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CAIRNS POST (Australia) 01 March 08 Python feasts on pet cat
A Microchip implanted in a Cairns family's missing cat helped them track down their pet - inside a 4m python.
The owner of the Siamese-Persian said her cat went missing on Wednesday night and when she searched for it the following morning, she instead found a python with a suspiciously looking bulge in its belly.
"My heart started to leap and I thought, 'oh no, that's it’," the woman, who did not want to be named, said.
Wildlife rescue worker Michael Stevens took the python to Southside Veterinary Surgery at Woree, where vet Wade McAuley scanned it for the cat’s microchip and found a positive match.
"We did have him microchipped so that put our minds at rest, but it was still very sad," the cat's owner said.
The snake has since been released into the wild at the back of Edmonton.
A 5m python that stalked and killed a Kuranda family's pet dog this week is also set for release
after vet and reptile expert Andrew Easton gave it a clean bill of health.
The snake, nicknamed Fluffy, created headlines when The Cairns Post revealed how it ate the Peric family's dog - after pythons also ate their cat and guinea pigs.
"The snake is in a pretty healthy condition," Dr Easton from Kuranda Veterinary Surgery said.
"We've had a feel over him and we had a look in his mouth to see whether there were any injuries from his recent escapade.
"The only potential problems are things like collars, but most of the time they'll be passed right through."
Dr Easton said it could take the snake two to four weeks to fully digest his latest meal.
"If everything goes fine with him, we'll probably look over him once more before his release to make sure he has no diseases before he goes into the wild," he said.
Queensland Parks and Wildlife northern division spokesman Scott Sullivan said the amethystine or scrub python was the largest of the Queensland python species.
Mr Sullivan said the largest authenticated specimen was recorded at 5.6m, weighing about 28kg.
Python feasts on pet cat

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CAIRNS POST (Australia) 14 March 08 Python regurgitates family pet
The 5m scrub python dubbed Fluffy after eating a Kuranda family's pet found the meal too difficult to digest.
The huge snake, which was being temporarily housed at the Australian Venom Zoo in Kuranda, last week regurgitated the small dog it swallowed two weeks ago.
"It was not a pleasant thing," Venom Zoo owner Stuart Douglas said.
"The power had gone out here so we weren’t able to regulate its (the snake’s) temperature. Basically it was just stressed out."
Fluffy received international attention after an exclusive report in The Cairns Post revealed it had eaten the Peric family’s silky terrier-cross chihuahua.
After Fluffy regurgitated its meal, staff at the zoo decided to let the animal go back to its natural environment.
"I had the vet check it out and then we released it last week," Mr Douglas said.
He said the location and the event was kept a secret because he had received hate mail and disturbing phone calls while the snake was in his care.
"Lots of people thought it should have been killed," Mr Douglas said.
"Instead of seeing the amazing uniqueness of the animal, they just saw it eating a pet."
The Peric family had already lost their cat and a guinea pig to snakes in the weeks before the shocking ordeal.
Kuranda vet and snake expert Andrew Easton checked the animal before it was released.
Dr Easton said the python regurgitated its meal as a defence mechanism, so it could escape.
"It’s got rid of what’s holding it back," he said.
Dr Easton said the snake was healthy and "very active" when it was released. He expected it to be hunting again soon, this time, well away from suburbia.
Python regurgitates family pet