To call NHS 24 over a minor cat bite?

[JustAnotherThursday]

My friend just received a minor cat bite. He has washed the bite and intends to just leave it. I think he should check if he needs a tetanus shot, or something. He thinks this is overkill. Who's correct?

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 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.

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.

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

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.

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….

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.

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.

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.

@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.