should DH go to OOH doctors with this? Or just treat at home? Savaged by local bully cat!

[turkeyontheplate]

DH has been bitten by a neighbour's tyrant cat while trying to get it to stop terrorising one of ours. It's a nasty bite, but obviously nothing A&E-worthy. Should he go to OOH to have it dressed/cleaned, or do you think it's OK to just bung a bit of antiseptic cream on it? I've heard animal bites are prone to infection?

YABU: just wash it and put a bit of cream on
YANBU: go to OOH and get it seen

.

Would definitely have a tetanus. X

Is it swelling alot?

To be honest waiting afew hours for the taxi will prob be ok, A&E maybe quieter by then

Ring 111 and they will tell you to go to minor injuries at your local hospital. My mum had to be put under to clean out the wounds which included an overnight stay. She also had to have strong antibiotics and a tetanus jab...it is very serious and needs to be checked asap.

Hope you are ok

Just read your update and 111 told my mum 2 get 2 the hospital within an hour

Walk in clinic. IME of street with lots of territorial to cats, if cats are fighting, a v loud handclap with a shout does trick. Better than getting bitten.

NHS website says If the bite has broken the skin, you should seek immediate medical attention after cleaning the wound.

Another one for dialling 111 they might come up with another option than A&E on a Saturday night

All cat bites to the hand require oral antibiotics. If it's swelling or tracking and he's feeling unwell it may need IV Antibiotics. Out of hours GP should at least have a look.

I was bitten by my cat and actually posted for advice on MN. Following the advice I went to the walk in centre and the Dr put me on antibiotics, without hesitation, as a precaution as cat bites are the worst. Their teeth are filthy apparently and push bacteria into the flesh. Definitely get it seen to OP, my hand didn't even look half as bad as your DHs

for those saying this can wait, how do you know, it's not your hand you are gambling with.
have you seen serious soft tissue infection close up,
I have several times, and twice near fatal this year in same patient.

I am not a medic just an onlooker, and it can be terrifying to see how quickly they can deteriorate.
never mind the inconvenience. I would go to a major hospital that has plastics and infectious diseases teams.
hopefully it won't develop into anything serious. but if it does you cannot waste any time. the cost/ benefit analysis is stark.

He's seen the triage nurse now, she said he did the right thing coming in and it needs to be deep cleaned and he'll need antibiotics, so he's going to be there for a while now until a doc can see him, it is unsurprisingly absolutely rammed tonight. Thanks for all the advice

Thank you for this thread, I had no idea. As a lifelong cat owner who is on cat number 18 and who works as a volunteer for a cat organisation, I have been bitten by cats more times than I care to count but I am astonished at the problems bites can cause. I will be more careful in future! I hope all is well OP.

DH got bitten while trying to stop a cat fight and the advice from OOH was that he would need antibiotics. As it happened he was already on them for something else. They asked which ones he was taking and said it was ok for the bite.

They said his tetanus was ok as if you’ve had several jabs, it’s usually enough. It used to be every ten years.

I’d definitely ring OOH for advice.

Glad he went. I was badly bitten by a feral kitten in our barn. Friend said to go to hospital. I felt a bit silly but went. Tetanus and antibiotics given the staff said I had done the right thing by going straight in.

Glad he has gone in OP!

I was bitten badly by a stray when working as a vet nurse and trying to intubate the poor thing after it had been hit by a car and was in a bad way.

I ended up in hospital for 4 days on IV antibiotics as I got blood poisoning with tracking up my arm!! The sooner it's deep cleaned and he gets antibiotics in him the better!!

A few years ago I had a huge cat scratch on my nose, and loads of blood pouring from it. (dog chased my cat, and I picked her up to avoid dog savaging her, she panicked).

I was more concerned about the flap of skin causing a scar & whether it needed to be stitched.
Went to a&e, didn't want to hang around for hours, but was reasonably assured from speaking with the triage nurse. Whether or not my tetanus was up to date seemed key.

It was fine, took a few weeks to heal, but no scar.

In dirty wounds flaps are better than punctures.

Puncture wounds are most likely to get infected even if not caused by something as infectious as cat teeth.

Cats who fight often get abscesses...

Hope it wasn't too long a night OP!

Your poor DH. Next time don’t physically intervene but throw a cup of water at them instead. It’s harmless and IME does the trick pretty sharpish!

I had no idea either. Hope dh is ok and you’re out now.

good he's being looked after in the right place. not a thing to dice with.
by the way, as so many people were not aware of the risks, perhaps I can share a slight digression.

I read a newspaper article by a plastic surgeon. he had a case where a man's hand was damaged by he said his hand slipping while carrying a load and smashing into a wall. the wounds were washed etc, but the surgeon suspected deeper damage. an x-ray shewed the outline of a tooth deeply embedded in the hand.
it would need surgery under GA. after further questioning, the man admitted he had been in a fight and punched someone, in the mouth...
the moral of the story is that any kind of bite, human or animal, carries a great risk for deep infection, needs hospital. also the importance of telling medics the truth. there are particular bacteria from mouths, not usually found on walls, that have been introduced into the patient's bloodstream. suppose the tooth had not been dislodged, so he had not had to tell the real particulars. could have affected his treatment and healing.
apparently due to embarrassment patients often conceal having been in a fracas, or other bizarre poss sexual activites that can lead to bite / puncture wounds. delay or distortion can lead to permanent damage.