treating a cat scratch

Raven is a shoulder percher cat. She just jumped onto my shoulders and lost her balance and then used her claws to catch herself and she filleted my neck. OUCH that really hurt. It is a pretty bad scratch too.
How to treat it?

How about when they scratch each other? They never scratch maliciously, but they do play and claw each other up. Jack has a scar on his nose from Raven, and Raven has a recent scratch from Jack.

Oh dear kitties.

I don't normally treat mine They just go away with time...that is probably the wrong thing to do though.

You need to be careful- hydrogen peroxide, betadine, neosporin. If you can leave it open to air, that is best. It can get infected quickly so watch for heat, swelling, pain, redness, lines moving off from it. If you notice anything out of the ordinary, fever chills get to the ER pronto! All scratches I get, and I get a lot, I soak the area in the hottest water I can stand and epsom salts. The salts draw out the poisons most of the time. I have also been known to pour bleach on a scratch after an ER intern told me about that. I have had cellulitis twice and it isn't fun. I would rather deal with the sting of bleach on a scratch than IV's going into my arm.

I simply wash them and pour some peroxide on it and let it heal. And since my girls are both clumsy I get alot of scratches.

I also don't really do anything to treat a scratch - never had a problem.. but maybe I've been lucky. I've never really had one that was really deep though.

We use peroxide here--in fact we use so much I'm thinking of getting stock in it.

Cat scratches take the longest to heal--and at least on me always leave a scar!

Leslie

Cat scratches are not something to be taken lightly. The biggest problem is that they close up very quickly trapping germs. So wash it good and put antibotic ointment on it. If it gets worse you see a lot of red streaks it could mean a trip to the doctor.

If your cat is indoors its probably not as big of a problem as if your cat goes outdoors and hunts - far more germs, etc. in those types of scratches.

As far as scratching each other, same thing - be aware of infection. That's why your cats nails should be trimmed and checked weekly.

I use Solarcaine or Iodine when I get Cut. I have been cut pretty bad before too. I hardly ever get scratched now.

I'm so not trying to draw away from this... but I think I've been hanging out here too much. Everything is blending together! I totally read the title as "Eating a cat scratch." and I was like... WHAT? Hahahaha

I would first wash it with an antibacterial soap, then I would put neosporin on it or triple antibiotic ointment and would cover it temporarily! Just a couple hours to make sure the ointment gets the job done. Then the air is the best healing environment!

For my cats I wash it with anitbacterial soap, I dont cover theres at all! and I normally put petrolium on it just to keep it covered for a little while, after a couple minutes they'll lick it off! Ive never had cat scratch fever and I dont want it so I take alot of precautions! Im really bad though I guess, because I dont clip their nails! They hate it, and if I clip them flat they just can't seem to do their normal climbing!

If I get scratched on the hands or someplace I can reach I just usually wash with soap. If it's on my back I don't do anything. I think it all depends on each individual and their immune system. I've always healed quickly and been very healthy but our daughter got blood poisoning one time from a bite whereas hubby and I didn't as we were trying to catch a cat.

As the others say, scratches and bites aren't to be taken lightly, but I also wouldn't get overly concerned either.

When ever I get scratched I wash it in antibacterial soap then dose it with peroxide then put on neosporin. I keep that up everyday till it starts to look good because if I dont then I get a trip to the Drs. to get a shot.

I always wash the scratch. If it's deep I'll use peroxide & neosporin. Only use peroxide the first couple of days, or if you see infection because peroxide actully destroys healthy tissue too. If you use too much it will prevent the wound from healing. I've never had cellulitis for a scratch, but did get it from a bite.