Cat bites on a human

[Vinorosso74]

Well I had quite the day today! First cat I cleaned out on my weekly CP shift bit me on my wrist. Came out of nowhere as I think he was scared. In the proper pens I would have been fine but he was temporarily in smaller cage until a pen was available. No idea who was more shocked me or him!
Cleaned it, it bled, was a bit sore but didn't think too much of it. By the end of my shift it had started to swell up so on advice of some staff (who have been bitten themselves) and NHS website off I went to the hospital.
I've been xrayed, wound cleaned out, got some antibiotics and an appointment at a different hospital tomorrow for further checks. Thing is the actual would is only about 2mm long but ouchie!!
So tonight I am eating chocolate letting DP do all the chores.
Bloody cats ay?!

Oh you poor girl, little sods aren’t they?. A human bite can do the same though.

True but thankfully I've not been on the receiving end of a human bite!

It's good you got it looked at. Not to scare you, but cat mouths are very dirty. There's a particularly nasty little critter commonly found in there called Pasteurella. This can cause serious damage if a tendon becomes infected due to a deep bite.

I had a pastuerella infection 2 weeks after having ds (ironically, I think caught from giving antibiotics to one of our cats, who'd had a run in with a squirrel the week before, the day before dh was due to pick me up from the hospital )

5 days on IV antibiotics. Not nice.

It did help me get breastfeeding established (and expressing) 5 days in the "bugs room" (ie the isolation room) back in the maternity hospital with nothing to do except feed ds and with the expressing room across the corridor And midwives who enjoyed having a slightly older not newborn baby to fuss over

My cat bit and scratched me so hard that it left scars as she was afraid of another cat once. It swelled and was red but I took some antihistamines and put a lot antiseptic on it and it stopped being red and swollen a day or two later.

No infection thankfully as she’s mostly an indoor cat.

Luckily the swelling has gone down overnight, it's a lot less painful and I have more movement. I've only had one antibiotic so far!
Apparently normal cats (whatever a normal cat is) have 3 bacteria present in their mouths.

Could be worse - DS got bitten by a cat in Poland on Monday. As it’s counted as a high risk area, rabies vaccinations for him, on top of tetanus and strong antibiotics!

I'm glad I avoided the rabies jab and am up to date on tetanus!
Doctor today cleaned wound out by removing gunk with like a hole punch thing and it has been cleaned again. They put the bandage on so tight my hand swelled up again! Back to clinic again at weekend....
Can't get the dressing wet and my hair desperately needs washing so DP is going to have to assist.

Pasteurella is not the worst bug, haemabartonella which causes cat scratch fever is far worse.