Cat attacked by carpet python on Sunshine Coast

THE look of terror on this young cat’s face as he was squeezed by a python is etched in his owner’s memory forever. And he would have been a goner if not for his big brother.

A NOOSA Heads cat has only eight lives left after nearly becoming a carpet python’s lunch.

And it can thank its feline brother for sounding the alarm and alerting their quick-thinking owners to the distressing situation late on Sunday afternoon.

The terrified look on her cat Ollie’s face as he was being strangled by a large python is etched on Fiona Sheen’s memory forever.

Adrenaline kicked in as she screamed for her husband Rob and first tried to grab Ollie from the snake’s grasp, before prying him loose from her hand and instead grabbing the tail of the python.

It took all the couple’s strength to unravel the python from their two-year-old burmese, with Mr Sheen bitten on the arm by the non-venomous snake.

Close-up of Ollie’s injuries.

Once Ollie had escaped, Mrs Sheen, 50, let the snake slither up a tree before calling the emergency vet and a snake catcher.

“The vet and snake catcher both said another minute and the constriction would have done permanent damage,” Mrs Sheen said.

“Ollie has four or five sutures in over two bites. He also put his own tooth through his lip when the snake was latched on and wrapped around him, so is on painkillers and antibiotics.

“He’s OK but wary now. He wants to stay under the bed, yet wants to come out to see us.

“But if there’s any loud noise he runs back under the bed again.”

Mrs Sheen said both cats were indoor cats and only went into their small, fenced yard when she and her husband went out to garden.

“We’re responsible cat owners,” she said.

“We only let them out into our fully fenced yard if we’re with them. We must have been gardening for only 15 minutes when I heard (seven-year-old burmese) Maax wailing.

The python responsible.

“He doesn’t usually wail so I thought maybe there was another cat outside our fence, but when I went to check I saw Maax arched up and there’s Ollie with the snake wrapped around him.

“Ollie didn’t and couldn’t make a sound.”

Mrs Sheen — who sustained a swollen hand from the puncture wounds and scratches from Ollie trying to grab hold of her to escape the large reptile — said it was the first time they had seen a python so close to their home in the 15 years they had lived there.

She said Maax deserved a medal.

“He is the sweetest, most loving cat and a real smoocher who doesn’t usually wail,” she said.

“The sheer look of terror on Ollie’s face when I first got to him was horrible and terrifying for me to see.”

Sunshine Coast Snake Catcher 24/7 owner Ritchie Gilbert said carpet pythons, which can grow up to 3m and live to be 25, were common on the Sunshine Coast and were a protected species.

He said although the outcome for the Sheens was a good one, the best way to remove a python was to spray water in its face.

Ollie with loyal big brother Maax.

Meanwhile, a Queensland cat has struck back with deadly force after her owner was bitten by a venomous red-bellied snake.

Denise Thynne, 66, was watering her garden at her Mirani home west of Mackay on Monday when she got a nasty shock.

“I walked out to the yard to pick up the hose to water the roses. There was a little snake laying under the hose that I didn’t see,” she told ABC News.

“It was lying there in the sun, I didn’t take any notice until I felt the sting.”

That was when her cat pounced.

“She came out stalking and it looked like she was mesmerising it and then she just went in for the kill,” Ms Thynne said.

“I turned the snake over and saw the red belly and thought `oh that’s not a very friendly one’.” Fortunately, the snake didn’t inject any venom.

Having been bitten three times before, Ms Thynne knew the correct procedure, bandaging her hand and calling an ambulance. She also offered some unconventional advice.

“If it’s a real deadly looking one, sit under a tree with a cigarette and cup of tea and pray,” she joked.

“Just be careful, wear your glasses when you go outside — that helps.”

Ms Thynne was taken to Mackay Base Hospital and was expected to be released yesterday.