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

jcat

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

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.
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Of course you can refuse treatment, but you do realize that if you refuse the rabies shot that public health officials, depending on the county or state and the incidence of rabies there, may very well be required to make an attempt to identify the culprit and start rounding up "stray" cats and quarantining/destroying them? Have you checked your local ordinances, or are you just jumping to conclusions?

Doctors and ERs are going to report bites by "unknown animals"; if it's your own pet whom you claim (or can prove) is UTD, maybe not.
 
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strange_wings

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Originally Posted by jcat;3012523Have [U

you[/u] checked your local ordinances, or are you just jumping to conclusions?
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My town and county is poor - simply put. They don't have the money to do that, nor the people. AC only goes out if aggressive dogs are reported... sometimes. They do not round up strays and as far as I know, have no where to even keep them. I'm not even sure if they have any live traps, they haven't in past years.

Local ordinance is the same generic one most counties in the US have, but without funding who is going to trap cats? No one works for free. Most of the towns in this county do not even have AC, if an aggressive stray dog or rabid animal (or even snakes) is reported in those towns the default action is to shoot them. Have to love living in a rural farming area...
 
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stephanietx

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WOW! Didn't mean to open a big can of worms!! Gracious!

I called the doctor with my report and I fessed up to the bite and I mentioned that she was UTD on her rabies shot. I regularly take Augmentin for sinus infections and I'm familiar with it. I've also been taking LOTS of acidophillus to help my GI tract.
 
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Originally Posted by stephanietx

I called the doctor with my report and I fessed up to the bite and I mentioned that she was UTD on her rabies shot. I regularly take Augmentin for sinus infections and I'm familiar with it. I've also been taking LOTS of acidophillus to help my GI tract.
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Good! (@ keeping up with the probiotics already) Did you get reprimanded at all?
I hope nothing comes of it. We know you and your cat aren't rabid.
But hopefully they don't feel like reporting it and save you the trouble of dealing with it. I really hope that you get the proper treatment and get better. So many dismiss how serious some wounds can be, especially bites, and no one on here wants to read that you've been stuck in the hospital for it.
Take care of yourself.
 
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stephanietx

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No reprimand from the doctor and no change in meds. The wound site is really looking good and there's not nearly as much swelling, redness, or tenderness to it as there was yesterday. I didn't actually talk to the PA (she was the one who called me back), but she didn't mention reporting it. I have to call in again tomorrow and I'll be sure to ask them at that time.
 
catmom2wires

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Stephanie,

If this is a doctor you've had for a long time, I wouldn't worry at all. I was BADLY bitten by my bridge cat, Harry, about 6 years ago and all the nurse and the doctor asked was if the cat was up to date on his vaccines. He wasn't, so I lied, got my antibiotics, and the rest was history.


In my opinion, if this doctor is one you've been in good standing with for a while, it will be no big deal. You don't exactly have the appearance of someone who is reckless and your doctor has far better things to do, I'm sure. I do think it helped that you saw your regular doctor, and did not use ER.

Glad the hand is getting well. Might I suggest you stop with the peroxide, though? It is cytotoxic (causes cell destruction) and actually slows healing. The soaks and neosporin should be more than sufficient. (Dh worked in wound care for years).

Take care!

C
 
cheshirecat

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Originally Posted by stephanietx

WOW! Didn't mean to open a big can of worms!! Gracious!

I called the doctor with my report and I fessed up to the bite and I mentioned that she was UTD on her rabies shot. I regularly take Augmentin for sinus infections and I'm familiar with it. I've also been taking LOTS of acidophillus to help my GI tract.
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I think the reason for the reaction is because at least 2 members that I know of had to quarantine their cats because of a bite. In both cases it was mandatory and expensive. One was in Texas.

I am not sure of the actual law but rabies vaccination is mandatory in the state that I live in. If your cat bites someone you have to provide proof of vaccination or they will quarantine the cat.

One reason I got Chester vaccinated was because of a story I read in the paper about a woman with 6 or 8 cats. She could not prove that they were vaccinated and could not afford the fee to have them quarantined. All her cats were PTS and she could do nothing to prevent it.

It's an isolated case but it scared me.
 
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stephanietx

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Originally Posted by CatMom2Wires

Stephanie,

If this is a doctor you've had for a long time, I wouldn't worry at all. I was BADLY bitten by my bridge cat, Harry, about 6 years ago and all the nurse and the doctor asked was if the cat was up to date on his vaccines. He wasn't, so I lied, got my antibiotics, and the rest was history.


In my opinion, if this doctor is one you've been in good standing with for a while, it will be no big deal. You don't exactly have the appearance of someone who is reckless and your doctor has far better things to do, I'm sure. I do think it helped that you saw your regular doctor, and did not use ER.

Glad the hand is getting well. Might I suggest you stop with the peroxide, though? It is cytotoxic (causes cell destruction) and actually slows healing. The soaks and neosporin should be more than sufficient. (Dh worked in wound care for years).

Take care!

C
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C~We've been going to this doctor for about 10 years. He knows us and knows we have cats. IIRC, he's also a cat lover. When I call tomorrow, I'm going to ask specifically for either him or the PA to call back and I'll ask them if they're going to report it or not.
 
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stephanietx

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One last update. I spoke with the PA a little bit ago and since it's my cat, they won't report it. If I'd have been bitten by a different cat, then they'd look at reporting it. Whew!
 
mrblanche

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Originally Posted by stephanietx

One last update. I spoke with the PA a little bit ago and since it's my cat, they won't report it. If I'd have been bitten by a different cat, then they'd look at reporting it. Whew!
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Isn't it interesting that Lee, who is also in TX, had to put his cat in quarantine under the same circumstances?
 
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^^^ I know! Maybe it's something that is up to the doctors? Or not up to them, but the pet lovers don't report? That is confusing. Maybe its diff for diff cities?

Lee's story & the little tux cat that had to be quarintined have seriously made me rethink getting rabies shots for my animals (now I do, I didn't want to over-vac before. Now I know vets can report to AC if they are bit by an animal, hurt animals are very unpredictable) and who is allowed to touch my animals, and it has made me realize that it is not a good idea to tell docs if I get bit by my animals (or a stray for that matter... but an animal bite is obvious).

Glad you are on the mend!!!
 
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Dottie got accidentally bitten by Sterling (she more or less ran into his tooth!) and it got infected. They took the information, and it seems that animal control may have called us, but when I explained the circumstances, they said everything was fine.
 
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iirc, Lee was bitten at a hotel with a house keeper witness. That changes things a bit from one of us getting bitten in our own home/property.

I can't remember what route he took medically, whether it was his regular doctor treating him or not. That makes an even bigger difference.
 
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stephanietx

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We've been going to this doctor for 10 years, which I'm sure helps. Also, the PA mentioned that if it hadn't been our cat, then they'd have to look into reporting it. Maybe the difference was we are established patients and they know us and probably don't deal with many 'emergency' situations with cat bites like I would imagine they do at urgent care clinics. If push came to shove, I could've provided ALL of Hannah's vet care paperwork since we've had her.

BTW, I've had a nasty reaction to the antibiotic (as in having tightness in chest, difficulty swallowing, bloating, reddening of the skin, some slight rash in various places on my body, indigestion) so I'm off of it for now. I have to call the doctor back tomorrow and I'll probably have to get a new antibiotic. Lovely.
 
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Oh no!
Are you able to take penicillin? That's better for a bite anyways and you likely know by now if that you react to it or not.
 
ldg

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Oh Stephanie I'm SO sorry!


I hope there's an antibiotic out there that works for you!

I'm allergic to almost everything environmental, but food an antibiotics - and other meds - so far aren't a problem.
I can't imagine!
 
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