my jake is kind of a jerk and bit me.

[stephanie42]

i was brushing him and he was a bit assertive (as is his norm).  jake was biting at the brush - really hard.  my husband was there, too.  jake likes having his cheeks brushed so i was going to do that again and i guess i wasn't paying close enough attention to where my fingers were and he bit my finger.  hard.  it's been over 14 hours and it's still very painful.  i washed it well twice with antibacterial soap, poured hydrogen peroxide on it, and put on bandaids with neosporin.  my husband thinks that since both puncture wounds bled that it pushed everything out and i'm being a big baby.  i say it still hurts a lot and is a bit swollen.  the bite site doesn't look really bad - it's not really swollen or really red or anything, but it's so much more tender than any other wound i've had recently.  

i know cat bites can become very serious - i would hate to ignore any symptoms and end up with permanent damage.  what should i be looking for, and how soon should i call the doctor?

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

the symptoms i watch for are ones that would indicate the possible start of cellulitis, which is very serious and which i'm prone to getting. symptoms that i watch for are red, swollen, warm/hot to the touch, and if you start seeing any red lines/streaks from the wound and continuing in any direction away from the wound.

since i'm prone to getting cellulitis, if i get a cat bite i get it treated immediately -- tetanus shot and antibiotics.

the symptom that means you must seek medical treatment immediately, and likely will be hospitalized and given IV antibiotics is if you start seeing any red lines/streaks from the wound and continuing in any direction away from the wound. that's the point where the infection has become extremely serious.

something that i do to help prevent cellulitis developing, which i've had very good success with, is to use hot (hot as you can stand them) compresses again and again/all day long for at least several days. this can kill off the infection, though it's certainly not guaranteed to do so. bear in mind that in my experience the wound can actually look worse for the first day or so of doing the hot compresses, but by the second to third day it should be starting to look and feel better.

other than that, do just like you're doing -- keep the wounds clean and apply antibiotic ointment to them.

 

[stephanie42]

it's still pretty painful and a bit swollen.  my doctor wants me to come in so i'm seeing him in a couple of hours.

 

[betsygee]

I'd also suggest that when your kitty starts biting the brush aggressively like that, he's telling you he's had enough.  Some cats get over-stimulated.  One of my cats is like that--I can only brush her for so long and then she gives me clear signals that she's had enough.

How is your finger doing today?  

Edit:  I think we were posting at the same time.  Good idea to see the doctor, just to be safe.  

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

 
it's still pretty painful and a bit swollen.  my doctor wants me to come in so i'm seeing him in a couple of hours.

that's good that you'll be seeing your doctor today.

 

[stephanie42]

@mickNsnicks2mom, doctor echoed a bunch of what you said - recommended soaking in warm salt water and warm compresses along with hardcore antibiotics.  he said it doesn't look horrible yet but it looks bad.

worst part is that the antibiotic - levaquin - interacts with calcium.  so i can't have any ice cream or yogurt or cheese within two hours of it.  i want to take it right away (just got home from work) and will have to forego the ben & jerry's in the freezer for the night.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

 
@mickNsnicks2mom, doctor echoed a bunch of what you said - recommended soaking in warm salt water and warm compresses along with hardcore antibiotics.  he said it doesn't look horrible yet but it looks bad.

worst part is that the antibiotic - levaquin - interacts with calcium.  so i can't have any ice cream or yogurt or cheese within two hours of it.  i want to take it right away (just got home from work) and will have to forego the ben & jerry's in the freezer for the night.

i'm glad to hear your doctor has you on antibiotics.

i totally understand about the antibiotics. when i've had cellulitis, the doctor puts me on cypro because we found that i'm allergic to sulfa (the most common medication to treat it). with cypro you're not supposed to eat a certain amount of time before and a certain amount of time after taking it. i really hate taking cypro because of that. i only had little "windows" of time in which i could eat, and many times i wasn't hungry during those times.

for me, just knowing that the wound was being treated eased my mind.