Flaviemys purvisi
Very Well-Known Member
Yahoo7 News
10 January 2019
A Melbourne cat has cost his devoted owners dearly after it was bitten by a snake for the third time.
The couple has now forked out $10,000 in vet bills to keep their beloved Hank alive.
Following a run in with a tiger snake, Hank the cat arrived back to his Alphington home from the vets with yet another one of his nine lives missing.
“I actually just went, ‘typical, that would be right’,” owner Mel Brauer said.
Hank has been bitten by a snake for the third time. Source: 7News
His owner Mel Brauer didn’t hesitate to pay the expensive fees to save him. Source: 7News
It’s not the first time Hank has found himself in this predicament.
“We thought, ‘oh this could be it for the wandering cat’,” Ms Brauer said.
Veterinarian Louise Pierce revealed tiger snakes and brown snakes pose the biggest threat to domestic pets in Victoria and an encounter can become “very fatal very, very quickly”.
Hank’s home right near the Yarra means he loves to explore. Unfortunately for him, snakes do too.
Hank likes going exploring in woodland near the Yarra River. Source: 7News
Hank was bitten on the neck. Source: 7News
“We must appear the silliest people on earth,” Ms Brauer said about the money spent on their pet.
“We are cat people through and through and we will probably pay it again.”
Ms Brauer is hoping this is Hank’s last brush with death.
She keeps him inside but fears it’s a matter of time before he escapes again.
“Ideally in this day and age I certainly recommend having cats as predominantly indoor pets,” Ms Pierce advised.
“Or building an enclosed cat run where you know they will be safe.”
Hank still has days of recovery ahead of him, but it seems curiosity won't kill this cat just yet.
