Cat scratched my son, will it scar?

[Aredhel]

A cat scratched my sons face. He just walked by. I am so afraid it will leave a scar. Will it?

Get some Germoline on that, as often as you can.

Because they may require a tetanus vaccine. You wouldn't go for just a scratch but a cat scratch is a whole different kettle of fish.

I never recommend urgent care or a and e but I agree, cat scratches are nasty and this needs cleaned properly.

As for scarring, my cat scratched me deeply on fear (he was an ex stray and afraid of the cat carrier and freaked out when I opened the door to take him to a cat sitter. It was 15 years ago, I still have a deep scar on my inner arm.

Cat scratches really are particularly germy and if it's very deep can get infected and also can cause cat scratch fever. A and e would be extreme but a minor injuries or similar. (Here, it would be kids a and e) a cat scratch that close to the eye is a significant accident. It can be as deep and germy as a dog bite. And I say that as someone who works in urgent eyecare and if it's caught his eyelid and you went to a and e they'd refer you to us, and rightly so, we wouldn't think it an unreasonable referral at all.

Just take him to your local pharmacist in the morning for advice.

Keep an eye out for infection, cat scratches can be very, very nasty.

Cat scratches can scar. My daughter has a nasty scar on her leg where a boy in our neighborhood told her to hold our cat so he could squirt it with a water gun. My husband also has bad scarring on his wrists from when he found a stray cat in our shed and tried to pick it up.

That scratch does look deep, so it may scar but it will fade a lot and he is so little it may not be noticeable.

I was told to keep the wound clean with soap and water and to use Vaseline to stop it drying out. It takes longer to heal but makes the skin less likely to scab and scar.

If he'll tolerate it get hydrocolloid patches to use as long as it's not infected and has been cleaned well. I swear by these after I fell and skinned my face badly. Within 5days it was healed over and there's no scarring although oddly my freckles haven't returned to one area that was really deep
They keep the wound from drying out and promote cell renewal. I use them all the time now on all visible cuts and grazes that might scar.
They can make it look a bit funky as it traps moisture in but it makes a huge difference to healing time and end result.

Thank you so much for all your replies. The pictures are from 10 days ago. I should have mentioned that earlier. It is still very visible. He didn't accept bandages or plasters, so I smeared it a lot with Vaseline and it didn't crust over. you will now see a pink/white stripe from top to bottom. it seems a bit thickened. No infection occurred. I now put gel with silicone on it a few times a day and vaseline in between to keep it hydrated. Is that a good approach? I am still breastfeeding and could also make a cream maybe?

If it didn't scan and is now thickened definitely sounds like it's heading for a scar. Book a GP appt

No- wait until the scar heals before using silicone gel. Keep using the vaseline and place a bandage over it. Hydrocollid plasters are better but read your latest post that he doesn't tolerate plasters well. The one thing you do need is spf50 so the scar doesn't darken. But make sure you wait until the scar is semi/completely healed before using spf50.

I would have gone to A&E to get honest as the scar is on his face and was the cat that scratched him..

No it won't. Cat bites scar. I have both arms covered in cat bite scars from all the ferals I've rescued.

If you can see the nurse at the surgery ask them if it’s possible to use some silver cream on it. I had to have my legs dressed daily and the silver stopped my scars. Though they might suggest something else due to his age.

Post healing rosa mosqueta oil is a miracle worker.

At your sons age he will have an up to date tetanus from his infant vaccs, however I would keep it clean with soap and water no creams and keep an eye on it and you son for signs of infection. It can happen, my sister is an example of this however it’s not very common and she was fine but absolutely have him checked over if you have any concerns.

Posters advising OP to go to the GP, what do you expect the GP to do? Bearing in mind vast numbers of people can’t get appointments? Serious question, not trying to be argumentative.

My DS had similar, took him to urgent care and they literally just cleaned it which is already done at home. Not deep enough for stitches or glue just like the OPs sons picture.

It has left a scar on my DS face but it is fading every day. I’ve heard cat scratches take ages for the redness to go which has certainly been my experience!

He might have just tried to stroke the cat and be friendly. Not all cats are angelic (AKA only scratch when provoked).

One of my cats is 'highly strung' and scratches/bites even after she's asked someone for a stroke by nudging them... her body language turns from 'stroke me' to 'don't stroke me' in a flash and people who are unfamiliar with her don't stand a chance. Thankfully she generally steers away from people she doesn't know and won't go anywhere near unfamiliar children.

Sadly, there is a lesson to be learnt in that children ideally shouldn't touch animals that they don't know (or should be wary of doing so/ask an adult to guide them).

OP, cat scratches often seem a lot worse than they are at first due to the saliva on their claws (it can act as a wound irritant and/or give a mild allergic reaction which causes the skin to raise a little, looking at your photos, it looks like that's happened...).

Keep the scab/scar moisturised and it'll fade in time. My own feisty hooligan cat has inflicted the same kind of scratch on me but there's no evidence of it.

It’s says in the OP he was only walking past. Why do you assume the child was at fault?

I think it healed already, the only thing you can see now is the scar. The skin is closed. Is that what you mean by healed? I am living in The Netherlands. I would have gone to the doctor if they could have done more than I could. Luckily it didn't get infected.

It looks like a superficial scratch. I’d just leave it alone. I’ve had hundreds of scratches from animals over the years and none have ever scarred.

We cared for this, said to be, childfriendly cat for a couple of weeks. My son was literally only near him. Did not even touch him. Came out of nowhere to be honest.

Time will tell. I do have some scars on my arm from a cat, one of which is pretty long and obvious and the others very faint. I've had them over 20 years now so I doubt they will fade further! Cat i was holding suddenly got scared and pinged of of my arms using my forearm as a springboard.

Your poor little ds, I hope it heals well and that he isn't too put off cats.

@Aredhel

Yes, from your description, the wound appears to be healed. You can use silicone gel and don't forget the spf50! (Mineral sunscreen not chemical). Keep on applying Vaseline. Do not stop with the Vaseline- keep on applying Vaseline for approx. 3-4 weeks everyday on the wound,

Cats carry some serious bacteria on their claws, such as Pasteurella.
It's too soon to say if it will scar or not.
I hope you've gotten rid of the cat.
That could easily have been an eye.

In those circumstances there's a lot of pressure as the cat springs off you, so the claws dig deeper (I've unfortunately been there and had that done to me... cat had vomited over itself and did not take kindly to me washing him, so struggled out of the sink and sprang off me in a panic). I also still have a scar on my shoulder several years on.

However, I'd expect a simple scratch from one paw and no body weight behind it to be less deep and therefore scar less (if at all - in my experience they don't scar permanently but can take a while to fade...). Thankfully childrens skin heals very quickly, I was astonished at how fast chicken pox scars disappeared for my little boy, for example.

Goodness me, get a grip! Whack some germolene on it and forget about it. Ds has been scratched in the face more times than I care to remember (winding up one of my cats usually), and he hasn't got a single scar.