Why a cat bite could land you in the hospital: Surprising results from new study

Steely Dan

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http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sidesho...italization--new-medical-study-210411024.html


Why a cat bite could land you in the hospital: Surprising results from new study
Eric Pfeiffer
By Eric Pfeiffer February 18, 2014 4:04 PM The Sideshow

..Bottom line: Carlsen says if you’ve been bitten by a cat and don’t see improvement in the wound in the first 24 hours, you should probably seek treatment. Beyond that, he says, caregivers also have a responsibility to do more than hand out a course of antibiotics....
 
Was listening to a radio talk show about this Friday on the way to work. People were calling in with horror stories about surgery and hospital stays, and the grossness just over night from infection.

I never thought about it, but, fortunately, haven't been bitten by a cat before.

Any mouth is a bed of bacteria, including our own. It is just a party for germs in there.

My mom used to tell us a dog licking a cut would heal it, and she let them do just that to us. Of course, later the dog is licking his own private areas to clean himself, or came up with kitty litter covered doggie fudge in his mouth and a big grin while waving it for everyone to see. :eek:

So, clean those wounds. Get to the E.R. doctor if they look infected, asap!
 
Yikes. We have one cat who is crazy about love bites and she can get a bit over enthusiastic. It's weird but she'll jump on your lap and start nudging your hand for pets and then she goes into a love bite frenzy. Thanks for posting this!
 
Several years ago I got bit by our cat. The next day I went to the ER, as the redness and swelling expanded. I was stunned, when they said they needed to admit me, as cat bites are the worst and can be deadly! :eek: I really didn't want to be admitted, so they let me stay in the ER for several hours with IV antibiotics. Before I could go home, they drew a line around the redness, which had by this time gone from just above my wrist to past my elbow. :eek: If the redness went outside of the pen marking, I was to immediately come back. Thank goodness it didn't. I'm fine to this day! :)

It was a rude awakening, as I had no idea that a cat bite was so dangerous. To this day, when people tell me they got bit by a cat, I tell them to get the the ER - STAT!
 
Thankfully my persian cat Winston in my avatar never bites he is very good natured. I know a few people with cats that bite and they got infected. I love cats it's amazing how they all have their own personalities.
 
I worked at a place called Telehealth in Ontario. You are actually supposed to seek immediate medical attention for any cat bite that draws blood. Waiting 24 hours can be lethal. It doesn't matter if the cat has his/her vaccinations and rabies shots either. Cats just have filthy mouths. Squirrel bites, don't necessarily require medical attention.
Interesting FYI, Dogs on the other hand, have a natural antiseptic in their saliva that promotes healing.

Long post just to say....don't wait 24 hours after a cat bite. :)
 
Wow, just the other day on Facebook, my cousin's friend posted a picture of her swollen, red finger the day after being bitten by her cat. People were urging her to go to the hospital, and she did. She was admitted and had surgery the next morning. I never knew how bad it could be.
 
My cat doesn't bite, but if he is mad at me, he swaps me with his paw.
:floorlaugh:
 
Wow, just the other day on Facebook, my cousin's friend posted a picture of her swollen, red finger the day after being bitten by her cat. People were urging her to go to the hospital, and she did. She was admitted and had surgery the next morning. I never knew how bad it could be.

How is she and what kind of surgery did she have?
 
I was going to add my own story but then I recalled it was a cat scratch, not a cat bite!

But just because I'm here I'll tell it anyways. I was scratched by an outdoor cat when I was young and was hospitalized. I literally had "cat scratch fever" -- they had to take out the lymph nodes under my armpits!

http://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/diseases/catscratch.htm
 
My cat bites me to get attention and food. Mostly for food and mostly at 6am. He is a lovely natured boy 99% of the time. He never draws blood but it's good to be reminded to not take it so lightly. What I'd like to know is, could my cat me bite me one day and be safe but bite me the next day and kill me? And I wonder if it makes a difference if they live indoors. I think it would because outside they kill prey and are exposed to more bacteria. But I could be very wrong.
 
It is slightly unnerving to think this bundle of fur lying beside me could kill me.
 
WAY back when my oldest daughter was ten, she got attacked by a cat. It literally dropped out of a tree and started scratching and biting her. Then the owners of it got mad because I called the police. But yes, the police told me to get her to a hospital right away. It was just so strange; I had never heard of a cat attack before. I have three cats and a dog and I adore animals but they can be dangerous.
 
oh yeah! my dear fiance was bitten over christmas--ended up in the emergency twice and still has pain from where it hit a nerve and got under a knuckle.
 
Yikes. We have one cat who is crazy about love bites and she can get a bit over enthusiastic. It's weird but she'll jump on your lap and start nudging your hand for pets and then she goes into a love bite frenzy. Thanks for posting this!

Mine does this too! He's the most affectionate little guy, and when he cuddles up he purrs away, grabs my fingers and nibbles on them lol. He also grooms my eyebrows in the morning when he wakes me up for breakfast haha.

Now I'm paranoid about the love bites though! :eek:
 
One time a neighbors cat was sitting outside. I petted him and he bit me on the arm- drew blood. It happened very fast.

It didn't get infected, Doctor gave me a tetanus shot and reported it. Poor kitty was quarantined in his home for 10 days. All was well.

I've had cats for years. My old girl has bit me a few times recently.
Usually when she gets excited when I'm giving her attention.
It's very fast. Her teeth are very sharp, like razor blades. :scared:

Love bites. I wash the wound thoroughly soap and water and peroxide.
Bandage with neosporin.

She bit my fingers. It does get red and very tender. I watch it closely and rewash twice daily. After 2 or 3 days it clears.

Bad girl. She feels bad afterwards and knows she hurt Mama.
 
Oh whoa. I've been googling about "what to do if a cat bites you." Well, as with any animal bite, wash it for 3 to 5 minutes with soap and water, but with cats (as well as bats and monkeys) you need to get to the doctor. (If you wake up and find a bat in your room, go to the doctor as it may have bitten you and their bites are hard to see. Yep, that was in there.)

Anyhow, I did find an article from January about a lady that was bitten, and, it says a cat bite can cause bone infections! Yikes! So, that is what all those that have had surgery is about.

Some more info:

And, Peterson said, “cats have a pretty potent bacteria.” While cats have a variety of microbes living in their mouths, the real trouble comes from Pasteurella multocida, a bacterium that can cause bad infections. One study found that 90 percent of domestic cats are carriers. Dogs also carry this bacteria, first isolated by Louis Pasteur and named after him, but the infection rate from their bites doesn’t come close to cats’ 50 percent. (Pasteurella is not the microbe that causes cat scratch disease, which is usually transmitted by kitten scratches and nips, and in most people causes only swollen lymph nodes, not severe local infection.)

We humans also carry germs on our skin, such as staphylococcus and streptococcus, which can be picked up by the animal’s teeth and added to the bacterial stew injected by the bite.

Best to read the article, and look up more on cat bites for those with cats around.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...47357e-58db-11e2-beee-6e38f5215402_story.html
 

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