Real men have dogs. Liberals and metrosexuals have cats.

I have both. I guess I’m a real metrosexual?

Moriarty, they gave me augmentin and a tetanus shot since i haven’t had one since I was about 12.

This is an animal that eats dead mice and then licks its butt for dessert; of course its bite is bad.

As opposed to dogs? What breed do you have that uses tableware and toilet paper?

The biggest diff between cat bites and dog bites is that a quick warning nip from a medium-sized canine is a lot less likely to break through the epidermis than one from a cat…

http://www.lyricsdownload.com/triumph-the-insult-comic-dog-cats-are-cunts-lyrics.html

Topical antiseptics are only good for minor cuts and scratches. A garlic clove, sliced in half and its juice rubbed on them is as good as anything you’ll get over the counter.

FWIW

For “dirty” mild puncture wounds and scratches I also tend to hold it under hot water for a while and let it bleed. But then, I also tend to do other “barbaric” things as using 91% isopropyl to dehydrate same, iodine tincture, terpenes, etc.

Hydrogen peroxide is of questionable benefit since Pasteurella sp. aren’t anerobes and are little affected by high oxygen concentrations. While peroxide creates some mechanical debridement via effervescent-like action, it also devitalizes damaged tissues and retards wound healing. Povidone iodine products aren’t much better. Neomycin-containing salves are only a modest improvement over plain Vaseline and don’t do much for anything except the most superficial of wounds.

Cat scratch fever is caused by Bartonella sp. and responds well to Cipro, doxycycline or even plain old erythromycin. (I have some personal experience with this one.)

The best thing to do with an animal bite is wash thoroughly with soap and flush the wound with copious amounts of water. Then, get seen, get treated and go forth and sin no more.

Way back in a former life, before I lost my mind and became a physician, I was an EMT. In my ER training rotation, I remember seeing a kid who’d been in a barfight had gotten a small “tooth cut” laceration on a knuckle. It was no more than a quarter of an inch nick and he’d let it go for a day before coming in.

X-ray was consistent with fulminant gas gangrene. He went to surgery immediately and they saved his hand. A few more hours would have told a different tale.

That said, we can do a lot on an outpatient basis. A couple of years ago, my mother awoke with a bat gnawing on her face. (We think it got into her laundry in the pump house.) I took the phone call from the State Lab, and yes, it was rabid.

Being of Old Country stock, what annoyed her most was not the shot series (much improved these days), nor the fact that she had to reschedule her trip to Germany, but that she had to throw out her bed linens…

Happy 4th anyway.

This is an animal that eats dead mice and then licks its butt for dessert; of course its bite is bad.

It understands.

They all do.

Anyhow, i can’t express the usefullness of hydrogen peroxide. Keeping a fresh would absolutely sopping wet with it until the margins turn white may be overkill, but it has always nearly guaranteed no primary/secondary infections. Big fan of iodine, too… especially the deeper scratches, the drying action keeps it from weeping and lets it heal “up” instead of over and trapping debris/bacteria.

Anyhow, go get yourself a box of probiotic yogurt for once you’re done with your antibiotic runs. The noted infection gets massive doses of penicillin, and that kills gut flora. Only thing worse than being sick is being cured but being miserable with the runs.

Was only bitten once, right in the middle of the forehead (dad drop kicked the cat off the deck in his anger – he isn’t a cat person). I still have the scar. It makes me look sorta indian. Like one of those rubies. Yet its not. And of course I have blonde hair and blue eyes. But you get the idea.

Take care and take care of it.

Your dog may be suspicious as well. No self-respecting dog ever wants to meet a cat.

Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tRnZKzAYGI

“Cats are assholes”….

For future reference, anything more than a scratch from a cat should be cleaned w/ some form of anti-bacterial immediately.

Take pictures.

I hope you start feeling better. My cat bit the shit out of me on Wednesday. It sucks.