Rockhampton Bordeaux dog beats intestinal surgery and brown snake bite

After surviving massive surgery, a beloved family dog in Central Qld described by her owner as a “fighter” has faced another threat to her life.

Cera the dog survived intestinal surgery and a brown snake bite. Supplied: Kelly Montague-Elliott

After surviving major intestinal surgery, a beloved family dog in Rockhampton described by owner Kelly Montague-Elliot as a “fighter” has incredibly overcome another life-threatening battle.

The huge, cuddly Bordeaux dog named Cera Tops who spends her life relaxing with her two fellow pooches received a potentially fatal bite from a brown snake.

Kelly, the owner of Redback Ink, said they did not realise the six-year-old was bitten until they took the “furbaby” - named after Cera Tops from the beloved children’s show The Land Before Time - to the vet.

Cera the dog relaxing by the pool. Supplied: Kelly Montague-Elliott

“She was shaking like a leaf, she was drooling - she just wasn’t herself,” Kelly said.

“We were like, ‘what the hell is going on here?’
“We raced her straight in to the vet, we thought maybe she’d had a seizure of some kind … she was just bleeding around her mouth and stuff like that.
“We thought maybe she’d bitten her tongue or something.”

Like most big dogs, Cera loves to relax. Supplied: Kelly Montague-Elliot

Further investigations from the veterinarians at Rockhampton Veterinary Clinic alerted her to the terrifying reality.
“There was a wound on the side of her face and it was bleeding from the side of her face … this thing just kept bleeding and it didn’t want to stop,” Kelly said.
“They shaved the side of her face and there was two wounds that were similar distance apart from what you’d assume to be a possible snake bite.”
Like any loving dog owner, Kelly wanted to save Cera’s life, so she paid for the treatment - which cost upwards of $2000.

“She underwent four or five days in hospital, and they gave her the snake antivenom, which is quite expensive - it’s about $500 per vial,” she said.

Once they returned home, Kelly and her partner managed to find the slithery culprit.
“I used to have snakes, so I grabbed my snake hook and I was inspecting the yard, seeing if I could find anything anywhere,” she said.

“We had some pallets built up with dog beds to get them off the ground and out of the wet, and that was the first place I looked.

“And then down behind the shed, my husband found a dead brown snake - it’s sad for the snake, but I’m grateful Cera won the fight.”

The staff at Rockhampton Veterinary Clinic took great care of Cera as she rested during her stay, which lasted several days. Supplied: Kelly Montague-Elliott

Cera’s snakebite came at an incredibly inconvenient time, with Kelly and her partner having just spent thousands of dollars a few weeks earlier on life-saving intestinal surgery for her.
“Her intestines had telescoped inside themselves and then adhered to themselves - they were blocking themselves,” Kelly said.

“I’m told that dogs rarely survive surgery on the large intestine because it is such a vulnerable organ, and because there’s such a huge bacterial load.

Cera managed to kill the brown snake that bit her. Supplied: Kelly Montague-Elliott

“That particular bill actually totalled over $5000.

“That was a very scary moment.”

Kelly started a GoFundMe and put up her own motorbike up for sale to pay for Cera’s vet bills.

She said the generosity of the community helped save Cera’s life.

Poor Cera ended up at the vet twice in a short period: first for intestinal surgery, and then for a snakebite only a few weeks afterwards. Supplied: Kelly Montague-Elliott

“(The cost) would have been over $7000, if it wasn’t for the financial help of everyone who donated in the GoFundMe - it’s allowed us to save her life, and not put me further into debt,” Kelly said.

“I was just so blown away with everybody’s support and generosity, from the smallest donation to the biggest.”

Friends of Kelly’s from Cairns, Michael and Deborah Olsen, donated a whopping $1000 towards Cera’s veterinary bills.
“I’m just so appreciative,” she said.

Cera the dog survived intestinal surgery and a brown snake bite. Supplied: Kelly Montague-Elliott

Kelly has expressed her gratitude to the generous community and the skilled staff at Rockhampton Veterinary Clinic.

“(The vet clinic) have been so wonderful throughout all of this,” she said.

Fortunately, Cera is back with her family and is recovering from her wounds at home.

As a former snake owner, Kelly had some specific advice to offer other dog owners who were concerned about reptilian encounters.
“I would say, all you can really do (about snakes) is to keep your yard as tidy as possible, don’t give them hiding places,” she said.

Originally published as Rockhampton Bordeaux dog beats intestinal surgery and brown snake bite