NOVEMBER temperatures nudging the 30s have brought snakes out of hibernation early this year, prompting a warning to pet owners to be vigilant for snake bites.
Boort veterinarian Fiona Caine treated five pets for bites from brown snakes in one week earlier this month.
“Normally there might be one a week ... this summer there have been more. In one week, we had four cats and a dog brought to us for treatment and thankfully all with positive outcomes,” she said.
“The sooner an animal receives treatment the more likely they are to survive.  Our success rate is very good when animals receive treatment.  The earlier this happens the less recovery time and generally less time spent hospitalised with us.
“There are some tests we can do when you are unsure if your animal has been bitten and sometimes, we are lucky to find that they haven’t been bitten and no treatment is necessary at all.”
Fiona said dogs usually required treatment with antivenim for a successful outcome.  “Some cats are able to survive without antivenim but not all cats,” she said.
Fiona said snake bite symptoms in animals could vary “as can the onset of clinical signs, depending on what part of the body is bitten and how much venom is injected”. 
She urged pet owners to look for symptoms that included hindleg wobbliness, paralysis, changes or effort in breathing, lethargy, dilated pupils, bleeding, discoloured or bloody urine, loss of bladder or bowel control and muscle tremors.
Some dogs could appear to be in recovery phase but will later relapse.
“If you are suspicious but unsure whether they have been bitten or not the best thing you can do is seek veterinary attention as soon as possible.”
Fiona said the high number of early season snake bites was the most she had seen in a short period in more than 20 years as a veterinarian.
“And they are just about always brown snakes. I’ve only seen two tiger snake bites of animals in my career.”
Fiona said the first weeks leading into summer and again between February and April were peak risk times for animals being bitten by snakes.