from the doctor...

They keep supplies on hand, for just such an emergency, if you are lucky. I live in an area that is frequented by eastern diamondbacks, therefore we have minimal stocks of the eastern diamondback antivenom in stock at our hospitals and two vets. Most people here do NOT get antivenom for the their animals. Many animals survive bites from a rattler, but they may lose appendages. I have even seen some ranchers allow their horses to get better on their own, with some anitbiotics if anything. My cat means more to me than any animal means to most people in this town. She is also VERY small, and was bitten on the head by a 5 footer at least, judging on the bite radius. The vet said it was a miracle she survived, and they almost didn't want me to spend the money on the medicine because they didn't think she would survive. But since she was medicated within 8 hours of the bite, and was in ICU for three days and was given a lot of TLC, she made it with minimal scarring, and only minor lasting effects. (her head is very sensative at the bite area, but there is no lasting dangerous damage) On a side note, she runs from even the smallest harmless snake now, hehehe.