Bitten by lion - GP?

[BittenByLion]

Long story short, I’ve just got back from abroad and while I was there I got bitten by a lion. It’s not a serious bite but it did break the skin. The bite was on Monday, it’s healing nicely and there’s no sign of infection but do I need to do anything? Tetanus jab etc.? I gave it a wash at the time but haven’t had any medical attention.

NC’ed cos this is pretty identifying but I’ve been here yonks. Poo on the pouffe, garlic thread worms, pan pipe elf mum, minge etc.

I was chased for about a mile by a goose who bit my heels till they bled. On the Isle of Wight.

I hope your lion bite is ok.
I also got sneezed upon by a camel. I was 16 and most unimpressed. I may have cried.

I don’t mind a bit of a kicking because the place seemed really sensible and caring so perhaps someone else will think twice about supporting the cub interactions if they visit. I can’t undo it but I can post reviews pointing people in the direction of that article.

The OOH GP called and said that I should go to my GP tomorrow and get a course of antibiotics. Reading the link posted by @TheletterZ though, I’m a bit scared by the rabies incubation period so will give 111 a call back.

''Removed?!'' What, for an hour or so, or permanently??
Permanently.

I would strongly suspect that any lion cub kept in a petting environment will be rabies vaccinated. Plus, if it was captive bred, the odds of it having contracted it are pretty low. That particular one also looks too young to have incubated it.

I've asked my own lion how he feels about being petted. He loves it as long as i call him Elsa and ride on him round our council estate.

Well, the fun has well and truly been sucked out of that.

Poor lions. I can't understand how humans can be so lacking in compassion, to do the shitty things they do to animals.

Please keep a close eye on it OP. My sister was hospitailzed due to a cat bite. If the area starts to look at all red, swollen or sore to the touch go to A&E. It will probably be completely fine but best to be aware.

How long ago was it? I am assuming not yesterday, if you're back in the UK. I'd have thought rabies would be showing some evidence if it was likely. I had pre-exposure jabs when I went to Africa, because I was going places where I could be more than 24h from a hospital, but otherwise, they wouldn't have given them, and they said if I was bitten by an infected animal, the jabs might give me a fighting chance till I got to hospital.

Treatments may have moved on, but I assume you should still be keeping an eye out for flu-like symptoms, headache, fever, nausea. If you've not had any of that, I doubt I'd be worrying too urgently. If you have had any symptoms, that's a different matter.

OP, hope you’re ok and Well done for taking the way this thread has gone graciously (that’s not meant to sound patronising - I couldn’t think of how to word it). Please do write the reviews and let us know how it heals.

@cariadlet loads of places abroad have 'sanctuary's' where you can play with baby lions etc

It's wrong as you definitely shouldn't be socialising a lion with a human as they'll be confused as they grow up.
(Assuming they ever get released into the wild)

My cousin is a flight attendant and regularly takes pics holding baby lion cubs in South Africa.

Surely you got bit a while ago, so why worry now, if you ve no symptoms?

You should have seen someone in SA.

There is absolutely no good reason for any human let alone a member of the public to be handling a lion cubs or any wild animal.
It is highly likely the animals are drugged and the cubs probably removed from their mothers.
None of these places are good.
For what it’s worth any cat bite (even domestic) can be nasty due to their diet so it should be checked and you may need antibiotics.
I would imagine chances of rabies are low.

Please do not promote these places and please no one think this is ever a good idea

This could have turned out to be a gift of a thread, but instead its now very sad. Someone mentioned upthread they'd known a child die from rabies, and now this about the "sanctuary".

That aside OP, I wouldn't trust 111 to put a plaster on their arse with both hands let alone advise on rabies so I'd call A&E. Ring the hospital, say can you be put through to A&E desk and the nurse in charge will tell you whether to come in or wait (once he or she has stopped laughing).

@Theninjawhinger it helps that the whole thing was filmed as well.
he's very anti dolphin now 😂

Seriously though, the most placid creatures on earth! How do you both get bitten?! 😂

I wouldn’t worry about rabies, the chances are very low, but you should ask about the injections, they’re in the upper arm and aren’t worse than a flu shot.

I always thought dolphins were kind of jerks. Never met one, just the impression I had.

@Bodear will do. I don’t know how much it will accomplish but I’ll also write to the park, say how sad I am to have supported such a practice and suggest some alternatives for visitors to get involved. Muck-raking seems to be weirdly popular at European zoos and farms!

Now I’ve read the NHS rabies pages I’ve started shivering and getting hot sweats Amazing what psychosomatics can do!

@beanzontoastz I know, depressing isn't it? We've almost been caught out a couple of times by places that made out they were sanctuaries but which - when we did a quick bit of research - turned out to be anything but.

Hopefully this thread will have helped spread the word about how awful these places are.

The same goes for SeaWorld, places that offer the chance to swim with dolphins etc etc

A tiger weed at my little brother many moons ago. He's 48 (my brother, not the tiger), and we still talk about it.

@ MadSweeney
Seriously though, the most placid creatures on earth! How do you both get bitten?! 😂

Clearly you missed the awesome thread on MN that explained that dolphins are seriously deranged fuckers. Check it out - don't let that cheeky smile fool you.

At least you thought you were supporting a good cause OP. I can only claim ignorance.

I visited discovery cove in Florida years ago and did a ‘swim with the dolphins experience’. I must admit to being ignorant of the behind the scenes conditions of the animals.

Found out a few months after getting home. Google maps really drives it home. They have TINY pools to stay in outside visitor interactions. I don’t know what I believed their living conditions to be but nothing like what they actually have. I was sick with guilt. Never ever again. Same to seaworld, Busch gardens etc as they’re all owned by the one company.

@BittenByLion - I hope it turns out ok for you.

Well done for acknowledging that you were tempted by the (undeniably) cute cubs and did something that went against your better nature.

"A guy walks into a bar with a giraffe. They both order a pint and get pissed drunk. The giraffe passes out and the guy gets up to leave. The bartender says"Hey! You can't leave that lyin' around here!"

The guy says "That ain't no lion, that's me giraffe"

This is one of the only jokes I remember.

I have nothing useful to add about lion bites, but DS was bitten by a zebu at Blackpool Zoo. The keeper had asked if he wanted to feed it which was very nice of them, but the zebu mistook his whole hand for the food. The keeper was mortified. DS can nsay he is the only person he knows who has been bitten by a zebu.