Cat bite - can I wait and see or not?

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Hiya - dcat needed vets for a fighting related abscess this morning and she isn't good at the vets (understatement) anyway she bit me hard below my thumb, just a single puncture from her fang but it's quite deep (and bloody painful). Vet said I should go to drs immediately as cat mouth bacteria etc - I'm inclined to wait and see how it goes. Thoughts please?

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Hi,

I had a cat bite so deep my cats fang got stuck in my leg!

get to the doctors immediately! I waited too long and my leg doubled in size from infection, when I went to the Dr's 3 days after he had a massive go at me and I ended up in A&E on an Antibiotic drip. Better to be safe than sorry. Not trying to scaremonger or anything but cats carry extremely high doses of pathogenic bacterium on their teeth and bites from cats are considered highly dangerous in comparison to dogs due to bacteria.

Still love my little fluff baby, wouldn't change him for the world!

I get bitten by my bastard cat quite a lot, never been to the doctors, I'm not dead yet.

Based on that anecdotal evidence I'd say wait and see, but keep a very close eye on it.

(I love my cat really, but he's a vicious bugger.)

I got bitten by cheddar. Completely non maliciously. She thought it was a chicken bone. I kept an eye on it and I still have all my fingers.

Thanks both - I rang my surgery and left message for the nurse explaining situation (bearing in mind you have to be half dead to get an appointment and then it's 6 weeks time) and they've rung back saying I must come in this afternoon so we'll see, oh and just in case you're wondering the dcat is still sulking WITH ME! Fecker!

I left it to wait and see- infection starting spreading within 24 hours and I needed an operation to wash out the wounds

I've had quite a few bites from my feisty cat over the years and only went to the doctors for the worst one (which involved multiple teeth and didn't stop bleeding for ages!). All others have healed fine with no ill effects.

Still, better to be safe than sorry, cat bites can turn nasty quickly...

I've had over 50 bites (probably nearer 80) and loads of scratches. One bite put me in hospital for 11 days. A further three bites and one scratch have required antibiotics. All the rest have just got better by themselves. With the one that put me in hospital I became severely ill within six hours - so it was pretty obvious there was something wrong. The others that required antibiotics were severely swollen and I felt a bit feverish. Generally they swell, hurt a bit, and then after around 30 hours the swelling starts to go down.

So I always wait and see, but that doesn't mean you should do what I do!

It's tricky - I've been bitten and never had a problem, even when the cat mistook my finger for the food I was offering him (ouch!)

So it's not a given that it'll turn nasty, but on the other hand if it's super-painful that could be a sign it's deep enough to need something. Go to the appointment and see what they say.

Oh, and if it makes you feel better, my cat is sulking with me because he fell off the windowsill trying to stalk a bird.

Well the nurse rang back and said the dr couldn't see me today after all but that I should go to minor injuries instead. Two hour wait during which time it's become more red, swollen and painful so have given me co-amoxiclav and strict instructions on tracking etc. So I'm pleased I did go. I've also been bitten many times before but never this deeply hence I've never bothered about it before. Bloody cat!

Has the cat forgiven you yet?

Yeah she has, I haven't forgiven her tho my hand really hurts! She's finding it very difficult to relax what with all the guilt and all ......

Cat bites can get horribly infected - I ended up in hospital on an antibiotic drip for 3 days.

If it gets rapidly worse then you need to go to A&E.

It’s all “me, me, me” with you op, that cats clearly in bits over the whole debacle

I wouldn't have gone, but it sounds like you did the right thing.

How could you not forgive her immediately, she looks adorable

I have forgiven her really - poor love her abscess is even bigger today although vet did say it might still grow then burst despite the antibiotics! I have just called them and asked if there's something I can give her to sedate her a bit in future as she's 13 so can't see the vet trips decreasing in the future and it's so stressful for her, me and the vet staff. One of the vets is going to call me back . My hand feels a lot less sore thankfully although it's warm to touch but dr said antibiotics will take a day or two to kick in properly. She IS adorable though, thank you!