Cat Bites

[CCoburn]

Cat Bites


Well this is day number three of about my third or fourth cat bite over the past couple decades that resulted in a moderate to serious infection. The bite occurred in the early morning hours of Tuesday.

The bite was on my wrist and I noticed Tuesday afternoon when I was on here that it was becoming a little red and sore.

Early Wednesday it became somewhat painful and the redness had spread some with swelling of the infected area and mild flu-like symptoms. The acetaminophen and ibuprofen combo helped with the pain after about twenty minutes.

The flu-like symptoms last somewhere between 12 to 24 hours and at this point I think I'm a little past the apex of this ordeal. There is still quite a bit of redness around the infected site.

It's now Thursday afternoon and I'm trying to resume a normal day - what's left of it. The puncture wounds are the worst for causing infection. I always go right for the isopropyl alcohol whenever I get a scratch or a bite because of things like this.

I have a big black unneutered male cat and he can be a little aggressive from time to time. I'm not even exactly sure what happened this time. I only recall him being in one of his moods. He was beside me in bed and I moved the wrong way and got nipped. I didn't even really think much of it at first, and then there's the rest of the story.

[Nerb]

You have my sympathy, I know the scenario well.

I was bitten on the wrist about 12 years ago by a big Feral Ginger Tom that had taken up residence in the old stables at my last house. I was moving cardboard boxes and surprised it. It latched on to my wrist and it took all my strength to pry it off. It was all muscle, there was no fat to grab like most other cats have. Stocky a Fk! It had it's fangs around one of the tendons in my wrist so that "wrench" was what did most of the damage to me but shock and urgency took over.

The blood was everywhere and it had missed the main artery by a millimeter. So close. I still have the scar as a reminder.

After the shock and the worst of the bleeding had subsided, I cleaned the heck out of the wound, bound it tight and then soaked the bandage in alcohol based medical cleanser. After a few days and too many pain killers, my whole arm had swollen and become stiff and I knew the "woozy" feeling wasn't good so a trip to the doctors was in order. They weren't much use and were completely unsympathetic but I did get a prescription for antibiotics and a Tetanus shot just to be sure.

Luckily I have a strong natural immune system that means I heal fast and it was only about a week before I was able to unwrap the wound and let the air get in better. That was a relief. I also tried to keep using that arm to keep a good bloodflow in it but had no strength in my wrist for months. I wore a sling when resting but removed it to use my arm. Thank goodness I could still roll a cigarette!

Finding that Ginger Tom let me know why my three kitties wouldn't leave the house for ages. It must have taken up residence unaware to me. They would stare at the door and it puzzled me why they wouldn't go out.

I evicted the Tom with severe scare tactics and my three regained their liberty around the place. I did feel sorry for Tom after all this had happened. He was just scared and was just defending himself from what he saw as an enemy.

Get well soon CC. It could have been worse and I hope your recovery is swift and your friendship with your cat survives.

[Maxmars]

Cat wounds frighten me more than dog bites.  I just can't get passed the "raking" attack which, upon one occasion, left me striped.  All those squirrely long scars took forever to heal... and using alcohol or some astringent was as horrible an experience as my imagination warned...

Take care of yourself.  Look for 'spreading' redness especially along your blood vessels... that's a bad sign... blood poisoning is a real thing to be avoided.  Fever is a bad thing too... It might not be a bad idea to engage in prophylactic antibiotics... just in case.

[IdeomotorPrisoner]

Cat Bites


Well this is day number three of about my third or fourth cat bite over the past couple decades that resulted in a moderate to serious infection. The bite occurred in the early morning hours of Tuesday.

The bite was on my wrist and I noticed Tuesday afternoon when I was on here that it was becoming a little red and sore.

Early Wednesday it became somewhat painful and the redness had spread some with swelling of the infected area and mild flu-like symptoms. The acetaminophen and ibuprofen combo helped with the pain after about twenty minutes.

The flu-like symptoms last somewhere between 12 to 24 hours and at this point I think I'm a little past the apex of this ordeal. There is still quite a bit of redness around the infected site.

It's now Thursday afternoon and I'm trying to resume a normal day - what's left of it. The puncture wounds are the worst for causing infection. I always go right for the isopropyl alcohol whenever I get a scratch or a bite because of things like this.

I have a big black unneutered male cat and he can be a little aggressive from time to time. I'm not even exactly sure what happened this time. I only recall him being in one of his moods. He was beside me in bed and I moved the wrong way and got nipped. I didn't even really think much of it at first, and then there's the rest of the story.

Cat bites are some of the most secretly deadly things out there. Serious 42 day regiments of antibiotics that make you as UV sensitive as an albino. High doses of Augmentin and Monodox.

DONT FUCK AROUND WITH OSTEOMYELITIS.

If redness and swelling does not go away, suggest ER.

[CCoburn]

You have my sympathy, I know the scenario well.

I was bitten on the wrist about 12 years ago by a big Feral Ginger Tom that had taken up residence in the old stables at my last house. I was moving cardboard boxes and surprised it. It latched on to my wrist and it took all my strength to pry it off. It was all muscle, there was no fat to grab like most other cats have. Stocky a Fk! It had it's fangs around one of the tendons in my wrist so that "wrench" was what did most of the damage to me but shock and urgency took over.

The blood was everywhere and it had missed the main artery by a millimeter. So close. I still have the scar as a reminder.

After the shock and the worst of the bleeding had subsided, I cleaned the heck out of the wound, bound it tight and then soaked the bandage in alcohol based medical cleanser. After a few days and too many pain killers, my whole arm had swollen and become stiff and I knew the "woozy" feeling wasn't good so a trip to the doctors was in order. They weren't much use and were completely unsympathetic but I did get a prescription for antibiotics and a Tetanus shot just to be sure.

Luckily I have a strong natural immune system that means I heal fast and it was only about a week before I was able to unwrap the wound and let the air get in better. That was a relief. I also tried to keep using that arm to keep a good bloodflow in it but had no strength in my wrist for months. I wore a sling when resting but removed it to use my arm. Thank goodness I could still roll a cigarette!

Finding that Ginger Tom let me know why my three kitties wouldn't leave the house for ages. It must have taken up residence unaware to me. They would stare at the door and it puzzled me why they wouldn't go out.

I evicted the Tom with severe scare tactics and my three regained their liberty around the place. I did feel sorry for Tom after all this had happened. He was just scared and was just defending himself from what he saw as an enemy.

Get well soon CC. It could have been worse and I hope your recovery is swift and your friendship with your cat survives.

Thanks for the kind words.

I did also go through a really serious cat bite about a decade ago. Same symptoms as current, just worse. Also a wrist bite with lots of bleeding unlike this time. The bite was much more forceful as I was breaking up a cat fight. The redness eventually extended all the way up to my armpit. I think the worst was at the two or three day mark and then I was showing signs of recovery at around the fourth or fifth day - scary stuff!!

My last trip to the ER wasn't of "much use" either and they actually did more harm than good. Went there for tooth pain and all I got was some lady poking around in my mouth with a needle just making it worse. She was supposedly giving me a shot of novocaine but the experience seemed quite barbaric and I promptly halted the procedure and left - if I had only known about the acetaminophen ibuprofen combo then. I think at the time lots were faking pain for the pain meds so everyone else had to suffer because of that.

This doesn't affect the relationship with my cat, he's just a cat, and he's better off with me because I don't think most people would put up with this. I know most have their pets fixed at an early age and that would likely make a male cat less aggressive, but I'm in the minority there and not really into that - altering Gods' work to make a better pet.

[FlyingClayDisk]

My Mom almost lost her hand to a cat bite back in the 80's.  Cat bites are nothing to mess around with!  I'm talking like ICU material for over a week, and then months of antibiotics to deal with infection.  It was her cat.  Cat got puked out of a car engine one winter and crawled off to die in a bush.  I found it one night and Mom spent thousands at the vet to save it, but the cat was never right in the head after that.  One night it was sitting on her lap and she was petting it when some of the screws in the cat's brain came loose and it just decided to strike.  Got her in the nape of the hand between her thumb and index finger.  It was a solid, full-penetration, bite on both sides.  Mom was always a "Bah...it'll be fine!" type person who didn't like doctors.  Well, that was a bad idea.  I was jr. EMT at the time, but I was away in college when it happened and didn't see it until about 5 days later.  Told her we were going straight to the ER the moment I saw the infection.  She spent about 5 minutes in the ER before they took her to the ICU.  Spent the next 3-4 days in the ICU, with a couple surgeries in between, to get a handle on the infection and keep from having to amputate her hand. 

The good news was, Mom was able to keep her hand.  Kitty, on the other hand, didn't have as much good news, and took the big 'dirt nap'.

Never liked cats before that incident, and like them even less now.

[CCoburn]

I was wondering if it's the same form of bacteria every time or possibly different and some forms could be more invasive than others, of course natural immunity would be factored in as well.

I'm out of the loop when it comes to a lot of things and antibiotics is one of those things. Nerbs' subtitle of "unique freak" has come to mind on occasion in that I think it applies to me as well. I have my circuit training that I do two or three times a week for the health benefits, so maybe that helps; maybe it doesn't.

This is day number four and I'm feeling a little better. Yesterday there was some moderate pain with pressure changes like getting up from bed or bending over to pick something up and that has subsided some.

The origin site has improved but it did spread to around the top of my hand and that's still lightly red, stiff, and swollen.

I'm ready now to go for a normal day. I'd really like to get to the city hall and pay my property tax with the weekend coming up and Monday's a holiday. I've spent so much time in bed that I don't think I slept more than an hour or two after midnight.

Now that my wheels are in order(since Tuesday) I'm also ready for an exciting drive and some cool scenery away from the city. "Country roads, take me home...".

— just another "unique freak" (kind of oxymoronish me thinks)

[FlyingClayDisk]

I was wondering if it's the same form of bacteria every time or possibly different and some forms could be more invasive than others, of course natural immunity would be factored in as well.

I'm out of the loop when it comes to a lot of things and antibiotics is one of those things. Nerbs' subtitle of "unique freak" has come to mind on occasion in that I think it applies to me as well. I have my circuit training that I do two or three times a week for the health benefits, so maybe that helps; maybe it doesn't.

This is day number four and I'm feeling a little better. Yesterday there was some moderate pain with pressure changes like getting up from bed or bending over to pick something up and that has subsided some.

The origin site has improved but it did spread to around the top of my hand and that's still lightly red, stiff, and swollen.

I'm ready now to go for a normal day. I'd really like to get to the city hall and pay my property tax with the weekend coming up and Monday's a holiday. I've spent so much time in bed that I don't think I slept more than an hour or two after midnight.

Now that my wheels are in order(since Tuesday) I'm also ready for an exciting drive and some cool scenery away from the city. "Country roads, take me home...".

— just another "unique freak" (kind of oxymoronish me thinks)

I assume you've been to see a doctor about this, correct?  If not, you absolutely should!  As I noted above, cat bites are nothing to mess around with.

I'm not a bacteria expert, but what the doctors told me when my mother got bit was that a cat's physiology is such that their digestive and immune systems are not affected by a lot of the stuff that they eat, and as a result bacteria which is highly toxic to humans can exist in a cat's mouth for long periods of time because their immune system doesn't kill it, unlike a human's.

Again though, I am not a doctor, nor an expert in bacteria.  I just know what the guy told me.

[KTemplar]

I was wondering if it's the same form of bacteria every time or possibly different and some forms could be more invasive than others, of course natural immunity would be factored in as well.

I'm out of the loop when it comes to a lot of things and antibiotics is one of those things. Nerbs' subtitle of "unique freak" has come to mind on occasion in that I think it applies to me as well. I have my circuit training that I do two or three times a week for the health benefits, so maybe that helps; maybe it doesn't.

This is day number four and I'm feeling a little better. Yesterday there was some moderate pain with pressure changes like getting up from bed or bending over to pick something up and that has subsided some.

The origin site has improved but it did spread to around the top of my hand and that's still lightly red, stiff, and swollen.

I'm ready now to go for a normal day. I'd really like to get to the city hall and pay my property tax with the weekend coming up and Monday's a holiday. I've spent so much time in bed that I don't think I slept more than an hour or two after midnight.

Now that my wheels are in order(since Tuesday) I'm also ready for an exciting drive and some cool scenery away from the city. "Country roads, take me home...".

— just another "unique freak" (kind of oxymoronish me thinks)

You need antibiotics! Please be seen by a dr!

[Maxmars]

I am not a doctor.

Allowing infections to persist while your immune system responds can be a terrible mistake.  In some cases there is damage to organs or other body systems and functions that you will not perceive until suddenly it becomes a chronic problem.

That's a trifecta... please see a professional physician about this.  Just for some blood test, if nothing else.

I hope you can shrug this off, as you may have before, but that hope isn't worth the risks of being wrong.