Finger amputation need a hand hold.

[jmh740]

My cat bit me in August when I was trying to medicate her. Ive been on antibiotics since 28.8 but it was still badly infected. On Tuesday they told me the bone was infected and the surgeon wouldnt know how much unti he opened it up. I went into surgery for it to be cleaned out (for the 4th time) on Thursday. They hand is well bandaged and it looks like they have amputated between the first and second knuckle.
It was a real sock and I'm struggling to cope with the pain. Does anyone know what the future looks like for me?

How long will it take to heal?
What will I still be able to do?
What wont I be able to do?
Any tips and hints to aid recovery?

Im having the dressing changed tomorrow and a bit nervous to see it.

Well, don't! No, cats on the whole tend NOT to attack with no provocation. Granted, provocation might consist of continuing to stroke past an invisible point of no return, but most cats will nip as a warning rather than go straight to the bone. I'm not wanting to minimise what happened to the OP because clearly she's been through hell with this, but deep cat bites are not a common result of casually interacting with a cat, at all.

At least this thread highlights that any cat bite that breaks the skin should be taken for prompt medical treatment, as in, that day.

@Redheadedstepchild Just to say that most if not all the examples given so far about finger amputations (including my own) have been about men losing a finger

Well the 2 cases I know of are women! One lost an entire finger on a water slide and the other lost the tip in a meat grinder. Her nail used to curl around the end of the remaining tip. I worked with both ladies at different times and never noticed until they pointed them out.

What a horrible turn of events 💐
I shouldn’t think it will be very noticeable and hopefully the pain will improve soon. Hope you are being well looked after and not feeling too annoyed with poor old puss.

OP, I think it is pretty shoddy not to have been told exactly what was done and spend 3 mins talking you through it.

Of course you are concerned and I hope you are reassured at your next appointment and have a complication- free recovery.

I have half a finger missing. Third finger, right (dominant) hand. I can play the piano 🙂 Try not to worry too much. Good luck.

OP, hope the pain subsides soon! Hopefully though this will be the end of all the treatment needed and you can get on with healing.
I think in time you'll be used to your tip missing. Friend of mine lost the top of his finger on a broken pint glass in a mosh pit when we were in our late teens, never held him back.
Wishing you a super speedy recovery and please, be kind to yourself.

Hi OP: I am so sorry this happened- what an ordeal.

If it helps, a good friend of my husband is a professional musician and a brilliant organist and pianist. He is missing the top of his ring finger. It’s not held him back at all.

Thinking about it, my grandma, although not missing a finger, had a slightly odd little finger without a nail. She always told us that she was playing hopscotch with other girls when she was a child and somebody landed on her finger and it was never the same again.

She also worked for forty years in the Manchester cotton mills. You decide.

How tall is your finger on the other hand? My little finger is much shorter anyway ! And my first finger is shorter

That sounds horrific. It must have been too difficult to cut the ring off?

Thanks for the info. I guess my fear was if they randomly pounce the way dogs can do, but yeah I don’t even stroke cats.

At least this thread highlights that any cat bite that breaks the skin should be taken for prompt medical treatment, as in, that day

Yes absolutely.

Again my sympathies to OP. How terrible. 😣

Hey op, sorry you’ve been through this, I can relate as I’ve been through something similar five years ago but mine was a dog bite. I had a partial amputation of the tip of my index finger (was just hanging by a flap of skin). The bone was completely severed. They ummed and aahed for ages about how to treat and whether to fully amputate it just above the first joint. I was very lucky, my surgeon told me he may have to amputate it in theatre and did I want to watch,..erm no thanks! Anyway he ended up being able to stitch me back together and just left the bone floating around. My finger is slightly shorter than the other but my nail grew back but I have no feeling. I was in hospital for three days on iv antibiotics! Animal bites are the worst!

sounds like your surgeon wasn’t as communicative as mine. It shouldn’t be too long before your dressings are changed and you will see the damage. Mine looked awful for ages but then healed fully in a few weeks. I do have scarring but it’s not too bad. I think you can get prosthetic tips for fingers?

I'm sorry you are experiencing this. It must be terribly painful. However, it is not on your dominant hand. After some time you won't even notice it and it is a lot better than continuing to have it cleaned out and perhaps eventually losing more. Good luck tomorrow.

Why didn't they cut the ring off? I had that - put my ring on a smaller finger when went swimming as it kept coming off and it got stuck once I'd come out the pool and back warm. Finger swelled up fast but in A&E they just cut it off. Was like a mini can opener, ha.

He knew the cat well as it was the neighbour's. He picked it up to put it out and it went mad, bit his arm in several places and lacerated it He showed us as we were in the next curtained cubicle. It was a real mess.

A colleague of mine nearly lost his finger after a cat bite. He tried to prevent it jumping out of an upstairs window. He was lucky not to lose it in the end. Hope the pain eases up.

You are more likely to get scratched by a defensive or angry cat than bitten as a rule. Scratch wounds don't go as deep as bites and can be cleaned with soap and water, though you need to keep an eye on them to watch for any signs of infection and seek medical advice if needed. I've had cats for 30 years and been scratched numerous times but I haven't, touch wood, been bitten.

You should always avoid strange cats in countries where rabies is endemic as rabies can be transmitted by a scratch even if the skin doesn't seem to be broken. But in the UK the risk from a scratch is low.

yikes. What a nightmare! Thats awful, poor guy but at least I know it didn’t just bite for no reason.

Although of course completely understandable why he picked it up - he wasn’t to know it would react like that.

Not sure what to think of the others attacking me for feeling a bit overwhelmed and vulnerable, but I think it says more about them than me!

It certainly does. I think they must have lost their way en route to AIBU! Best wishes, op.

My friend was bitten on her arm by her cat. She was in hospital for two weeks and had part of her arm removed. Cats carry horrible germs.

i hope you are ok @jmh740 🌺.

Completely beside the point but I’m slightly surprised you were allowed to keep your nail varnish on.

I hope it’s not too much they took off. There are amazing finger prosthetics you can just slide onto the finger so that might be an option if you feel you need it.

it looks like the tip has been taken tbh. I'm so sorry.

I think you will find ways of doing everything with the tip missing. Its incredible just how ingenious we get when faced with s challenge.

Pls take pain relief. You may have nerves still firing, so keep it in mind when your hand is healing. if you feel this get some help from your gp.

Sending hugs and positive vibes

NC as outing but my cat randomly bit my nose to get my attention in the middle of the night earlier this year! He doesn’t normally bite at all, so I’ve no idea why he did it.

I tried to go back to sleep but vaguely remembered that cat bites are terrible so googled and the NHS site said cat bites on the face (which have broken the skin) needed to be seen to urgently.

There were only small puncture holes, barely visible, so I called 111 to check as I thought it would be a bit dramatic to go to a&e in the middle of the night however they told me to go straight to a&e, where they put me straight on antibiotics, gave me a tetanus jab and told me I needed to be checked a few days later by a professional, even if the bite looked fine to me!

OP, sorry to hear what has happened to you, I hope you are ok.

Yes, I’ve actually been scratched twice as a kid. Friends cat who had seen me many time before just walked up and scratched me as I was about to cycle away on my bike. Very random but it scared me as it seemed out of the blue.

The other time I hadn’t noticed another friends cat walking between my legs and must’ve touched it accidentally and I suddenly heard hissing and then received a series of scratches. Thankfully no broken skin or infection.

Had never even thought about cats biting until recently.

You should always avoid strange cats in countries where rabies is endemic as rabies can be transmitted by a scratch even if the skin doesn't seem to be broken

That is good to know as I wouldn’t have thought rabies can be transmitted on unbroken skin.

They can be really bad. I have a cat and am neutropenic. I keep hibiscrub at home so I can tip that on immediately if bitten then straight to a&e
never mess about with cat bites