[doydie]

The cat bit me last night before she died. She would bite me if I sneezed so it's nothing for her to do that. But this time I slapped her away and she didn't like it and bit me again and bit me good that time. I have been soaking it and using peroxide and Neosporin on it but I'm afraid I will need to take a trip to an urgent care tomorrow. I wish I could wait until Monday for my own doctor but I don't think I should. My hand and my thumb are very red and swollen. They aren't warm to the touch and I know I'm not running any fever but they are pretty swollen.

[Erin524]

My aunt was bitten by her cat that she had about 15yrs ago. Within 2hrs her hand was infected and by the time she realized she needed to go to the hospital, the infection had gone from her index finger (where the cat bit her) all the way to her elbow. (she waited about 6hrs before the pain got too much for her)

I think you should go to the emergicare or the ER in the morning. Only because I saw my aunt go thru an infection from a cat bite that moved so quick it's possible she could have lost the arm if she had waited. She was off work for several months because the infection screwed up her arm so badly.

There's something about cats and infections from getting bit by a cat. I've never had a cat, so I dont know why bites from cats can get infected so fast.

[Dejibo]

Make sure the wound is extremely clean, and then take Dial or other antibacterial soap.Make a very warm soapy sink full of water and add the soap so you have light foam in the water. Soak your hand for about 15 minutes 3x a day. This will help draw out some of the infection and mouth germs. Cats mouths have some quite nasty germs in them, and this will help at least calm that till you can be seen. Be sure to PAT dry, dont rub, and then cover the area with a neosporin style bandage or put neosporin style stuff on the wounds before covering them. This will help the pain as well. A covered wound heals faster and better than a non covered one. That old adage of allowing it to air dry and form a scab is old advice.

If you have a red streak leading from the bite UP your arm, go to the ER. This is blood poison that seeped in past the bite and you need very strong antibiotics to combat that. it is an emergency, as it can reach your heart in no time. An infected heart is not something anyone wants.

I am so sorry she left you a reminder, but she must have been feeling quite poorly.

[karilann]

My vet told me that cat bites are some of the dirtiest bites. Go to the doctor. You may need an antibiotic

[Erin524]

Hopefully she hasnt responded yet because she's at the ER or emergicare getting some antibiotics and having the bite treated.

Probably not the "going away" present that she wanted from that cat. Not the cat's fault tho. Just an accident.

[NurseNancy]

that's awful, and sad.

i hope you have sought medical care. the previous advice is good.
you should seek medical help now before the infection can progress to a more severe level and require hospitalization.

please let us know how you are.

[doydie]

Well I went to the doctor today. I chose an urgent care to go to because as a nurse I feel the ER is for EMERGENCIES!!!! We have to hospitals here in town and one of them tries to adhere to a policy of one hour from admission to discharge. That's the hospital I worked at for almost 30 years. So off we went and found out that there is an allergy doctor that has a practice there now!! So we went to 'the other' hospitals urgent care. After 2 hours of sitting there I finally got a doctor to come in, have a quick look at it, write a prescription and tell mme I need a raqbies shot. To get that I have to go to an emergency room After another 1/2 hour a nurse finally cvhecks me out and we go to 'our' hospitals ER. Of course you have to go through all the preadmit, admit, register and then finally get to triage. When I told the nurse there why I went to the urgent care first she said I was a woman after her heart and I honestly think she got me back into a room quickly. It didn't take long for a doctor to come in and say that a rabies show was not warranted at all So I get both hands xrayed, of course have to wait for the doctor to come back. He says no kitty cat broken teethe in the bites and I can go. It was 45 minutes again for the nurse to come check me out. I didn't even get to see what house the couple who was pregnant and going to have to move in with inlaws if they couldn't find a house of their own on HGTV. So I could have just left the first place with my script and gotten the same results! We lft the house at 1 PM and it was now after 5:30 so we got a quick bite to eat. We went to Walgreens, waited in line only to find out they don't take my insurance, $73 please, no thank you. Drive across town to CVS and payed $12! So I got home, soaked my fingers in warm salt water for a while and a good bit of bloody junk came out of one of my bites, lathered them up with Neosporon and Bandaids and let my B?P go down. That's my story.

I wonder if that pregnant couple ever got a house?

[mochagirl13]

Originally Posted by doydie

Well I went to the doctor today. I chose an urgent care to go to because as a nurse I feel the ER is for EMERGENCIES!!!! We have to hospitals here in town and one of them tries to adhere to a policy of one hour from admission to discharge. That's the hospital I worked at for almost 30 years. So off we went and found out that there is an allergy doctor that has a practice there now!! So we went to 'the other' hospitals urgent care. After 2 hours of sitting there I finally got a doctor to come in, have a quick look at it, write a prescription and tell mme I need a raqbies shot. To get that I have to go to an emergency room After another 1/2 hour a nurse finally cvhecks me out and we go to 'our' hospitals ER. Of course you have to go through all the preadmit, admit, register and then finally get to triage. When I told the nurse there why I went to the urgent care first she said I was a woman after her heart and I honestly think she got me back into a room quickly. It didn't take long for a doctor to come in and say that a rabies show was not warranted at all So I get both hands xrayed, of course have to wait for the doctor to come back. He says no kitty cat broken teethe in the bites and I can go. It was 45 minutes again for the nurse to come check me out. I didn't even get to see what house the couple who was pregnant and going to have to move in with inlaws if they couldn't find a house of their own on HGTV. So I could have just left the first place with my script and gotten the same results! We lft the house at 1 PM and it was now after 5:30 so we got a quick bite to eat. We went to Walgreens, waited in line only to find out they don't take my insurance, $73 please, no thank you. Drive across town to CVS and payed $12! So I got home, soaked my fingers in warm salt water for a while and a good bit of bloody junk came out of one of my bites, lathered them up with Neosporon and Bandaids and let my B?P go down. That's my story.

I wonder if that pregnant couple ever got a house?

Glad you're ok. I don't like going to the E.R. either but the urgent care near me is horrible. I drive over half an hour to an urgent care facility that is in a pricey neighborhood and has a very short wait time, about 10 mins. I'm glad my CVS and walgreens is right across the street from one another, cause walgreens no longer accepts my insurance. Last time I went to E.R. it was pricey hosp. in dowtown Chicago and it was pricey but wait was only about 25 min. They say you can't put a price on healthcare but what's the point of having good healthcare if no one can afford it?

[NurseNancy]

good lord. there must be an easier way to get medical care.
i can't believe they havn't figured it out yet.

i'm glad you didn't get a rabies shot. for your own animal????
i hope the antibx work fast and your wounds will be healed.

[doydie]

It's amazing what a couple of doses of Augmentin combined with soaking twice a day can do! I can now use my left index finger and thumb to hold a fork and my right thumb is much less swollen and can bend.