Cat bite won't heal?

[NImumconfused]

Anyone had this problem? We have a tortie who is a cuddly lap cat 99% of the time, but every now and then she will stalk me a bite my ankles. It's a bit odd but it's never been a major problem till the last time, when she bit really hard and deep. I went to the GP after a day or two as there was redness and swelling round the wound and it felt hot. Gp gave me 5 days of antibiotics, swelling went away

However, after two weeks the wound has still not healed. It doesn't look infected but it's just not getting better. Has anyone had this before? (also, any advice on stopping the biting is welcome!!).

Pic of the villain as cat tax...

If you are aware that she is stalking you before she attacks your ankles.
Turn quickly, stamp your feet and hiss at her.
She will run and probably learn her lesson that you are not something to bite.

Thanks, will try that. Trouble is, she nearly always waits till I'm coming into the room with a cup of tea in my hand, which limits my ability to react without dropping it on her!

I’m not being rude but how old are you? I’ve found that since menopause I take ages to heal from even the slightest thing. Can you ring the Dr for advice? We have the MyGp app so you can upload a photo and someone can advise you without you having to have an appointment.

I really, really would not recommend stamping and hissing at her.

If she panics and runs away, she could learn her lesson but equally she could learn that human feet and legs near her are terrifying - resulting in her becoming fearful.

Or she could decide that a massive human stamping their feet and hissing at her needs to be told to bugger off, leading to even more attacks.

Go back to your GP. If it’s not healing you may have an underlying condition.

I had a cat bite a few months ago. three of the tooth points healed pretty quicky but the one that was deeper took a month or so. It's worth checking with your someone at your practise - doesn't need to be GP, nurse practitioner would be fine.

Thanks for all the advice. Will phone the GP after the bank holiday then. @IncognitoUsername I am early 50s so yes menopause could be contributing, certainly my skin has become very dry the last year or so.

My current strategy with the cat is to put her out of the room when she does this, but it doesn't seem to be deterring her other than in the very short term. She's 12 and we've had her 5 years, we don't know anything about her previous history as the rescue didn't have any info.

Cats don't really learn like dogs in that respect, unfortunately!

Do you play with her and does she go outside?

I have a soppy honey badger bitey calico too. Mine was former semi-feral so was quite aggressive generally to start and this has impacted how I've dealt with her, as I wanted to gain trust not lose it. Key here is to keep responses really low key, and to recognise situations where she might bite and distract with whatever works. I generally respond with 'ahem, no biting please' and gently push into the bite (like when your breastfeeding baby tries their new teeth out!). Mine does really like biting so has lots of bitey toys, she especially likes biting cardboard so has various cardboard 'scratchers' for biting.

Leg ulcer nurse here - if not healing after 2 weeks it's now now defined as a leg ulcer as per best practice guidelines. Ask for a referral into local leg ulcer service for compression therapy. In the meantime wear class 1 compression socks aka flight socks. Will boost the circulation, reduce swelling and increase oxygen and nutrients to the wound. Also if skin getting dry use a simple emollient daily such as epaderm. Hope this helps!

@Nibletmum thank you, that's very helpful advice, I'll ask the GP practice about that.

@fieldsofbutterflies and @Scampuss she is an indoor cat mainly, she'll have a potter round the back garden occasionally if you go out with her, but doesn't go further than that. She does have toys but she'll only play with you if she's in the right mood, quite often she just ignores you. We tried her with the feeder puzzle type ones but she couldn't be bothered! I will get more of the bitey type toys and persist.

If she seems to like stalking your ankles, have you tried her with a flirt pole?

You need to find toys and games that meet the same needs. Kong do a range of dental toys which are popular with mine.

Also, for pouncing, get a load of little balls for her to chase (Amazon do packs with loads of them!).

I would show the bite mark to a pharmacist. Has it healed over at all, or is it oozing gunge? My advice would be to put savlon or something on a plaster and cover it with that. Keepint it moist will give the germs a way out. If it heals over before all the infection has gone, then the only place for it to go is inwards. Having had sepsis from an infected cat bite myself, you really don't want that to happen!

@fieldsofbutterflies Is that the one with a feathery tail on a pole? She does play with that a bit, but often prefers a random bit of string.
@Scampuss she does chase balls for some reason, but I'll look into the king dental toys, thanks.

@NImumconfused yep, that's the one, though mine prefer the poles with a bit of faux fur on the end rather than the feathers.