Apparently, previous editions of D&D...

[Dannyalcatraz]

were completely correct about the deadliness of the common housecat!


Man airlifted to hospital after fight with cat | Off the Bench

 

[Dioltach]

About a month and a half ago, one of my cats got a nasty cut in his paw, which caused his leg to swell up to three times its normal size. I took him to the vet, who gave him a shot of antibiotics. I held the cat down for the vet, and the cat bit my hand.

When I got home I cleaned and disinfected the wound. But two days later my hand was red and swollen. My doctor sent me to the ER, where they cut open the wound, drained it, and bandaged my hand. After five days of antibiotics the swelling had gone down.

But five weeks down the road the wound has still not healed properly. A friend told me about an article that described people who had lost whole limbs after having been bitten by cats.

The cat, by the way, was completely better in less than a week. I definitely think that this was one encounter that I lost.

 

[El Mahdi]

Interesting story, though while reading it I definitely felt there was more to the story than what that reporter was mentioning.

Apparently I was right.


Would_you_like_facts_with_your_News?

Feral_cat_attack_sends_man_to_the_hospital.


A 20 pound feral cat is an entirely different story. Apparently he had to stab the cat multiple times, and the cat didn't die on it's own (it had to be euthanized). Not sure it would have been any different if it was any of us in that situation.

That's one bad ass cat!

 

[El Mahdi]

About a month and a half ago, one of my cats got a nasty cut in his paw, which caused his leg to swell up to three times its normal size. I took him to the vet, who gave him a shot of antibiotics. I held the cat down for the vet, and the cat bit my hand.

When I got home I cleaned and disinfected the wound. But two days later my hand was red and swollen. My doctor sent me to the ER, where they cut open the wound, drained it, and bandaged my hand. After five days of antibiotics the swelling had gone down.

But five weeks down the road the wound has still not healed properly. A friend told me about an article that described people who had lost whole limbs after having been bitten by cats.

The cat, by the way, was completely better in less than a week. I definitely think that this was one encounter that I lost.

I had a cat bite me in a similiar situation (applying flee powder). Frankly, I think the Vet was seriously remiss in not treating you right there for the bite. The thing with a bite is to get it cleaned immediately. When I got bit, I actually encouraged the bleeding by gently pressing around the wound and pushing blood through it. Within a minute I had it under running hot water to clean it out. Hurt like hell, but it was worth it. After cleaning I put antibiotic ointment on it with only a bandage (leave it open and let it bleed). It closed up on it's own in a few days, and did not get infected.

 

[Umbran]

I had a cat bite me in a similiar situation (applying flee powder). Frankly, I think the Vet was seriously remiss in not treating you right there for the bite.

Note: my wife is a veterinarian.

The vet was not remiss for not treating the wound on a person. The vet *is not licensed to treat humans*. Doing anything more than giving you a bandage telling you to go to a doctor ASAP is a risk for a lawsuit, and possible charges of practicing medicine without a license.

The vet was remiss in allowing someone to hold their own animal during a procedure - this is what vet techs are for! Owners are generally not trained in properly restraining an animal, and while they all say, "Fluffy loves me, he'd never bite me!" they are all pretty much completely wrong.

Most vets (wisely) will not allow owners to hold their animal during procedures to avoid this very scenario - in theory, you may be able to sue your vet for allowing and enabling you to be bitten.

All that said, getting bitten is an occupational hazard for my wife, and animal bites can be nasty. When he says you need to get it treated immediately, he's not kidding. After getting bitten once by a cat, my wife had major swelling 20 minutes later, and ended up with her arm in a sling and the other arm with an IV for antibiotics for a week, even though she was at a doctor an hour later. I kid you not when I say she was at risk of losing her finger, possibly her whole hand.

Luckily, it all turned out okay.

 

[Bedrockgames]

This is why I am a dog person.

 

[El Mahdi]

Note: my wife is a veterinarian.

The vet was not remiss for not treating the wound on a person. The vet *is not licensed to treat humans*. Doing anything more than giving you a bandage telling you to go to a doctor ASAP is a risk for a lawsuit, and possible charges of practicing medicine without a license.

You're right of course. I don't know if Dioltach's vet told him to get it treated or not. I hope they did, but I don't know. I shouldn't have said they were remiss.

The vet was remiss in allowing someone to hold their own animal during a procedure - this is what vet techs are for! Owners are generally not trained in properly restraining an animal, and while they all say, "Fluffy loves me, he'd never bite me!" they are all pretty much completely wrong.

Most vets (wisely) will not allow owners to hold their animal during procedures to avoid this very scenario - in theory, you may be able to sue your vet for allowing and enabling you to be bitten.

I'd never though of that before. I'd always though it odd that my vet didn't want me to hold my dog during exams or shots. Makes sense though.

All that said, getting bitten is an occupational hazard for my wife, and animal bites can be nasty. When he says you need to get it treated immediately, he's not kidding. After getting bitten once by a cat, my wife had major swelling 20 minutes later, and ended up with her arm in a sling and the other arm with an IV for antibiotics for a week, even though she was at a doctor an hour later. I kid you not when I say she was at risk of losing her finger, possibly her whole hand.

Luckily, it all turned out okay.

Yeah, bites can be nasty! The one I got was a puncture from one of her canine's in the meaty portion where my palm and index finger meet. Not certain, but it felt like it went right to the bone - even more impressive as I was wearing gloves. I don't think she was really trying to hurt me, she was just scared and reacted accordingly. It all happened so fast. In the moment after she bit she tried to jump away, but her tooth was caught in my hand. I still have a scar from it.

I'm so glad I knew enough at the time to get it cleaned immediately. Of course, my cleaning it immediately isn't necessarily what kept it from getting infected. Uncleaned it's probably not 100% sure that infection will occur, and even cleaning isn't necessarily 100% insurance against infection - but I'm glad I did. I personally believe it made all the difference.


In relation to that story though, my cat was just a little 5 or 6 pound tabby, and not attacking (technically her intention was more likely to defend and escape). An aggresive feral cat, and 20 pounds to boot - that's more like getting attacked by a wild Bobcat!

 

[Scott DeWar]

About a month and a half ago, one of my cats got a nasty cut in his paw, which caused his leg to swell up to three times its normal size. I took him to the vet, who gave him a shot of antibiotics. I held the cat down for the vet, and the cat bit my hand.

When I got home I cleaned and disinfected the wound. But two days later my hand was red and swollen. My doctor sent me to the ER, where they cut open the wound, drained it, and bandaged my hand. After five days of antibiotics the swelling had gone down.

But five weeks down the road the wound has still not healed properly. A friend told me about an article that described people who had lost whole limbs after having been bitten by cats.

The cat, by the way, was completely better in less than a week. I definitely think that this was one encounter that I lost.

fort save (filth fever)-failed!

 

[Thunderfoot]

This is why I am a dog person.

My cat is currently using my computer to track your address, I'd move if I were you...

 

[Scott DeWar]

Its ok bedrockgames, my dog is scrambling the origin of your computer to look like it is in another physical location-as part of the 'protect the humans' project.