cat bite info for owner/slaves/meowmys/purrpas

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

so pleased your well enough to be back at work and trust you are wearing metal mesh armour plated gauntletsvaround cats now 

[snarf]

thank you guys im well on the way to recovery now, back at work too  and everything is better after a cuddle with the cats. the worst thing about hospital was not being able to look after Louey!

Was the 'stinger' Cerenia? Riley had that recently and the vet warned me that he might react, like you I was holding him gently and he hissed repeatedly which is very unlike Riley, I googled Cerenia afterwards and it seems it's quite common to have such a reaction.

Hey Helen! i think you might be right, i looked at his invoice and its on there. i dont know which order they were but to be honest he wasnt happy about any!

I just wanted to alert people, idve waited days before demanding antibiotics which would not have ended well! thankfully i have friends with more sense than me!

[hollycat]

Cat bites can be nasty. My sister had to go to hospital last year after being bitten by one of her cats, hand came up like a balloon within a few hours.
 I have never needed treatment for a cat bite but I have had stitches from being scratched, well bunny kicked by Lulu (RIP) while trying to clip her claws.

Hope you are recovering well Snarf 

[Bren22]

Many years ago, many many many,  my lovely cat Polly ( who was vicious with everyone except me, mostly) also took exception to what a vet was doing to her (temperature I think!) so she bit me, the bite site swelled up alarmingly and was agony.  My GP gave me a tetanus jab.  Polly was quite naughty and over the years she sent me to the docs a couple of times and each time I had a tet jab because I could never remember the last time I had a booster, so that I eventually became allergic to it and could not have any boosters for years.  All's well now though and my present cats are gentle and well behaved.  If it's worked the picture is of Polly in 1967 and Harvey my present polar bear cat.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Glad you're recovered.

When my Magpie went to the bridge he was in intensive care at the vets for several hours beforehand and he bit me when I tried to stroke him.  The vets sent me straight to A&E for antibiotics.  They said they just prescribe them for themselves when they get bitten but obviously couldn't do that for me.  They told me that A&E would probably insist on a tetanus injection (they did) but that was way less important than getting ABs quickly.  Lots of bacteria in a cat's mouth.

[emmmy_lou]

Blimey Snarf! So glad you didn't loose your finger.

I have had quite a few scratches from ferals, but no bites (touch wood) I know they can be very nasty though cos of all the bacteria from the mouth.

Whenever I get a scratch it always goes VERY red and itchy around it.

Purdy bear, I didnt even realise cat scratch fever was a real medical condition!!! 

  

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Dam wish I had seen this before I went out to docs cos tetanus needss updating!

[Liz]

Also please ensure your Tetnus is up to date handling ferals as I do I have been hospitalised twice but only for overnight stays and Gill not sure what your docs are like but mine have it noted on my file I have cats which you can ask to do so they know of possible infections should bad scratches arise

[Tiggy's Mum]

  back Snarf

Sorry it's not under happier circumstances though  Thank God you acted quickly, the thought of losing your hand from a cat bite is just 

Was the 'stinger' Cerenia? Riley had that recently and the vet warned me that he might react, like you I was holding him gently and he hissed repeatedly which is very unlike Riley, I googled Cerenia afterwards and it seems it's quite common to have such a reaction.

[snarf]

  gill,JaneyK and purdy bear. 

his injections were cerenia, synulox, rantidine. the vet said one was a stinger but that was the second one she gave. im not sure which was in which order. i think its possible to graze a bone with needles? particularly as dehydrated and underweight.
He had full blood screen and a scan and the vet couldnt find anything wrong other than levels consistent with dehydration. he perked up after iv fluids so we still arent really sure what caused him to stop eating in the first place. hes lost about half a kilo so the vet wants to do more checks in a few weeks. hes eating and asking for food. hes perky and running about but seems to tire easily. hes been abit clingy with me but ive been gone for 5 days and only back yesterday so that could be me being gone, me being back or him still feeling abit rough ( or all three!)
i dont think he knew it was me he was biting even at the time, his eyes were very unfocussed and he looked like he was disorientated and hes normally very gentle

[Purdy Bear]

I'm glad your both making a recovery.  I've had cat scratch fever from a scratch before, I even came up in a red rash all over.  I was lucky because I was on antibiotics and the Dr thought that saved my life.  Remember if your bitten or scratched and it causes you to bleed you need antibiotics, that is even more so if it is a human bite - yes I do know someone who got that too.

PS.  If your bitten by a horse seek medical aid ASAP.  I saw one poor child loose her hand because her parents waited too long.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

So pleased you are recovering and also Lucifer 

Thank you for posting and I have heard of cat bites causing problems like this before and that GPs do not have a clue..maybe your vet should have advised!

What was wrong with Lucifer and why the 3 injections and what was the one that made him flip?

Hope everyone reads this cos so important

[Janeyk]

Blimey, glad you, and Lucifer are both ok 

Thanks for posting this, I am always wary of any bites or scratches and wash and disinfect straight away, thankfully so far we've not had any bad ones but I have heard of some who have.

[snarf]

Hi,

Its been ages since I last posted but I thought this was worth highlighting! hopefully its in the right place
To start both me and Lucifer are recovering- no sad stories here!

Last Tuesday I took Lucifer into the vets, lethargic and not eating. The vet gave him 3 injections during which he became progressively more agitated and on the third injection he flipped and bit into my finger.
He has never been aggressive at all. No swipes or scratches. He love bites- gentle nibbles that do not break the skin or even leave a mark. Because of this I was not holding Lucifer in a way that he couldn’t bite me and I didn’t move quickly. I didn’t heed his warnings.Absolute shock.  He stayed at the vets on a drip for 2 nights, dehydrated but is now home and eating.
My gp surgery initially decided I didn’t need antibiotics but by about 6 hours later my finger was very swollen  and so I started antibiotics. The next day the swelling and pinkness had extended, I went to the urgent care centre  and I was referred to Hospital.
I wont make this too long but the end result was surgery 48hours after the bite and 5 days of iv antibiotics (after a day of oral antibiotics). 5 nights in hospital. Surgery was to open the finger and wash out the components of the finger- mainly tendon and joint. I have been told by the registrar that they have amputated hands before when this has been left too late. All staff I saw told me that Animal or human bites almost always require antibiotics and the infection progress is very quick.
The bite was sited around a joint which seems to be the biggest problem. Not being able to straighten my finger indicated that the tendon was infected. At no point was my finger showing pus or red or hot. Only pinkness and some swelling.

Please if you are ever bitten, make sure you get a tetnus and antibiotics asap. My gp didn’t see this as serious and I think that is common. If the bite is on a joint, personally I would go to an urgent care centre or a&e.

I have repeatedly been told that I am lucky and this has been caught early and could have been much worse. i still ahve another week of antibiotics and 6months of projected physio and checks.

Please be careful cat peeps!
(Lucifer is eating well and now that cat cuddles have been properly administered im feeling so much better!)