Last Friday was a crazy day. We were in Loveland, Colorado staying with some friends up in the pretty mountains.
My humans were gone most of the day, apparently Cherie had to get a wisdom tooth taken out. She came home mumbling at me, something was wrong with her mouth. Or all her wisdom got taken out. But I was stir crazy and didn’t care, I’d only been able to watch the horses outside my window and little hoppy things jumping on the ground. I wanted outside to play and pounce!!
So Chris put me on my leash while he attended to Cherie. And there was a grasshopper taunting me, so I was chased it! It’s what us cats do, afterall.
Then I heard rattling in the nearby brush. My curiosity was distracted by that darn grasshopper, so I pounced on it.
But before I knew it, something had bit me on my face! Ouch!
I rolled and flopped around on the ground to make it go away, I howled.
Chris saw me all distressed and came over, picked me up and handed me to mumbly Cherie. She checked me all over while Chris played in the bushes too – guess he was pouncing grasshoppers too?
He came back in and I remember them both talking about my face bleeding and rattlesnake bite! I don’t know what a rattlesnake is.. but it sure bites hard and I was in lots of pain.
They picked me up, put me in the truck and we made a long fast drive down the mountain. I laid in Cherie’s arms as she pet me and made calls on her iPhone. They were scared, and Chris was driving like a crazy man. I guess being bit by a rattlesnake is serious stuff (it turns out that us cats generally do pretty good with rattlesnake bites long term.)
We arrived to this big building called Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Ft. Collins, CO. I guess they knew we were coming, cuz as soon as Cherie and I entered the building everyone was on alert. I was handed over to a really nice lady who took me into a room and put a needle in my paw and started injecting things and taking blood out. I started to feel woozy and the pain faded away a bit.
I remember seeing Cherie and Chris, they came back and visited. And then they left me there overnight, and I had lots of people checking in on me. My face got really swollen!! I was scared not being with my people in my home, and I didn’t know what was going on. Everyone was so concerned.
In the morning, everyone seemed relieved – and my people came and picked me up. I was all groggy and slept a lot for a couple days. I couldn’t walk very well either, apparently I was on something called pain drugs.
But, in just a couple days I was all better.. and back to pouncing on things! I’ll stay away from rattlesnakes, thank you.
– Kiki
primadonnagoingoffgrid says
Love it from Kiki’s perspective!
Vanessa says
We’d freak out and race as well. Great read!!
Loiosh says
I’m glad you got to play with the grasshoppers! There are lots of nice grasshoppers here in Colorado. I like eating them although my Momma doesn’t like the crunching sound much.
Getting bit must have been scary! I didn’t know about rattlesnakes! I’ll have to watch out for them.
I wish I’d known you were going to be here — my Momma wants to move into a bus and drive all over, too. We live in Longmont right now (it’s really close to Loveland) but we’re moving to Tennessee soon so Momma can earn money for a bus. I can’t wait to go, I love travelling!
Charon says
We’re glad you’re feeling better Kiki! We always stay inside because we have breed-specific immunity issues, but we’re happy to be able to hear about all of your adventures, even if they don’t always go exactly as planned.
*rubrubrub*
Brundlefly & Cesare
Adolfo Isassi says
Ouch! Sorry about your snake encounter Kiki!
Hope you feel better and get back on your feet….er paws!
Yvonne says
What a scary experience. So glad to hear that Kiki is OK now. I wonder if most vet hospitals in rattlesnake areas are able to treat bites. We’ll be traveling with our cats soon and this underscores for us the need to be aware of any hazards and local vet resources where ever we go.
Christina says
Poor Kiki! Glad to see you are doing better. Now you can show off any bite marks during a scar-off at your next card game.
To the parents: I pissed off a very young rattler while hiking a few weeks ago, I though that strange hissing sound was coming from the mouthpiece on my Camelbak. When I looked down to see that little thing coiled right by my ankle you should have seen me jump back…at least 17 feet.
Louise says
Whew! All of us Odyssey mammals were on pins and needles reading your story. So happy it all turned out okay, and glad to learn that cats generally do well after rattlesnake bites.
Terry says
wow, very sorry to hear of your bite. Hope you are better