Got bit on finger by a sick cat

Evanbourne93

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There are three stray cats at where I'm staying, they stay only outdoors, I only feed them. They've been here for over a year since I came here, they are young, less than two years old.

About two and a half months ago on 29th April, the female cat gave birth to three kittens which were most likely premature. A fourth kitten was stuck in the birth canal the next day with only its two feet out. The mother cat managed to remove it soon after in matter of hours.

All the kittens died in a day, the mother cat seemed to be recovering in matter of days.

Fast forward to 10th July, I noticed that the cat was peeing herself, she'd started to become weaker. She was eating so I kept feeding her, four days later on 14th July, I noticed that she was struggling to pee, she was peeing in small amounts time to time and her back legs were wobbly. Since the place I'm staying at right now is far from any proper town where I can find a vet nor does my work schedule allow me to travel far enough so I consulted a vet and I was told that they're signs of UTI and advised me to give her amoxciline (calculated dosage)

I continued the treatment with much precaution for 7 days, first few days she showed improvement but then she stopped eating and drinking. I continued the course for 8 days.

Fast forward to 25th July, I decided to force feed her with a nursing bottle.

On night of 25th July she scratched my finger, it broke the skin, there was blood, I didn't care much, just washed the wound with antiseptic liquids.

On morning of 27th July, I was again force feeding, she was all covered in her piss so I decided to wash her back area and she got scared of the water and bit me on finger. Only one of her teeth just barely punctured tip of my finger, I was wearing plastic gloves so there was no detailed contact, just one of her teeths stung like a needle.

I immediately washed the wound with antiseptic soap and applied antiseptic liquids and without wasting any time I went to get vaccination shot and a tetanus shot. They did not have antiserum and told me that it wasn't necessary for such minor bite that too on a finger and besides the case of rabies in the cat is not confirmed.

Fast forward to today, the cat is showing signs of improvement, she peed freely, cleaned herself, is wiggling her tail and is meaoning and is also eating.

Key things:
1. She had bite marks on her neck which I assumed were from the other two cats which are male. She also had a would on her left front leg armpit. They all dried up with antibiotics treatment.

2. She had trouble peeing and became wobbly due to weakness as she lost a lot of weight.

3. She was lethargic for last 3 days but major downfall started since 14th July and she gradually got worse.

4. Two weeks later she's much improved today, sitting properly, eating, meaoning.

5. No signs of aggression, no drooling.

6. I have never been vaccinated before, tomorrow is my second dose of the vaccination.

I hope to find experts here who would have gone through such experiences and can guide me.

Should I travel far for HRIG shot? Is it necessary? I am otherwise healthy, 80 kgs at 6 ft with no notable medical history. I'm 27 years old male.

Do you think the cat might have rabies? I personally haven't observed any convincing symptoms. She started feeling better after she freely peed and popped.

I have attached picture of the wound herewith.
 

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Twilla

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Please take the cat inside, and look into finding a vet or rescue. There is no excuse for failing to care for an animal; their life is more important than your career.
 

CatladyJan

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Rabies from cats are very rare and that wound is very minute.
There are three stray cats at where I'm staying, they stay only outdoors, I only feed them. They've been here for over a year since I came here, they are young, less than two years old.

About two and a half months ago on 29th April, the female cat gave birth to three kittens which were most likely premature. A fourth kitten was stuck in the birth canal the next day with only its two feet out. The mother cat managed to remove it soon after in matter of hours.

All the kittens died in a day, the mother cat seemed to be recovering in matter of days.

Fast forward to 10th July, I noticed that the cat was peeing herself, she'd started to become weaker. She was eating so I kept feeding her, four days later on 14th July, I noticed that she was struggling to pee, she was peeing in small amounts time to time and her back legs were wobbly. Since the place I'm staying at right now is far from any proper town where I can find a vet nor does my work schedule allow me to travel far enough so I consulted a vet and I was told that they're signs of UTI and advised me to give her amoxciline (calculated dosage)

I continued the treatment with much precaution for 7 days, first few days she showed improvement but then she stopped eating and drinking. I continued the course for 8 days.

Fast forward to 25th July, I decided to force feed her with a nursing bottle.

On night of 25th July she scratched my finger, it broke the skin, there was blood, I didn't care much, just washed the wound with antiseptic liquids.

On morning of 27th July, I was again force feeding, she was all covered in her piss so I decided to wash her back area and she got scared of the water and bit me on finger. Only one of her teeth just barely punctured tip of my finger, I was wearing plastic gloves so there was no detailed contact, just one of her teeths stung like a needle.

I immediately washed the wound with antiseptic soap and applied antiseptic liquids and without wasting any time I went to get vaccination shot and a tetanus shot. They did not have antiserum and told me that it wasn't necessary for such minor bite that too on a finger and besides the case of rabies in the cat is not confirmed.

Fast forward to today, the cat is showing signs of improvement, she peed freely, cleaned herself, is wiggling her tail and is meaoning and is also eating.

Key things:
1. She had bite marks on her neck which I assumed were from the other two cats which are male. She also had a would on her left front leg armpit. They all dried up with antibiotics treatment.

2. She had trouble peeing and became wobbly due to weakness as she lost a lot of weight.

3. She was lethargic for last 3 days but major downfall started since 14th July and she gradually got worse.

4. Two weeks later she's much improved today, sitting properly, eating, meaoning.

5. No signs of aggression, no drooling.

6. I have never been vaccinated before, tomorrow is my second dose of the vaccination.

I hope to find experts here who would have gone through such experiences and can guide me.

Should I travel far for HRIG shot? Is it necessary? I am otherwise healthy, 80 kgs at 6 ft with no notable medical history. I'm 27 years old male.

Do you think the cat might have rabies? I personally haven't observed any convincing symptoms. She started feeling better after she freely peed and popped.

I have attached picture of the wound herewith.
. I would not be concerned about rabies it’s very rare and signs would be probably showing up. That is a minor wound as long as you got tetanus you are likely fine. Her is a wound I got from one of my freaks I was socializing.
Question how did you get the Amoxy for treatment if there are no vets nearby?
 

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Evanbourne93

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Rabies from cats are very rare and that wound is very minute.
. I would not be concerned about rabies it’s very rare and signs would be probably showing up. That is a minor wound as long as you got tetanus you are likely fine. Her is a wound I got from one of my freaks I was socializing.
Question how did you get the Amoxy for treatment if there are no vets nearby?
Ouch, that looks painful. I hope you're doing well now. Did you get vaccine shots?

Amoxciline wasn't hard to find, I was told that ones prescribed for babies would do just fine so long as the dosage is properly calculated. I weighed the cat with kitchen scale and calculated accordingly.

Now that the cat has regained some energy, it's not easy for me to handle her but luckily she's eating and also just drank some chicken broth.
 
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Evanbourne93

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Please take the cat inside, and look into finding a vet or rescue. There is no excuse for failing to care for an animal; their life is more important than your career.
I wish you could see my situation, you would understand how helpless I have felt throughout the nursing period. I'm doing the best I can to help her and hopefully she'll make full recovery as current situation is indicating a positive progress.
 

CatladyJan

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Ouch, that looks painful. I hope you're doing well now. Did you get vaccine shots?

Amoxciline wasn't hard to find, I was told that ones prescribed for babies would do just fine so long as the dosage is properly calculated. I weighed the cat with kitchen scale and calculated accordingly.

Now that the cat has regained some energy, it's not easy for me to handle her but luckily she's eating and also just drank some chicken broth.
It hurt a lot - lol it was a kitten and I was trying to get him in a crate. No, I just got antibiotics and tetnus I live in the US in IL and we don't really consider rabies an issue.
 

fionasmom

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Like the others, I am absolutely not a doctor so can only tell you my experience with a cat bite last November. TNRed (not by me) female that I feed at some neighboring apartments. My fault it happened. My GP and vet both advised that I go to a major hospital as they would have the HRIG on hand, whereas an urgentcare or individual doctor would probably not. When I got to the hospital, they gave me a tetanus shot and oral antibiotics for the bite. It was no where as severe as CatladyJan CatladyJan . When I asked about the vector for rabies, which is really the big question, I was told that in LA county even stray and feral cats are not considered to be a vector. It sounds to me as if your cat is returning to some form of health and eating which contraindicates rabies. She is not showing other signs either apparently. However, my question is, regardless of how anything sounds to me, is what is the PHD vector in your area for rabies? However, you were told that you were safe from rabies when you got your tetanus shot and vaccination, and I would assume that you were given that information by some medical professional.

Thank you for trying to help this cat.
 

Norachan

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I wish you could see my situation, you would understand how helpless I have felt throughout the nursing period. I'm doing the best I can to help her and hopefully she'll make full recovery as current situation is indicating a positive progress.
Thank you for doing everything you can to care for them. I understand how difficult it can be to take care of outdoor cats. We have a lot of feral care takers on TCS, so many of us are in a similar position.

It's important to get any cats you feed spayed and neutered. I started off feeding two strays and ended up with over 30 cats in a year. I managed to find homes for some of the kittens, but if I'd spayed and neutered everyone right from the start I would have saved myself a fortune.

Are there any vets or animal doctors that would come to your town to treat the cats? Even vets who usually treat farm animals would be able to spay and neuter.

I understand this can be difficult if you're in a country without animal rescues and TNR groups.

I hope your finger is going to be OK.

:hugs:
 

Willowy

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If she's still alive 10 days after the bite, this means that she wasn't shedding rabies when she bit you and you don't have to worry :) (about rabies anyway; risk of infection is pretty high!). It's really only when an animal bites you and then runs away, never to be seen again, that you have to worry.
 
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