Oh my Gosh! What a Scary Freak Accident!! (Long)

jcat

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Originally Posted by KatKisses

If you call the doc DO NOT tell him it was YOUR cat. Say it was a stray or something.

Hope you & her are ok!
Originally Posted by strange_wings

Call the vet and make sure you have a proper copy of it. Unless the vet used was incompetent they will have recorded the batch number and type of vac somewhere in the paper work as this needs to be recorded for the vac records to count at all, plus it also needs to be listed to keep track of possible problems with the vaccines used.

As suggested, lie and say a stray did it rather than seeking no medical treatment at all.
Suppose she lies and they want to give her a rabies shot?
 

taryn

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If you lie you will have to go through a rabies series.

I would make sure you have proof of her rabies and go to the doctor. It was your cat, the cat didn't attack you for no reason, and she isn't a dangerous animal so I see no reason why he should have to report anything. There would be no reason for them to do anything, your own cat bit you, you know she is UTD on her rabies so it shouldn't go anywhere.

Mitzi's doctor never reports anything when she needs treatment for a bite she gets while grooming. She quit grooming cats after a bad bite that wasn't half as bad as the one you recieved that became badly infected. I would see the doctor.

Taryn
 

libby74

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I have a Hannah myself, and I believe she would react in just the same manner. Glad your little girl wasn't seriously hurt.

Please keep an eye on your hand. When my Rufus clamped onto my leg several years ago, I thought I'd done eveything to keep it from getting infected. It took a good week before it really started looking scary. I finally went to the dr's office; his nurse asked if the cat that bit me had his rabies shot. I didn't have to provide any proof, and Rufus was never quarantined. I told her why Rufus had bitten me, and that was it.

Hope your hand is ok. It's amazing how our kids can get themselves in trouble, isn't it?
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by jcat

Suppose she lies and they want to give her a rabies shot?
Can they force treatment on people over there? If so that's scary! Here you simply sign a waver stating they're not responsible and you understand the consequences. In fact as long as no one takes away your power of attorney you could do that with all medical care as no one can force it upon you, even if you were to die otherwise.
 

bastetservant

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I'm surprised you don't have to register your cats with the county animal control department where you live. One has to where I live, and pay $10 a year for a one year rabies registration, and $25 for three years. All my cats come from a shelter, and the shelter reports to animal control on the adoptions and when the cats are due for their rabies shots. And all the vets send in a form to the county animal control departments when they give rabies vaccinations. So animal control contacts you if they don't get their money in a timely way. They call. If you don't comply, you have to go to court and pay hefty fines.

I don't know about being compelled to have rabies treatment if you are a human who may have been exposed. And I don't know what they do about a pet without proof of rabies vaccinations. But the vet who did the 2008 shot should have a record.

Anyway, how are you Stephanie, and Hannah, today? What a scary, freaky thing to happen. But it could happen with most any cat.


Robin
 
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stephanietx

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I'm back from the doctor. He didn't ask me what happened. I just told him it involved a stepstool, a narrow space, and junk. (All true.) I did tell him that whatever punctured my hand was not rusty and that my last tetanus shot was Aug, 2009. He looked at my hand and told me it was starting to get infected (duh!) and gave me an antibiotic. I have to call him everyday to let him know how it's doing. If it's not better, then I'm not sure what the plan is. It's better today than it was yesterday, though, and I'm to continue what I'm doing (epsom salt soaks, peroxide, neosporin).

Hannah's fine. She's acting like nothing ever happened!
 

strange_wings

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I never heard of a doctor wanting daily calls.
I'm glad you went and hope your hand heals up well.


ETA: I was on my way out the door earlier and didn't have time to ask. What antibiotic were you given?
The reason I ask is that the main bacterial infection you get from a cat bite is pasteurella, cuts from other objects are usually more likely to get staph. They're susceptible to different antibiotics. Hopefully the doc recognized a bite wound for what it was despite you not telling him and prescribed the correct antibiotic.
 

addiebee

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Augmentin is the treatment of choice for a cat bite... I have also used Cipro effectively.
 
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stephanietx

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He put me on clindamycin.

He's concerned that the infection will get worse, thus the daily calls. I'd rather call than go in everyday!
 

my4llma

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Wow I'm sorry that your hand is really bad off.

I'm glad Hannah's ok
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by stephanietx

He put me on clindamycin.

He's concerned that the infection will get worse, thus the daily calls. I'd rather call than go in everyday!
It likely will. Pasteurellae are resistant to clindamycin. While it can be used along with another antibiotic to take care of any staph it will not kill the most common bacteria in a cat bite. One of the things pasteurella does is cause that swelling that you're having.

As mentioned, augmentin or another penicillin based antibiotic is typically used for it. You should let the doctor know this is a cat bite so you are treated with the proper class of antibiotic. The worst case scenario of not doing so is that you end up in the hospital with an infection that has spread or needing surgery on your hand.
 

addiebee

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I agree with strange_wings. Don't mess around with this, Stephanie. Let the dr. know it is a cat bite. ASAP!!!!!!!
 

libby74

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Originally Posted by AddieBee

I agree with strange_wings. Don't mess around with this, Stephanie. Let the dr. know it is a cat bite. ASAP!!!!!!!
I agree. I couldn't tell you what antibiotice I was given for my infected bite (it was several years ago), but I had to take 2 courses of meds because the infection had actually progressed to a cellular level (I believe that's what the dr said). Once your dr. knows it really was a cat bite he may change your meds.

Hope your hand heals quickly.
 
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stephanietx

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Well, it's looking better today and the swelling has gone down. It's not as tender and not as angry looking.

I appreciate all your care and concern.
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by libby74

I agree. I couldn't tell you what antibiotice I was given for my infected bite (it was several years ago), but I had to take 2 courses of meds because the infection had actually progressed to a cellular level (I believe that's what the dr said). Once your dr. knows it really was a cat bite he may change your meds.
I bet it was augmentin. It's fairly cheap and is the staple go to med for that. And wow, two courses? I was lucky (sort of) and went to the ER, thus was started on antibiotics right away. Even with that it was infected by 9pm that night and my arm, from hand to elbow, swelled up from it.


Give them a heads up. He may decide to add augmentin or regular penicillin along with the clindomycin as any wound still has the risk of staph (it's all over our skin and environment).

A bit more heads up for you, augmentin lead to my hospital stay in '08 due to wiping out all the good intestinal flora and letting c.diff take over. It's known for doing this, so is clindomycin. Even if you decide to ignore our advice to tell the doc the truth about the type of wound you have, at the very least take my advice and start some probiotics. A bad bacterial overgrowth in the GI is no fun and the last thing you want is another infection to deal with.


Oh and as for "looking better", that's not always a way to tell. It may look fine for a few days and then you may suddenly find yourself in bed with a fever and chills (then you face an ER visit and costs), or that hand of yours in a lot more pain and by then needing to be surgically opened and cleaned out.
You have but to search "cat bite" on here to find stories of some serious infections people have dealt with after bites.
 

vampcow

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

I bet it was augmentin. It's fairly cheap and is the staple go to med for that. And wow, two courses? I was lucky (sort of) and went to the ER, thus was started on antibiotics right away. Even with that it was infected by 9pm that night and my arm, from hand to elbow, swelled up from it.


Give them a heads up. He may decide to add augmentin or regular penicillin along with the clindomycin as any wound still has the risk of staph (it's all over our skin and environment).

A bit more heads up for you, augmentin lead to my hospital stay in '08 due to wiping out all the good intestinal flora and letting c.diff take over. It's known for doing this, so is clindomycin. Even if you decide to ignore our advice to tell the doc the truth about the type of wound you have, at the very least take my advice and start some probiotics. A bad bacterial overgrowth in the GI is no fun and the last thing you want is another infection to deal with.


Oh and as for "looking better", that's not always a way to tell. It may look fine for a few days and then you may suddenly find yourself in bed with a fever and chills (then you face an ER visit and costs), or that hand of yours in a lot more pain and by then needing to be surgically opened and cleaned out.
You have but to search "cat bite" on here to find stories of some serious infections people have dealt with after bites.
I haven't had a cat bite but I have had an infection from not taking probiotics while on antibiotics. They really aren't any fun so please please eat at least a yogurt with probiotics while on the medication.

I hope your hand feels better...my sister had to have surgery from an infected cat bite...hers infected so badly and so quickly that they operated the NEXT DAY!!! SO please take care of that hand!! Hannah is gonna want it healthy for lots of petting!!
 
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