# my cat bit me



## dia (Nov 11, 2010)

in case this ever happens to you, i though i'll give other cat owners the head ups up. i have been nipped etc by my kitty's before, no problem. who hasn't. Well on monday night, while i was brushing my old boy who is the calmest gentlest cat i have even had, bit me. His single fang basicaly got stuck in the flesh of my hand for a few moments. Dont know who was in shock more, me or him. there was no bleeding but quickly washed my hand, put some anitbiotic cream on and saw that Greebo was hiding under the coffee table. He knew he did a bad thing, and no i didn't yell at him at him. Long story short, hand blew up quickly, spend 4 hours at emergency. Ended up getting a shot, perscrition for super strong anitobotic, and they put my arm in a split. i have had cats all my 50 plus years and this has never happened to me or anyone i know. So if you get a good bite from your cat, best to get it checked out quickly. Now the drugs are making me feel sick as well..sigh. sorry for my moan but im feeling sorry for myself. cats love them no matter what, but there are days...


----------



## KittieLover (May 2, 2011)

Ouch! That would've hurt!
My cats have bitten me but not as bad as that!


----------



## bkitty (Aug 17, 2009)

Ouch, I've had mine nip at me when medicating or claw clipping but the only one I really need to watch is Tuffy. He gets wound up playing and will chomp the back of your leg hard enough to break the skin. The dreaded sneak attack. Or will be snuggled in your lap purring & kneading then reach out and chomp on what ever is closest chin, arm or nose. Classic DERP totally clueless that it hurts no clue it was not a love nibble but a chomp.


----------



## tghsmith (Dec 9, 2010)

my smokey cat(rehabbed feral) sunk his fangs in my arm, I spent that xmas day night getting IV antibiotics, plus the RX to take home.. asked my docter if he could give a RX for the cat.. some of the "bugs" in a cats mouth are the same as komodo dragons have !!! watch any cat bite closely, most won't go bad but when they do it can happen very fast.. (fresh hydrogen peroxide may be your best friend to quickly deep clean a bite, buy several of the smaller bottles to keep one hand(its cheap), once opened to the air it starts to turn to water. this is one case where bulk is wrong choice)


----------



## Lenkolas (Jan 18, 2011)

Maybe you touched him right where it hurts, I mean, maybe he is in pain and you hit the wrong spot, could that be?
I'm very sorry for you! Good luck with your recovery


----------



## dia (Nov 11, 2010)

tghsmith, how long it take for the swelling, weakness, soreness to ease? I know its not helping that i have to work through this (hairdresser) and of course its my working hand. the swelling has gone down a little. i'm so not looking forward to work today. thanks everyone for replying. hydrogen peroxide, should have thought of that, thanks.


----------



## Goldtanker (Jan 9, 2011)

I went through the same drill (ER and all) about a year ago. The reduction after the drugs is dramatic as I recall. The return to normal should be this week. Keep taking the pills for the required time.


----------



## librarychick (May 25, 2008)

If that was strange behavior I'd give you kitty as very thorough check. It could be he has a scratch/bite/infection of some sort...I know if someone poked my sore toes right now I'd probaby hit them

Check him over reall carefully and make sure he's ok, you wouldn't want to miss something. Usually when a cat goes from being lovey and calm to biting instantly there's a reason.


----------



## tghsmith (Dec 9, 2010)

the IV stuff stopped the progression and started to reduce the swelling in the first 12 hours(otherwise they wouldn't have let me out)it still took several days for most of the swelling to subside and the area was tender for a more the a week..I should have gone in sooner but it was xmas morning when it all started to swell..If I didn't have health ins. I'd be sure to invest the 2 bucks in some hydro-per(my copay was 100.00 the bill was over 3000.00)


----------



## Goldtanker (Jan 9, 2011)

I don't know anything about cats (just wild ones) so I didn't know their bites were so bad. Doc said their bites are among the dirtiest. When the swelling started, I thought it was just routine trauma, like when your tank takes an RPG hit. Nope - more like being bitten by an AlienBeing! Serious stuff!


----------



## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

dia, sorry to hear about the bite, but it sounds like it's healing and hope it won't be for too long. I've only had one serious bite from a cat, and that was one that had an abscess and I was trying to get it into a carrier to take to the vet. He went pretty balistic and I managed to get him into it, but not before he sank his teeth into my hand. I wasn't too smart about cat bites then, and the next day my hand blew up like a ballon and had to get shots (Tetuan) and antibiotics from my doc. Gotta treat cat bites and bad scratches quickly with bleach, H-P, or soap, but deep puncture wounds need more than that.


----------



## Goldtanker (Jan 9, 2011)

This is what I learned from my "bite experience".

Think of a scratch as a pothole in the Wintertime road. A bite is something more serious - maybe like this!


----------



## KittehLuv'n (Feb 19, 2011)

Wow. This is scary. 
My cat bit me yesterday- not on purpose- he was going for the toy mouse in my hand and one tooth caught my hand.

I just cleaned it real well and put a band aid on it. Seems ok today- wondering if it is ok since it didn't swell?


----------



## blondie1483 (Jan 19, 2011)

I've gotten bitten by Mr T of my own accord - when I pet/picked up/p*ssed him off, etc, and he let me know. Even just yesterday, I was brushing him and caught a fang in my right hand. Drew blood, the whole bit. Then he looked up at me, like, "OMGoodness I'm sorry!!" and mad-dashed under the kitchen table. Ah, kitties.

That being said, I'm fine. Nothing a little alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, and triple-anti-bac-ointment doesn't cure. I guess that's just luck, though. I'm sorry to see how sometimes, a bad reaction can occur.

I should note that I am pretty allergic to a lot of stuff and get allergy shots for cats, dogs, dust, grass, and trees once a week every Wednesday. This may affect the way I react to cat saliva - after over a year of injections, I may be more conditioned than others may be?


----------



## tghsmith (Dec 9, 2010)

most lite bites that are just in the skin are not a problem, (just clean them and watch ) the deep fangs that goe into muscle or other tissue is where the problems can start.. I'v been bitten many times over the years and had it only get out of control once.. , that being said a good cleaning and soaking is the best in any case for any puncture wound..


----------



## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

My dad had blood poisoning from a deep cat bite a year ago, it bled a lot (that might've been a good thing), but it got worse within 24 hours so the next day he had to get antibiotics, the doctor said if he didn't see improvements soon (like in 12 hours or something) then he would have to go to the ER. Luckily, the antibiotics did their thing... it's definitely something to look out for when a cat bites you hard.


----------



## jusjim (Jun 30, 2009)

tghsmith said:


> my smokey cat(rehabbed feral) sunk his fangs in my arm, I spent that xmas day night getting IV antibiotics, plus the RX to take home.. asked my docter if he could give a RX for the cat.. some of the "bugs" in a cats mouth are the same as komodo dragons have !!! watch any cat bite closely, most won't go bad but when they do it can happen very fast.. (fresh hydrogen peroxide may be your best friend to quickly deep clean a bite, buy several of the smaller bottles to keep one hand(its cheap), once opened to the air it starts to turn to water. this is one case where bulk is wrong choice)


Rubbing salt into the wound is a good disinfectant, and almost everybody has salt on hand. It's there and ready for immediate use. None of this, "oh I forgot to get such and such and the stoes are closed ,or it's a hours drive, or it's snowing" etc. 

They use salt for pickling because it kills bacteria (or a least stops them from multiplying).

I haven't had time to read this article, but the historic listing of salt for medicine seems to be large. 

Science Tribune

It probably isn't as effective if you've left the wound for a couple of hours and the bacteria has spread. Immediate application and rub into the wound. It will sting.

Try a Google of 'Salt as an antiseptic' and make up your own mind.


----------



## madamefifi (Apr 30, 2011)

I've been bitten hard a couple of times over the years by stressed-out cats but luckily I've never required treatment. One time when I was a new nurse (a gazillion years ago) I had a patient hospitalized with cellulitis from a cat bite. He had to get IV ampicillin every four hours for about a week. Obviously the new generation of antibiotics is better! Hope you're feeling OK.


----------

