently left on the shelf so to speak. This is not only unfair but inadvisable.

RELATED: Video: POV-what a senior cat at a shelter sees and hears as adopters walk by.

Elderly cats make really good companion animals. They know the ropes. They settle into a new home more easily and more quickly. They are more accepting because they have more life experience. They don't chase around the place like kittens do causing a certain amount of mayhem. All-in-all they are an excellent cat to adopt. 

RELATED: Florida veterinarian said senior cat was ‘suffering’ and euthanizes her on the day of intake at SPCA.

The only downside is that they are likely to die before the adopter. In which case you have to be prepared emotionally for that very difficult time in a caregiver's duty when you have to decide if and when you need to euthanise your cat. 

It is the toughest time for a concerned cat caregiver. The moment might be protracted because of chronic illness. Not easy to deal with. But the benefits, in my view, of adopting a senior cat far outweigh the negatives.

Note: This is a video from another website which is embedded here. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

Young woman adopted an older kitty who had been returned to the shelter a few times

The picture is very good if not excellent and the behavior of this young woman was also excellent. She's being rewarded by the love of her elderly cat. You get back what your invest plus more when you adopt unwanted shelter cats. We know that older cats tend to 'stay on the shelf' at shelters. They are just less popular but there are many advantages. They are more domesticated. They know how to live with humans and they are more placid and pliable. They fit in better. And I think they appreciate their new home more as they have managed to escape the shelter sometimes after a long stay.

Here is the picture. A nice one. It must be a selfie so the photographer is the lady you see in the pic.

Young woman adopted an older kitty who had been returned to the shelter a few times. I took the liberty of improving the image quality slightly but the original was still very good.

I recommend adopting the shelter cats that are unwanted. Invest in the cat. Look beyond the appearance. Invest in the relationship and focus on it plus the personality of the cat. The rewards will flow.

I don't know anymore about this brown tabby cat or the woman as she posted the photo and the title but no other information. But the most important thing is known: she did something great and took a nice picture to boot.

Cat health Tip: give this supplement to your old, senile cat

Due partly to improved nutrition, domestic cats are living longer. Some people argue that humans live too long! I am one of those people but this is about cats and as they live longer there is a greater possibility that they will become senile. Feline senility appears to be increasingly common. In many cases this is just a manifestation of old age and not the result of an illness of some sort such as a brain tumour.

Pops an elderly rescue cat. Photo: in public domain. Pops is also partially-sighted.

Incidence of senility

A study found that more than 25% of cats in the age bracket 11-14 had signs of true senility. In cats older than 15, senility affected around half. It's caused by reduced blood flow to the brain and damage caused by free radicals. Arteriosclerosis and other health conditions causing high blood pressure, blood clotting, anaemia or reduced blood flow can contribute to senility.

Aktivait

Aktivait for cats.

A health tip from the esteemed veterinarian and author Dr. Bruce Fogle is to provide your elderly cat with a supplement called Aktivait. He is enthusiastic about it. He said that when it was given to older dogs for two months it resulted in a "significant improvement in signs of disorientation, social interaction and house soiling".

It contains omega-3 fish oils, vitamin E, vitamin C, L-carnitine, alpha lipoic acid, coenzyme Q, phosphotidylserine, and selenium. You can buy Altivait for cats although at the time that he wrote his book Complete Cat Care there were no similar studies on the product for cats. He recommends it nonetheless and he warns cat owners to not give canine Aktivait to your cat as alpha lipoic acid is toxic to cats.

It gets a five star rating from 32 reviews on petdrugsonline.com. I am not being paid to promote this supplement. The information is provided to try and improve the lives of elderly cats.

Signs of senility

Signs of senility can be subtle but when combined they are pretty clear. You might see a combination of the following: a blank expression, repetitive or stereotyped pacing continuously, poor grooming, disorientation, a delay in recognising people they know or places objects they know, becoming lost in familiar surroundings, "going to the wrong side of a closed door when asked to go through" (Bruce Fogle), increased sleeping during the day, decreased night-time sleeping, disturbed sleep, decreased enthusiasm when greeting you, slow responses when you request they come to you for example, decreased interest in playing, increased irritability and incomplete social interactions.

Please tell me in a comment if you are giving your cat Aktivait. I'd be interested in hearing from you.

My elderly cat has dementia and I feel that he is better since taking these. - Lesley Harston Wednesday, 1 September 2021

Picture of a young woman and the 20-year-old cat she adopted so he wouldn't die alone

This is a picture, on Twitter, of a young woman who decided to adopt a 20-year-old cat so that he would not die alone. Her actions and the picture are inspirational. Other people on Twitter who have seen the photograph have been inspired to do the same thing. I have always said that if you adopt the unadoptable cats, you are invariably rewarded and of course always the cat.

"I love this! She inspired me to do the same the next time I get a cat! I have two now which is all I can handle." - Tiffany Davidson.

Picture of a young woman who adopted a 20-year-old cat so he wouldn't die alone

I don't know who took the photo, probably a shelter employee. The cat has fur shaved from their left foreleg. He must have been through medical treatment, probably linked to his age. It was probably known that he was dying because of the illness.

This kind of adoption does go against the grain. Although I have seen other instances of people adopting elderly rescue cats in shelters or even a couple of elderly cats at shelters for the same reason. These people walk into the shelter and they want to adopt the least adoptable cats there. They specify that. It is exactly the way things should be. It saves lives in a very dramatic and direct way.

There is always someone there for the kittens. They will always find homes. But the elderly black cats and the less attractive cats are left on the shelf until people like this young woman come along. It is a beautiful photograph which is exactly why it is inspirational.

It was taken during the coronavirus pandemic which is why the lady is wearing a mask. That is obvious but in five years' time if this website is still in existence, people might ask questions about that mask. You may know that there has been a big increase in both America and in the UK of rescue cat adoptions during Covid. 

CLICK FOR SOME PAGES ON ADOPTING A CAT

Dogs have also been adopted more frequently from shelters. However, most commonly dogs have been purchased from breeders and in the UK sometimes from pet shops who are supplied by puppy mills on continental Europe. Not a good thing to happen but demand surged.

It isn't only elderly people who should adopt elderly cats. But if you are elderly think about it. You'll be a good caretaker because you're likely to be there for your cat all day. And you probably won't have to think about who'll die first. A 20-year-old cat does not normally have more than a year of two at most to live and probably less.

Blood pressure is significantly higher in cats aged 11 years and over

In line with people, domestic cats who are 11-years-old or older have significantly higher blood pressure than cats of a younger age. A study found that blood pressure rises with age in domestic cats and this applies to systolic, diastolic, mean arterial and pulse pressure. 

Squirt. She’s about 11 years old. She was thrown outside to fend for herself after her elderly owner died. Squirt’s the neediest of all and needs a special human for her golden years. She is a senior with arthritis and is FIV-positive, and she really deserves a forever home to call her own again. Squirt will paw at you for attention—she’s desperate to be someone’s lap cat and best friend. Note: the photo is from several years ago and it is here to illustrate the page, no more. I don't know if she found a home.

Systolic blood pressure is the pressure inside the artery when the heart contracts to force the blood around the arteries. It is the high blood pressure whereas diastolic pressure is the pressure of the blood in the arteries when the heart is between contractions i.e. when it is relaxed and the heart's ventricles are allowed to refill with blood.

Also, the study found that cats suffering from clinical renal disease, which I take to mean chronic kidney disease, a common disease in elderly cats, suffered from higher blood pressure than cats who did not have the disease. The same goes for cats with hypertensive retinopathy, which is when high blood pressure causes damage to the retina's blood vessels which limits the retina's function and puts pressure on the optic nerve which can cause vision problems.

The study is titled Epidemiological study of blood pressure in domestic cats published on June 28, 2008 on the Wiley Online Library.

• Associated;
• Elderly cat health
• How many calories does an elderly cat need?

Video: adopting an old cat

Just a short video of an anonymous person doing something fairly ordinary: adopting an old cat from a rescue centre but I find it touching and a lot of praise must go to the person who made the video and therefore who adopted this old gentleman cat. He looks like former street cat who has to be at least 15-years-of-age and perhaps older. He looks tired and as if he has been in some fights until he was rescued. It is difficult finding new homes for elderly cats like this guy. The good people adopt them because they know that they will have their reward. Old cats know the ropes and they are less work. They settle in more easily and all the while you know that you have saved his life and given him a good life for the last few years or months that he has to live. That is a beautiful reward. It's an act of altruism in adopting an elderly rescue But, it is also a selfish act because it genuinely benefits the person.

Screenshot from video below.

Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

A hint of Harrison Ford in the face of Nutmeg the then oldest cat who died at 32

The snarl on Nutmeg's face is one aspect of it which provides me with a hint of Harrison Ford but perhaps my imagination is running riot. The photograph was taken when he was 31 but he lived for an extra year, approximately, dying at the ripe old age of 32. He died of heart failure after being taken to a veterinarian with breathing difficulties. His death was reported in the news media on 14 September 2017. His owners were Liz and Ian Finlay of Gateshead, Tyne & Wear, UK. The Harrison Ford snarl is probably dye to teeth issues!

 A hint of Harrison Ford in the face of Nutmeg the then oldest cat who died at 32. Photo: Reddit.

Mrs Finlay said at the time: "I feel as though my heart has been ripped out. He was a huge character who was dearly loved."

Cats are living longer thanks to better medical care, better nutrition and better monitoring of cat welfare although of course these benefits are not universal. It depends where you live and it depends upon how good the cat caretaker is. Nutmeg's age was actually estimated because he was adopted as a stray and taken to Cat Protection who estimated his then age as five based upon the condition of his teeth. Mr Mrs Finlay owned him for a further 27 years.

You probably know that the oldest domestic cat ever was Creme Puff who died on August 16, 2005, 38 years and three days after his birth. She lived in Austin Texas with his owner, Jake Perry. The approximate average for a domestic cat is about 15 to perhaps 18 years.

Note: videos on this site are typically made by people other than me and held on YouTube servers or the servers of other businesses (not the server storing this website). Sometimes the videos are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.