A prudent FYI on being bitten by a cat.

Long Beach, CA(Zone 10a)

I learned a valuable lesson recently on what you should and shouldn't do if you ever get bitten by a cat, regardless of whether the cat is yours or a stray:

Around midnight a few weeks ago, I heard the tell tale sounds of a cat fight brewing in my garden and went out to investigate. No doubt most of you are familiar with that howling screeching sound 2 cats make when they're getting ready to brawl (or mate). That howling and screeching can go on for hours and can result in the proverbial "fur flying" or it can be a stand-off and nothing will come of it. Usually I'll go out and just clap my hands or make some noise and that puts and end to it.

When I went out, I could see my male cat (neutered and has all his shots) standing there in the dark under a vine covered arbor. He didn't look like he was in "defense mode" (ears back, back arched, etc.) but his eyes were fixed on something. I leaned over, moved some strands of the vine out of the way so I could see what was going on and then all hell broke loose.

Within a split second, some cat I've never seen before had latched on to my right index finger with it's mouth. Instinctively, I pulled my arm up and it was still hanging by it's mouth on my finger, it's rear legs thrashing about and clawing the hell out of my arm like it was Satan himself. I was incredulous at what was happening and flailing my arm like a crazy person trying to get the cat to let go, and it wouldn't. I didn't even know the cat was there when all this went down, otherwise I never would have reached in there. (Hindsight is always 20/20. right ?)

This cat weighed about 9 or 10 lbs. and ultimately got it's back legs wrapped around my forearm, it's teeth still embedded in my finger and was hanging upside down on my arm. After what seemed like an eternity (it was actually just about 5 seconds) it finally let go and started it's descent to the ground, but bit me again just above my right knee, hit the ground and vanished.

Stunned, and my pulse off the charts, I ran back indoors with blood dripping everywhere. Washed it with soap and water and wrapped a towel around it, then sat down to "regroup". Doused it with hydrogen peroxide and tried to bandage the two areas on the finger where I could see the puncture wounds from it's teeth.

Long story short, I waited until Tuesday to do anything about it. Stupid move on my part. By then, the finger was 4 times it's normal size, purple and red in color and felt like it was going to explode. Went to Urgent Care, got a tetanus shot and was told to go to the ER, so I did. They hooked me up to antibiotic IV's, gave me RX's for more antibiotics and took Xrays fearing the cat had torn the ligaments and tendons near both knuckles. They splinted the finger and immobilized my entire hand.

Fast forward to today: Antibiotics are working, swelling is about the same, but the color of the finger and hand is back to normal. Just now able to slightly bend the finger.

As per the ER doctor and the hand doctor: IF you get bitten by a cat, REGARDLESS of how deep the bite is, GO TO A Doctor immediately. A cats mouth and saliva are virtual hot beds of bacteria, parasites, etc. and any bite is NOT to be dismissed as "insignificant"...especially if it's from a cat you know nothing about. The teeth on a cat are razor sharp and penetrate deeply, tearing flesh and anything else in their path, leaving all kinds of bacteria in your tissue. I've been bitten by cats numerous times in the past, but never like this incident.

BEWARE of cat bites and get medical attention at once. You don't want to mess around with a cat bite.
I learned that lesson the hard way.



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