Why a cat bite could land you in the hospital: Surprising results from new study

[jjenny]

WAY back when my oldest daughter was ten, she got attacked by a cat. It literally dropped out of a tree and started scratching and biting her. Then the owners of it got mad because I called the police. But yes, the police told me to get her to a hospital right away. It was just so strange; I had never heard of a cat attack before. I have three cats and a dog and I adore animals but they can be dangerous.

Now you've scared me. A lot of cats are roaming around where I live. Every time I come out there is a cat sitting somewhere next to me.

 

[LarkBunting]

My friend's little girl was attacked by a cat last year, when she was 3. Her family had adopted a sibling pair of cats a few months prior, had no problems, then one day when mom was using the bathroom, she heard screaming & ran out to see one of the cats acting insane & repeatedly attacking her daughter. As she tried to rescue her daughter, the cat went for her & her 5yo son, as well. They had to lock themselves in the bathroom for a period of time. The cat was lying in wait to attack them again every time my friend tried to open the door. Eventually, they got out & went to the ER, where her 3yo was immediately admitted...to the pediatric ICU!!! She had FIFTEEN CAT BITES covering her torso area, as well as numerous cat scratches. She spent almost a week in the PICU on IV antibiotics. It was terrifying for all of them. She is a lucky little girl & today, she is doing just fine, aside from some scarring. And, she still likes cats! :-O

The vet hypothesized that the cat had a brain tumor, which is likely why it suddenly went crazy. I'm not sure what ended up happening with the cat.

Mind boggling to think something weighing less than 10 pounds can do that kind of damage!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Softail]

My cat bites me to get attention and food. Mostly for food and mostly at 6am. He is a lovely natured boy 99% of the time. He never draws blood but it's good to be reminded to not take it so lightly. What I'd like to know is, could my cat me bite me one day and be safe but bite me the next day and kill me? And I wonder if it makes a difference if they live indoors. I think it would because outside they kill prey and are exposed to more bacteria. But I could be very wrong.

Nope. Mine was an indoor cat. It makes no difference.

 

[Steely Dan]

Well I'm glad that I've taught so many people about the danger of cat bites! :thumb:

For those of you who are awakened by a hungry cat. Why don't you just get in the habit of feeding him at night? :floorlaugh::seeya:

 

[Brightbird]

Because I have a part-pig, part-cat I feed him just before bed but he still wakes me up early. He's coming out of kitten-hood now and I'm trying to explain to him that he can't keep stuffing his face. All cats I've ever had have nagged for food. I just obey, stumble to the kitchen and go back to bed. Then I get woken two hours later for his second breakfast :facepalm: I'm working on it.

 

[Steely Dan]

Because I have a part-pig, part-cat I feed him just before bed but he still wakes me up early. He's coming out of kitten-hood now and I'm trying to explain to him that he can't keep stuffing his face. All cats I've ever had have nagged for food. I just obey, stumble to the kitchen and go back to bed. Then I get woken two hours later for his second breakfast :facepalm: I'm working on it.

If you keep ignoring him he'll stop. Why don't you have food down he can nibble at?

 

[Herding Cats]

Kitty lovebites are not dangerous. It's the bites which actually break skin, and even then, it's a particular kind of breaking skin. Let me explain.

Kitty teeth are like hypodermic needles. They are very thin, and very sharp. They make a very small hole in the skin (again, think needles like a shot at the Drs office). They deposit all the germs down into the bottom of the hole their teeth make, and, because our bodies are pretty good about sealing holes, often the bite itself closes up.

Because it closes up, the germs (and pus) have NO way to escape out, so they get into the blood stream. From there, it's game on...

That's not a 'love bite' sort of thing. I've been love-bitten probably a million times with no ill effect; it's the puncture wounds, which go way deep and then bleed just for a moment and close up...those are the kinds to be concerned about.

And yes, I've been significantly bitten several times...no surgery, because I opened the bite and made things bleed a lot and washed/soaked the wound a LOT, but always took antibiotics for these bites. However, those love-bites - where kitty grabs your hand and "play attacks" it (usually wrapping paws around the wrist, and kicking with it's back feet), as long as they're not punctures, are not a problem.

Hope this helps...every animal can be dangerous, no matter the size or species. I've had the worst bite wounds from a darned bird, for pete's sake. LOL.

Best-
Herding Cats

 

[Steely Dan]

Kitty lovebites are not dangerous. It's the bites which actually break skin, and even then, it's a particular kind of breaking skin. Let me explain.

Kitty teeth are like hypodermic needles. They are very thin, and very sharp. They make a very small hole in the skin (again, think needles like a shot at the Drs office). They deposit all the germs down into the bottom of the hole their teeth make, and, because our bodies are pretty good about sealing holes, often the bite itself closes up.

Because it closes up, the germs (and pus) have NO way to escape out, so they get into the blood stream. From there, it's game on...

That's not a 'love bite' sort of thing. I've been love-bitten probably a million times with no ill effect; it's the puncture wounds, which go way deep and then bleed just for a moment and close up...those are the kinds to be concerned about.

And yes, I've been significantly bitten several times...no surgery, because I opened the bite and made things bleed a lot and washed/soaked the wound a LOT, but always took antibiotics for these bites. However, those love-bites - where kitty grabs your hand and "play attacks" it (usually wrapping paws around the wrist, and kicking with it's back feet), as long as they're not punctures, are not a problem.

Hope this helps...every animal can be dangerous, no matter the size or species. I've had the worst bite wounds from a darned bird, for pete's sake. LOL.

Best-
Herding Cats

Simon uses the threat of bites as a collections warning.

 

[john's mom]

Update on the girl I mentioned up thread: she had 2 surgeries a day apart, and will be out of work for 2-3 weeks.

 

[gitana1]

Several years ago I got bit by our cat. The next day I went to the ER, as the redness and swelling expanded. I was stunned, when they said they needed to admit me, as cat bites are the worst and can be deadly! I really didn't want to be admitted, so they let me stay in the ER for several hours with IV antibiotics. Before I could go home, they drew a line around the redness, which had by this time gone from just above my wrist to past my elbow. If the redness went outside of the pen marking, I was to immediately come back. Thank goodness it didn't. I'm fine to this day!

It was a rude awakening, as I had no idea that a cat bite was so dangerous. To this day, when people tell me they got bit by a cat, I tell them to get the the ER - STAT!

It happened to me when I stupidly tried to break up a cat fight. I put my leg in between two circling cats, as they took a break from killing one another. One saw that as an invitation to immediately latch on to my leg and sink all its teeth into my ankle.

It hurt! And I'm not a pain baby.

I immediately soaked it in hot saline solution, poured peroxide, etc. A few days later after limping into the doctor's office with a hideously swollen and black and blue leg, the doctor was howling mad at me for not coming in the same day. She wanted to put me on IV's of antibiotics and admit me but I begged her out of it so she just shot me up with antibiotics and sent me home with horse pills. Then they called me every couple days to make sure I was healing.

The doctor laughed at my efforts to clean the wound. She said nothing but antibiotics works because the puncture goes so deep and gets into the blood stream immediately. Like a snake bite.

I learned my lesson and now use a broom to break up cat fights!

 

[debloree]

This happened to my 82 year FIL recently. He was in the hospital 3 days and had to have surgery to get the bite area cleaned out. I felt so bad for him, it was his own cat that was sick and he was just trying to help it. The cat died the next day.

 

[Steely Dan]

It happened to me when I stupidly tried to break up a cat fight. I put my leg in between two circling cats, as they took a break from killing one another. One saw that as an invitation to immediately latch on to my leg and sink all its teeth into my ankle.

It hurt! And I'm not a pain baby.

I immediately soaked it in hot saline solution, poured peroxide, etc. A few days later after limping into the doctor's office with a hideously swollen and black and blue leg, the doctor was howling mad at me for not coming in the same day. She wanted to put me on IV's of antibiotics and admit me but I begged her out of it so she just shot me up with antibiotics and sent me home with horse pills. Then they called me every couple days to make sure I was healing.

The doctor laughed at my efforts to clean the wound. She said nothing but antibiotics works because the puncture goes so deep and gets into the blood stream immediately. Like a snake bite.

I learned my lesson and now use a broom to break up cat fights!

Water hoses are better. You can do it at a safer distance. Of course water hoses aren't always available.

 

[chlban]

I worked at a place called Telehealth in Ontario. You are actually supposed to seek immediate medical attention for any cat bite that draws blood. Waiting 24 hours can be lethal. It doesn't matter if the cat has his/her vaccinations and rabies shots either. Cats just have filthy mouths. Squirrel bites, don't necessarily require medical attention.
Interesting FYI, Dogs on the other hand, have a natural antiseptic in their saliva that promotes healing.

Long post just to say....don't wait 24 hours after a cat bite.

I have been bit 3 times. I was never able to wait 24 hours, the hand swelled up so quickly it was obvious to me I needed medical attention.

I guess I was lucky overall, a visit to urgent care, a shot and prescription for further antibiotics and I recovered, but I can attest to how dangerous it could be. The first time, which is when I waited the longest, foolishly thinking I could treat it with peroxide and neosporin, my hand was the size of a baseball mitt. I couldn't type at work the next day, which was actually 2 days after the bite.

 

[Kool-Aid]

Wow I did not know a cat bite could be so bad most of the time. I have two cats and luckily have never been bitten to the point of blood being drawn.

 

[Brightbird]

If you keep ignoring him he'll stop. Why don't you have food down he can nibble at?

I'm just weak, lol. He starts up rubbing my face with head butts and wet nose smears. When that fails, he nips me. He looks too cute staring down at me and tapping me with his paw. I don't mind getting up so much. I shouldn't be going back to sleep anyway. I don't put kibble down because he only gets that if I'm leaving the house overnight. Pretty sure he'd eat it all and still come bug me anyway. I'm working on cutting his meals down though.

My cat bit my finger deeply when he was a kitten. He wasn't eating so I put food on my finger and went in for a big chomp. Definitely a deep puncture. I had no idea it could be so dangerous. Nothing happened.

 

[gitana1]

Water hoses are better. You can do it at a safer distance. Of course water hoses aren't always available.

I know but the house wouldn't reach! They were on the corner across the street. Bad cats!!!!!!!!!

 

[Steely Dan]

I know but the house wouldn't reach! They were on the corner across the street. Bad cats!!!!!!!!!

Did you try pulling the house across the street so it would reach the corner?

 

[Montana]

My cat bites me to get attention and food. Mostly for food and mostly at 6am. He is a lovely natured boy 99% of the time. He never draws blood but it's good to be reminded to not take it so lightly. What I'd like to know is, could my cat me bite me one day and be safe but bite me the next day and kill me? And I wonder if it makes a difference if they live indoors. I think it would because outside they kill prey and are exposed to more bacteria. But I could be very wrong.

It makes no difference. My indoor cat bit me on my hand when I was trying to medicate her. My vet told me to see a doctor immediately. Even with treatment my arm swelled up all the way to my elbow. It was scary.

 

[wallflower67]

Our cats will sometimes nip when they are playing, which isn't the same as a bite. When you've been bitten you will KNOW...you have to pry the litle monsters off. About 7 years ago we added a third cat to our mix. One of our previous two got a bit bent out of shape over it and decided that since said new cat was bigger than him, he had no chance of winning a war. But he sure could let us know he was upset. We had three of us on antibiotics at the same time leading to a strict cat separation policy for years. We weren't worried about the cats. We were worried about US. They are now integrated with the occasional hissy fit. But no bites. If they look like they are going to go at it, we separate them with a duster. And neither one of them gets touched. If it happens in a room far away, we have a Corgi who will tattle on them and come and get us