Quote:
Originally Posted by 1069  Yeah, my husband got bitten by a feral cat.
He had to have rabies shots (they billed us $6,000 for the series), and they also basically cut chunks out of his flesh around each one of the puncture wounds the cat's teeth made (there were four).
They said even with that- cutting all that flesh away- and antibiotics, he'd still probably get an infection. He didn't, though. He was conscientious about soaking it and stuff, and it healed eventually, although there are scars because they cut him so much.
He wasn't planning to go to the doctor about it, but I insisted, because of the possibility of rabies, and the fact that it's untreatable and terminal by the time symptoms manifest.
I didn't know about the potential for serious infection, until the doctor at the ER started cutting away at him.
He was given the first rabies shot that night, and was able to return to the ER for each consecutive shot.
We told the doctor we wouldn't be able to pay anything, and he said it made no difference to him. |
Yeah, any animal bites are bad. But what's really bad are puncture wounds. They're nearly impossible to clean, and that's why there's a HUGE risk of bad infection with them. Dog bites aren't quite as bad because honestly, they tend to tear, bruise, and abrade more than puncture. More surface area wounding, but easier to clean and more open to air circulation and healing, thus less risk of infection. Cats tend to puncture when they bite... 4 holes. LOL Bad, bad risk of infection.
Same risk applies to non-poisonous snake bites. People think that if a non-poisonous snake bites them, it's "okay". Well it's not. Your risk of serious infection is HUGE due to the deep punctures.
Fortunately, I didn't have to worry about rabies since I knew the cat was vaccinated. (He was, however, ill and dying and I had inadvertantly hurt him) But I did have to have 72 hrs of IV antibiotics to clear up the infection. And even then they were worried that wouldn't do it and discussed "scraping" it out. /shudder