urgent - fear of cat bite

Yesterday I was petting my cat - he got a little annoyed and gave me a
stronger nip than usual - he took a decent bite out of my hand which was
bleeding for a while. I washed it off and put on a couple bandages. I
barely felt it so I thought little of it. Today the area of the bite is more
tender and starting to swell and pretty red.

I have since put on hydrogen peroxide and bacitracin (sp?) and am now
checking the wound a lot.

I might be overreacting, but I heard something about cat bites causing
serious problems - even amputation - because of the bacteria in cat's mouths.

I'm not trying to be a hypochrondriac but I'm a little nervous and want to
know how to tell of I need to go to a doctor.

--
Message posted via CatKB.com
http://www.catkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...ealth/200610/1

I would just observe the bite. If it gets infected (pus) or you have a red
line running up your arm, see a doctor.
Gail
"kitkat via CatKB.com" u26561@uwe wrote in message
news:685c9aa9c72b1@uwe...
Yesterday I was petting my cat - he got a little annoyed and gave me a
stronger nip than usual - he took a decent bite out of my hand which was
bleeding for a while. I washed it off and put on a couple bandages. I
barely felt it so I thought little of it. Today the area of the bite is
more
tender and starting to swell and pretty red.

I have since put on hydrogen peroxide and bacitracin (sp?) and am now
checking the wound a lot.

I might be overreacting, but I heard something about cat bites causing
serious problems - even amputation - because of the bacteria in cat's
mouths.

I'm not trying to be a hypochrondriac but I'm a little nervous and want to
know how to tell of I need to go to a doctor.

--
Message posted via CatKB.com
http://www.catkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...ealth/200610/1

Gail's advice is good. Keep the wound clean. If it gets infected, get to
your doctor as soon as its convenient. If you start to see a dark line run
toward your heart from the wound, RUN to the ER.

We are assuming, of course, that your cat is properly immunized. If not,
it's a whole 'nother ball game, and you should take both your cat and
yourself to your respective doctors.

ep

"kitkat via CatKB.com" u26561@uwe wrote in message
news:685c9aa9c72b1@uwe...
Yesterday I was petting my cat - he got a little annoyed and gave me a
stronger nip than usual - he took a decent bite out of my hand which was
bleeding for a while. I washed it off and put on a couple bandages. I
barely felt it so I thought little of it. Today the area of the bite is
more
tender and starting to swell and pretty red.

I have since put on hydrogen peroxide and bacitracin (sp?) and am now
checking the wound a lot.

I might be overreacting, but I heard something about cat bites causing
serious problems - even amputation - because of the bacteria in cat's
mouths.

I'm not trying to be a hypochrondriac but I'm a little nervous and want to
know how to tell of I need to go to a doctor.

--
Message posted via CatKB.com
http://www.catkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...ealth/200610/1

my cat has all of his shots totally up to date. I adopted him from my vet
and they assured me that he has a clean bill of health.

I'm not trying to be paranoid - you just hear the worst and start freaking.
The bite is on my knuckle and a little warm, red, and swollen - but nothing
crazy. I don't have pus and no lines to my heart - thank goodness.

I'm glad you've eased my mind. If it looks worse tomorrow I'll see my doctor
and get an antibiotic.

--
Message posted via CatKB.com
http://www.catkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...ealth/200610/1

"kitkat via CatKB.com" u26561@uwe wrote in message
news:685c9aa9c72b1@uwe...
Yesterday I was petting my cat - he got a little annoyed and gave me a
stronger nip than usual - he took a decent bite out of my hand which was
bleeding for a while. I washed it off and put on a couple bandages. I
barely felt it so I thought little of it. Today the area of the bite is
more
tender and starting to swell and pretty red.

I have since put on hydrogen peroxide and bacitracin (sp?) and am now
checking the wound a lot.

I might be overreacting, but I heard something about cat bites causing
serious problems - even amputation - because of the bacteria in cat's
mouths.

I'm not trying to be a hypochrondriac but I'm a little nervous and want to
know how to tell of I need to go to a doctor.

--
Message posted via CatKB.com
http://www.catkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...ealth/200610/1


Yes, keep an eye on it. Cat bites can be very nasty, but yours doesn't
sound drastic. It was alright to use hydrogen peroxide *once* to cleanse
the wound, but don't use it again. Repeat applications can actually slow
down or prevent the healing process. Also, is your tentanus immunization
up-to-date? If not, call your doctor and see if you should get one. And
don't delay.

MaryL

On Thu, 26 Oct 2006, kitkat via CatKB.com wrote:

Yesterday I was petting my cat - he got a little annoyed and gave me a
stronger nip than usual - he took a decent bite out of my hand which was
bleeding for a while. I washed it off and put on a couple bandages. I
barely felt it so I thought little of it. Today the area of the bite is more
tender and starting to swell and pretty red.

I have since put on hydrogen peroxide and bacitracin (sp?) and am now
checking the wound a lot.

I might be overreacting, but I heard something about cat bites causing
serious problems - even amputation - because of the bacteria in cat's mouths.

I'm not trying to be a hypochrondriac but I'm a little nervous and want to
know how to tell of I need to go to a doctor.

One word for cat bites: neosporin! If a red line appears to be coming
out of the are of the cat bite, then get thee to a doctor. The only time
I've heard of really serious problems with cat bites is when the person
bitten had diabetes, but I could be wrong -- always a possibility.

Eva

Yeah, I've been there. One of my cats bit the bejeezus out of me while I
was pilling her one day, and I came to one of the cat ngs for advice. I got
an odd group of replies that day, skewed toward the direction of "BE AFRAID.
BE VERY AFRAID." I sat around staring at my finger like it was going to
explode. But I was fine.

ep

"kitkat via CatKB.com" u26561@uwe wrote in message
news:685cc8e4cd916@uwe...
my cat has all of his shots totally up to date. I adopted him from my vet
and they assured me that he has a clean bill of health.

I'm not trying to be paranoid - you just hear the worst and start
freaking.
The bite is on my knuckle and a little warm, red, and swollen - but
nothing
crazy. I don't have pus and no lines to my heart - thank goodness.

I'm glad you've eased my mind. If it looks worse tomorrow I'll see my
doctor
and get an antibiotic.

--
Message posted via CatKB.com
http://www.catkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...ealth/200610/1

I've had my share of bites and deep gouges from cats over the years. If you
keep it clean and put antibiotic ointment on it then 99% of the time it
heals ok. Unless it starts getting extremely red and pussy you don't have
anything to worry about.

Celeste

"kitkat via CatKB.com" u26561@uwe wrote in message
news:685c9aa9c72b1@uwe...
Yesterday I was petting my cat - he got a little annoyed and gave me a
stronger nip than usual - he took a decent bite out of my hand which was
bleeding for a while. I washed it off and put on a couple bandages. I
barely felt it so I thought little of it. Today the area of the bite is
more
tender and starting to swell and pretty red.

I have since put on hydrogen peroxide and bacitracin (sp?) and am now
checking the wound a lot.

I might be overreacting, but I heard something about cat bites causing
serious problems - even amputation - because of the bacteria in cat's
mouths.

I'm not trying to be a hypochrondriac but I'm a little nervous and want to
know how to tell of I need to go to a doctor.

--
Message posted via CatKB.com
http://www.catkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...ealth/200610/1

I beg to differ, I had a deep bite on my hand some years ago. The area
around the bite turned red for almost an inch. I went to the doc and
he said to watch it and if it got any worse, he would put me in the
hospital. Peroxide etc isn't going to get into your blood and attack
the infection, that's silly.

On Thu, 26 Oct 2006 22:38:31 GMT, "kitkat via CatKB.com" u26561@uwe
wrote:

I might be overreacting, but I heard something about cat bites causing
serious problems - even amputation - because of the bacteria in cat's mouths.

Yeah, I heard about that.
No wait, that was Komodo Dragons.
Never mind.