Cat Bites

Hello all,

My neighbor has recently gotten a new kitten. She rescued this baby from the pound who has been an absolute wonderful addition to her life. Yesterday, though, she received a bite from her and you'd think this was the worst of all possible wounds she could have received. Now, granted a cat bite is considered one of the worst bites you can get second only to a human one I think, but really is it necessary to run off to your nearest doctor to receive anti-biotic meds each time this happens. I'm just curious how you all handle those occasions when you may get bitten. Do you head off to your local health care person or do you keep certain antiseptic sprays etc for those times.

Thanks so much for your opinions and suggestions.

Barbara "Mupcat"

I've only been seriously bitten once by a feral kitten that was tangled in a vine (I was cutting him free and he bit me). I brought him inside for a quarantine period to make sure he didn't have rabies. I never went to a doctor myself. I have had minor nibbles and lots of scratches from my cats. I treat them as any wound - if minor, just ignore them. If more significant, I may put neosporin on them. I've never gone to the doctor for any of them.

My husband was seriously bitten by the neighbors cat when we were babysitting him in our home. Hard enough bite that when he pulled away, Melvin was hanging from his arm by his teeth. Husband left a 40 foot trail of blood to the bathroom, where he ran it under water to flush out the wound. A few days later he developed a fever and swollen glands, a sign of cat scratch fever. I sent him to the doctor who gave him antibiotics. And btw, Melvin was fine.

Don't agree that cat bites are worst next to humans. Any serious bite should be treated with caution from any species. You will know what a serious bite is the first time you receive one.

on how deep the wound was - I don't think it's unusual for a first-time owner to overreact to all the horror stories going around about cat-scratch fever and so on and so forth, or to be somewhat shocked at how sharp those little tiny teeth and claws can be!!!
If she followed basic first-aid procedures (wash the wound thoroughly and apply antiboitic cream/ointment) she should be OK without a visit to the doctor. However, if the wound is a deep puncture wound or shows signs of infection (red streaks in surrounding skin, severe swelling) she is doing the right thing by getting checked out.
Bella, who is missing at least three teeth, took a nip at me last week and drew blood on one of my fingers. I immediately washed the wound, put on some Neosporin, and aside from some annoyance at the flap of skin that was left hanging, nothing came of it. My battle scars from the last vet visit are much the same - they're fading now, but I kept them clean and treated w/ointment and they're fine now. Hope your friend is feeling better!!!

Our new kitten has those lovely little sharp teeth and has no idea sometimes how rough he is playing. I have all the scratches and bite marks to prove it. I don't get overly concerned, usually just wash the area and go about the usual business. I don't usually even apply an ointment and they seem to heal very quickly. I do however clip his nails since he loves to suckle on my neck and has the tendency to "knead" my chin and neck as he suckles. You'd think he would have figured out that all that "kneading" is not going to start the milk flowing! Maybe a little blood! LOL

Linda

I am currently sporting a healing cat bite on my right forefinger made by a little kitten we tried to rescue from the middle of the street last weekend. It had broken its neck and was having a seizure which caused it to clamp its teeth...first on my daughters arm and then on my finger. My daughter is fine. I'm fine. The bite on my finger was VERY deep, puncuring both my fingertip and the cuticle. For 2 days is was warm and swollen, but I kept cleaning it with hydrogen peroxide, keeping it open to the air in the day, and covering it with a bandage and neosporin at night. That was last Thursday and there is nearly nothing left of the bite.

Kittens bite sometimes because that's how they play with one another. Teach your neighbor how to dicipline the kitten (or how NOT to) and reassure her that the kitten won't turn out to be a bad cat. Has she never seen lion cubs playing? Kittens do the same thing.

If the wound becomes and remains swollen and hot or the person gets a fever, then go to the docs. Otherwise just treat it as you would any other dirty wound.

Thanks everyone for all your opinions and I'll pass them on. Great reassurance for her I'm sure as well as me. I haven't been bitten yet, but I'm certainly happy to lean I won't have to be running for medical assistance if and when I do. All depends on the bite so I'll tell her to act accordingly.

Barbara (Mupcat)