To call NHS 24 over a minor cat bite?

@JustAnotherThursdayI just shown the picture to my dp, who, as I said, has spent the past 2 years recovering from a severe hand injury. He said to tell him to go to A&E-he had many people in the ward and clinics with him who had severe infections from similar cat bites. Please tell him that.

Cat Bites to the hand should be seen by a clinician, because there is little immune response in the tendon sheaths which a cats long teeth can reach deep into. I would not risk it.

Have a google of retinal detachment in cats, its pretty serious and recommended for the cat to see a vet asap.

edit - I am not a vet, and not saying it is retinal detachment, but blindness, especially sudden onset, should be investigated sooner rather than later.

I was bitten on my hand by a dog . It wasn't deep and was a accident. Hand got in the way whist trying to separate two fighting dogs (daft i know).
And I felt silly going to AnE but they said it was the right thing to do and gave me a tetanus shot and they cleaned it all.

My dp had a very serious hand injury and spent a lot of time in a specialist ward- with many people
with neglected cat bites. Before that I would have been one of the “don’t be ridiculous” brigade….

Health professional here, if as it looks, it’s a bite that’s broken the skin then the advice is to be seen - likely antibiotics needed.

Rather than take the advice of the mumsnet experts it would probably be best to ring the 111 line and see what they say

He needs to go to minor injuries or A&E. My DH was bitten and the nurse at minor injuries said he was right to go in and told him horror stories of people who didn’t.

The fangs effectively inject bacteria into your bloodstream.

My DD is a vet and goes to A & E when she is occasionally bitten.

I ended up in exactly the same position. My tetanus was up to date so I just cleaned the bite and carried on. The following morning my hand was swollen and by afternoon looked like an inflated rubber glove. A week of IV antibiotics and it wasn't healing so ended up having surgery on my carpel tunnel to cut out and wash out infection. I cat bit can be extremely serious.

Mum was told by A&E (with ballooned arm day after a bite) that cat bites are worse than rodent bites and should always be looked at.

I think keep an eye on it and at the first sign of any infection you do go to MIU or GP and get antibiotics.my late DH was a postie and had a couple of really nasty infections over the years from dog bites which made him feel dreadful and needed strong antibiotics to shift.

It makes them less dangerous. Another poster put up the bit about the shape of their teeth which increases the risk of any cat bite.

If it starts feeling hot & starts to puff up or any sign of pus in it, he must get it seen to. Especially any swelling.

In the meantime draw a line in felt tip or biro around the edges of the inflamed red part and watch for it spreading outwards to any lines radiating our from the puncture marks. If it does, time to head to A&E quickly.

As people have said, these injuries can get infected and spread into the bloodstream really fast. I'd be careful overnight as well, he may not notice it turning nasty as he sleeps.

Edited to add, if he starts feeling unwell in himself has flu like symtoms etc, also a sign to get medical treatment asap.

So is it different for indoor cats then? Just curious because I've been bitten loads of times by our indoor kitten and never knew it was so dangerous.

My cat bit and scratched me when he got his foot stuck and I was trying to free him. Even though I washed it carefully and put germolene on it my hand swelled up so I went to minor injuries. Got tetanus shot and antibiotics and they had to check my finger wasn't broken.

Cat bites can be nasty and should never be just left.

My partner had the same reaction as your friend. Wanted to ignore a cat bite and refused to go and get it looked at.

Until he got to work 2 days later and was so unwell they forced him to go to the local hospital where he nearly collapsed walking into A&E and had to be taken in in a wheel chair. That was followed by over a week off work because he was initially too unwell to drive and then couldn't drive because he couldn't use his hand for several days.

As other posters have said above, cat mouths are full of nasties. My partner could've avoided all the above if he'd just got it looked at straight away.

A man I used to work with ended up in the High Dependency Ward for 5 weeks and then in another ward for several more weeks after one of his cats bit him on the foot. He was off work for months, came back on a phased return still with his foot encased in dressings which were changed every couple of days.

Cat bites which break the skin need immediate attention.

I volunteer with a cat charity, and we always say if the skin is broken go and get seen. I’ve known people end up in hospital on a drip because they felt their bite was too minor to need treatment…

I don't think I've ever been bitten by a cat. Scratched loads but not bitten. Is it his cat?

I guess I would go to minor injuries if it didn't seem to be painless and healing normally after a day.

https://www.nottsapc.nhs.uk/media/bpkhmlwy/human-and-animal-bite.pdf

Definitely get it checked... cat bites are nasty (took DD to A&E when it happened to her as yes, maybe overkill but if not - the consequences can be live changing!)

I have probably one or two such bites a month. I keep my tetanus up to date, but otherwise ignore them unless it starts to cause either a fever, or swelling which doesn't start to subside in a couple of days. I end up getting antibiotics around once every three years, or in about one per cent of incidents. However I'm not saying people should take this as a reason to do nothing - I'm just saying that cat bites certainly don't always need treatment.

Hamsters don't tend to have bits of dead animals in their teeth which cats do. That is why cat bites are so dangerous.

Well based on cat bites, hamster bites etc since I help in a rescue I wouldn't go for something so small but that does remind me to check tetanus up to date