The other night I was stretched out on the couch watching TV. Our two kitties, Sir Hubble Pinkerton and Dr. Hush Puppy were snoozing away, snuggled together under the afghan covering me. While I was trying to get more comfortable, my hand accidentally made contact with the sharp end of one of Dr. Hush Puppy’s canine teeth. While the impact itself lasted less than a second, the pain that followed was excruciating. It felt like I had been stabbed with an icepick. The wound kept bleeding almost as forcibly as Niagara Falls.
I generally don’t pay much attention to a cat scratch. I simply clean it, pour a little hydrogen peroxide on it and leave it alone. I have never had a serious cat scratch injury, so I think that just some minor attention is all that is necessary.
But cat bites are quite another story! Although technically Dr. Hush Puppy had not bitten me; since a cat’s mouth is loaded with extremely nasty bacteria that can cause serious – even life threatening injuries, being punctured by a tooth could have been just as dangerous.
Following the accidental puncture, I took ample precautions to make ensure that the wound wouldn’t become infected. Fortunately there were no major complications and it is healing well.
Dr. Karen Becker recently posted an excellent article on Healthy Pets that stresses the dangers inherent in cat bites. While they may not look serious, when bitten by a cat, the results can be devastating.
According to the article, a new study was recently performed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN concerning cat bites. While dog bites receive plenty of attention; cat bites can be just as perilous. Because their teeth are very sharp, when a cat bites a human the bacteria in the cat’s mouth are quickly “injected” into the person’s body. In fact, 30 percent of cat bite patients in the study required a hospital stay.
193 patients who went to the emergency room or went to a doctor for a cat bite on the hand or wrist between 2009 and 2011 were evaluated by the researchers. The most common sites for cat bites are on the wrist and hand, and these bites often become infected.
The majority of patients were female with an average age of 49. Approximately 33 percent of the patients were hospitalized for infection or other issues related to the cat bite. The average time for these patients to receive medical intervention was 27 hours.
Of the 193 patients who were in the study, 36 were admitted to the hospital immediately. 154 were treated with antibiotics and discharged. 3 patients received no treatment. The majority of the patients who were treated with antibiotics and released recovered uneventfully, but 21 of these patients eventually had to be hospitalized. Eight patients required additional surgery. The hospital stay for these patients averaged about three days.
Twenty-six of those patients who were immediately hospitalized underwent further procedures. Eight patients required more surgery.
Abscesses and loss of joint mobility were among the long- term complications from the bites that had become infected, and patients who were bitten directly on the joints or wrists were likely to have been hospitalized than those who were bitten in soft tissue.
In her article, Dr. Becker added that the authors of the study acknowledged that while the study was relatively small, the authors stressed that although a cat bite may appear to be innocuous, both patients and doctors should take them very seriously; especially if they appear inflamed or swollen around the bite area. It is worth mentioning, however, that the press got hold of this study and exaggerated and misconstrued it as reported by Michael.
Have you ever received a cat bite? What did you do to have it treated? Share your experiences in a comment.
Jo
- Photo credit: Flickr User CiCCiO.it
- Associated page: Cat and dog bite statistics
Many,many years ago I was clerking for a judge at a cat show.All was going fine until she took a Russian Blue out of the show-cage and he took a major disliking to her for some reason or other- perhaps catching a whiff of another cat-and bit her up her many times biting her all the way up her arm almost if her arm was an ear of corn.
I politely suggested she go to the ER for medical attention, but she pooh-poohed me- put some disinfectant on her arm and continued judging.
The next morning her arm was swollen and little red lines (indicating blood poisoning) were appearing- and I finally convinced her to get some immediate medical attention. She finally agreed.
She did not come back that day, and was out of commission for a couple of months following that biting attack. I saw her at another show a few months later. She told me that she wished she had taken my advice right away and that she needed to be more careful.
By the way, the cat was not a vicious cat- in fact, he was very sweet. But being an intact male, catching the scent of another intact male was just too much for him that particular morning.
I agree that dog bites a more serious than cat bites because dog bites cause actual physical damage to the skin, muscles, bone, cartilage etc.. Whereas, it is only bacteria from the cat’s mouth that can harm a person and if that bacteria is tackled quickly there is no lasting damage.
In fact, we know that dogs not infrequently kill people with their bite.
Like you, I have never been bitten seriously by a cat, so as to cause concern. It is a question of taking commonsense precautions and respecting the cat.
I know I go on about this, and on, and on, which is boring but it is quite easy to avoid being bitten by a cat. There is no need for it and there should be nobody presenting themselves at hospitals with cat bites because on every occasion it is the person’s fault (well it is 99% of the time). That is my personal opinion and I think it is a fair one.
Ultimately, it is about respecting the cat and knowing that the domestic cat is a high-quality predator at heart, perhaps the world’s greatest predator and it is that which demands respect.
People tend to be arrogant and the arrogance gets in the way of their respect for the domestic cat.
I was only once badly bitten by a half feral cat who was so frightened at being handled at the vets he panicked and went berserk as I was holding him for the vet, he got me between my thumb and finger. I did the usual, washing it and putting on antiseptic but it started swelling up and I had to go on antibiotics quickly.
The scratches all over me were sore but healed quickly.
A cat bite can be nasty but if dealt with quickly I wouldn’t say it was too dangerous.
I think a dog bite is far worse because a dog really can do a lot more damage than a cat, especially the strong jawed breeds that hang on to their victim.
I have heard this also about cat bites though I have never experienced any complications personally from them. I have been bitten too many times to count.I think I have taken prompt action most of the time but I know there have been times when I didn’t take any action at all…maybe I have been asking for trouble. Great article.
Thank you for this Jo. I had heard about this study and noticed that some newspapers jumped on it and as usual exaggerated the consequences of a cat bite. One of the problems is that statistics from studies like this can be distorted by newspapers.
One interesting aspect of this study, and there are many, is that, as I recall, we do not know how long people waited before they presented at a clinic with their infected cat bite.
And we also do not know what the person did before presenting themselves at a clinic about treating the bite.
So, for example, if a person carelessly gets bitten by cat and then leaves the bite and they do nothing for a number of days and the wound becomes inflamed due to an infection then you could argue that they are making things a lot worse because of neglect compounding initial carelessness by being bitten in the first place.
A key aspect of the cat bite is to use one’s intelligence to avoid it in the first place and if, because of some unavoidable accident, one is bitten and the skin is broken then the person should take sensible precautions to avoid the wound becoming infected. Prompt action can be required and should be taken.
The point I am trying to make is that the seriousness of a cat bite results most often from the degree of neglect and thoughtlessness of the person bitten.
Also, many cat bites occur when playing with one’s cat – playing too hard and over energising the cat. Once again this is the responsibility of the person.
From my perspective, the whole issue of cat bites revolves around people and how they interact with their cat and other cats.