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How bad is a cat bite?

Loon

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L
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In the most recent acupuncture thread, there has been talk about how bad a catbite is.

Six months ago, it was (foolishly) decided that we should bathe our then-kittens to prepare them for their first trip to the vet. The third kitten in line, our dear little Stretch, the Betrayer, decided that she didn't like the sound of the drier that was being used and went batsnit. Claws went in four directions and teeth went in a fifth, specifically the bit o' flesh between my left thumb and forefinger. Blood soon followed in large quantities.

Judging by what everyone was saying in the acupuncture thread, I was an idiot to not head directly to the doctor and am very lucky to be alive.

Your thoughts on this and what to do in case of angry and fast kitty in the future?
 
Cat bites can be very nasty, because a lot of cats harbour some very unpleasant organisms in their mouths. Prevotella oralis is one of the commonest things isolated from nasty abscesses, and it's common in cat mouths. However, that doesn't mean that every cat bite will turn nasty. A kitten bite is less likely to be trouble because juveniles tend to have less of the nasties in their mouths.

My standard procedure is to wash the bite out thoroughly with a strong disinfectant solution, and observe, if it starts looking angry and redness increases instead of decreasing after the first day or so, antibiotics are probably indicated. (Caramel sank his teeth into my wrist a few months ago, and I just washed it out with Savlon solution. Nothing untoward happened, though I can still see the puncture marks.)

There are also some very specific pathogens carried by some cats, which are especially troublesome. Can't recall their names right now. But I tend to take the view that a properly cleaned bite will probably heal, and wait to see if I'm wrong before pressing the panic button.

Rolfe.
 
My Fiancee grew up with a cat named Winston. If kitty bites were all that bad, she'd probably be dead. She still caries many a scar from that cat. Since the front paws were declawed, I'm assuming most of them came from the precious thing's little canines. That, and I'm pretty sure that those staple-puller-like pattern of four small scars is probably bite-related. I'm allergic, but lived in the country, so it was either a choice of having cats or having mice. We had cats. I know what scars from cat's claws look like. Trust me, do I ever.

On the other hand, cleansing the wound is probably just a good idea. Rolfe has superior knowledge, obviously, but I'm just speaking from common sense and a long history of being a klutz.

I usually cleanse with peroxide on an open wound. Rubbing alcohol stings a bit much for my liking.
 
I still have assorted marks on me from cat bites and scratches (my first three cats were all rather short-tempered fellows and the current ones we have are angels in comparison) and as with any animal bite, if it stays red or starts to seem to deteriorate, get to the doctor. Just the impact of seeing the infection resulting from a cat bite on another cat made me think twice about just washing off similar injuries with water and throwing on a band-aid.
 
[facetious derail]

In response to your original question, a cat bite can be quite dodgy in this part of the world, particularly if you happen to be in a game park at the time. ;)

[/facetious derail]
 
Cat bites can be nasty, but human bites are worse as far as infection is concerned.
 
Rolfe said:


There are also some very specific pathogens carried by some cats, which are especially troublesome. Can't recall their names right now.
Rolfe.
Click to expand...

Pasteurella multocida springs to mind. Funny, I've just posted about it on the community board concerning Tim's cat Pandora.
 
Deetee said:
Pasteurella multocida springs to mind. Funny, I've just posted about it on the community board concerning Tim's cat Pandora.
Click to expand...
That one just goes hand in hand with the Prevotella. I thought there was something particular that caused "cat bite fever". A rickettsia? Or am I getting confused with "cat scratch fever"?

Rolfe.
 
Rolfe said:
Just noticed this. Pandora is a dog! (Black labrador.)

Rolfe.
Click to expand...

Whoopsie!
My bad.

Perhaps I should be asking why Pandora is not a wombat.

Dogs: Capnocytophaga canimorsis = nasty human disease
Cats: P multocida with bites = nasty local or systemic sepsis, Bartonella henselae (previously Rochalimea) with cat scratch = localised lymphadenopathic disease, usually not too bad.

Rat bite fever/cat bite fever - whats the diff.........!
 
I suspect it was Bartonella henslae I was thinking of. And we even offer a test for that here. Ah, it's Friday!

Whenever we grow anything juicy from a purulent sample, it's a racing certainty it will be either Pasteurella multocida or Prevotella oralis or often both. And if you swab a cat's mouth, guess what you're likely to find? More so in cats with gingivitis though. (Rolfe, who was FIV positive, once had the organism of trench mouth isolated from a gingival swab, now that was scary.)

In cats with pyothorax, again it's usually one or both of these organisms. I can only conclude that the infection somehow gets into the chest from the mouth or pharynx, I just don't know how.

But still, most cat bites in people heal up OK if they are properly cleaned and disinfected at the time. Cat on cat bites tend to seal up and not be noticed until the victim is swollen and lame and hurting, though.

Rolfe.
 
What Rolfe said. Clean it and if it gets red, see a doctor right away.

I have been bitten by cats many times. Only once did I get infected, but it was serious. I delayed my first trip to the doctor because I am very healthy and fully expected it too clear up. But it kept spreading. The doctor lanced it and gave me oral antibiotics with insructions to come back if it didn't clear up in a few days. It didn't, and when I went back he refered me to a surgeon who excised the infection and admitted me to the hospital for 4 days of IV antibiotics (2 kinds alternating)...

So, clean them well and see a doctor if redness or soreness develops.
 
I'm sure you've heard of 'cat scratch fever'?

With modern medicine, they're pretty easy to take care of. But before the advent of antibiotics, it could be quite bad.

Originally posted by edthedoc
Cat bites can be nasty, but human bites are worse as far as infection is concerned.
Click to expand...

I had one of those too that got infected once too. Nasty business. Though it's one of the funnier stories that my friends tell.:p
 
Loon said:
Your thoughts on this and what to do in case of angry and fast kitty in the future?
Click to expand...
All of our cats were conditioned to accept baths since they were kittens. It is clear afterwards that they like it as the ultimate form of grooming. They don't struggle, but they do sometimes lose patience. A firm grasp of the skin behind the neck will calm them.

We don't blow dry our cats. We just towel them off. I can see why your kitten reacted badly at that point. Still, I have seen show cats that obviously enjoy their frequent washing and blow drying. I suggest that you do it regularly while maintaining a firm grip and they will soon tolerate it well.
 
My youngest sister went through a whole rigmarole a few years ago when one of our cats bit her.

She was annoying him late at night and he sank his teeth deep into her arm leaving 2 giant punctures gushing with blood. She was screaming for hours.

My mum phoned my aunt to come up and look at it because she's a nurse. She said to take her to hospital. She screamed the whole way there. She was just about to start primary school and was due a tetanus booster but the doctors had to delay giving it for some reason as she was on an antibiotic for repeated bladder/kidney infections and she was also to go for angiography in a few weeks time. They told us to wash it out with TCP/Savlon/Dettol etc and then put antiseptic cream on it. We got home in the early hours of the morning.

The next day she was annoying the cat again and it clawed her face. The screams started again but she was fine afterwards. We had only just got that particular cat and it had to be taken away again in 2 days time. It was supposedly neglected by it's previous owners who went on holiday and left it without food to live in it's own squalor. My sister doesn't really get on that well with cats. My latest cat is just a kitten and she has been arching her back at her and spitting at her.
 
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