HOW is my cat killing all these rattlesnakes!?

I have a half-feral black cat that i see at least once a week running around with a baby rattlesnake in her mouth (i live on the West Coast). I was just curious as to how a cat manages to attack and kill a rattlesnake, obviously without anything but her claws and fangs? It seems to me that a rattlesnake would be able to bite her at least once during the fight, so how is she still alive?