"Hero Cat" dies after saving children from brown snake in Queensland

Family cat protected two children from encountering a deadly snake has died after being bitten in the meelee.

Arthur, a domestic shorthair, was playing in the back garden of his family's home in the Sunshine Coast in Queensland with two children when he saw the snake approach.

The family of Arthur say that he jumped into action by attacking the snake, killing it in the process.

As the Animal Emergency Service at Tanawha team recount, Arthur was bitten as the children were rushed to safety, and collapsed before recovering.

"An Eastern Brown Snake, one of Australia's top 10 highly venomous snakes, had entered the backyard right where the children were playing," the team wrote on social media.

"Arthur jumped into action protecting his young family by killing the snake. Unfortunately, in the process, Arthur received a fatal envenomation snake bite. In the chaos of getting the children out of the yard, no-one saw the actual bite, but Arthur collapsed and quickly recovered like nothing was wrong not long after."

The morning after, Arthur's family found he was unable to stand and rushed him to a veterinarian hospital in Tanawha.

Due to the severity of Arthur's symptoms, he was unable to recover and soon passed away, leaving his family with the memory of him saving the lives of two young children.

"His family, devastated, remember him fondly and are forever grateful he saved the children's lives," wrote the Animal Emergency Service.

"Arthur was always getting into mischief; he had previously visited us before having been in accidents and was very much loved by our team."

The eastern brown snake is widely considered to be the world's second-most venomous land snake, second to the inland taipan found in central Australia.

Human symptoms of being bitten can include hypotension and collapse, as well as cardiac arrest.

Rest in peace Arthur :(