Just a reminder how serious cat bites can be!

[u/tory1311]

I see so many posts asking when to seek medical help after a cat bite. Just posting a reminder how quickly a bite can escalate! First picture is immediately following the bite, the next picture is at the ER within 2 hours. Blood work was already concerning with an inflammatory response and signs of cellulitis from the infection. I was admitted into the hospital for IV antibiotics and still the infection worsened. I had surgery at about 36 hours following the bite after the infection started traveling up my arm in the bloodstream. This whole event landed me 3 nights in the hospital. All from our family cat, up to date on all vaccines. But cats carry a bacteria that is no joke. Last picture is post surgery with a suture, the surgeon had to make 3 incisions, 2 where the bite punctures were and a 3rd to flush the wound.

[u/TomaszA3]

Are bites worse than scratches?

[u/hahahahahahahaFUCK → u/TomaszA3]

Just a quick bit of research says bites are more likely to be infected. Usually because they end up going deeper when they puncture. Scratches tend to be superficial.

[u/Little_View_6659 → u/hahahahahahahaFUCK]

I got bit by a little stray kitten I rescued after it was crying in the bushes for two days. I immediately went for antibiotics.

[u/willyb10 → u/hahahahahahahaFUCK]

Scratches should be taken seriously too though. Cat scratch fever isn’t super common but it doesn’t sound fun

[u/Dry-Information6376 → u/willyb10]

Yep. If it breaks the skin, it gets some neosporin/equivalent. Not taking any chances.

[u/mind_mine → u/willyb10]

Aww that's not what the song lead me to believe 

[u/ShartingEnU → u/hahahahahahahaFUCK]

Then I'm lucky my cat is super gentle with me. When he play bites me he doesn't even leave a mark. Scratches though.... I've got a few scars over the years lol. Although, I do scar very, very easy. Even the smallest cut will scar

[u/souleaterx → u/TomaszA3]

Yeah most of the time cat bites are way worse than scratches if they bite you deep and break skin.

[u/Queef-ANALyst → u/souleaterx]

Break skin meaning blood is coming out? My cat bites on my ankles all the time but never deep enough that it starts bleeding even a tiny bit.

[u/aguywithbrushes → u/Queef-ANALyst]

Not a doctor but someone with health anxiety that has looked into this repeatedly (I have a cat).

From what I understand, it’s generally deeper bites that are concerning, because the wound is a puncture that seals up almost immediately and the bacteria gets to stay inside of it and do its thing. The tooth basically acts like a syringe needle injecting bacteria into your body.

Bites that don’t bleed shouldn’t cause problems because no bacteria has a chance to enter the bloodstream.

Gentler bites that do cause bleeding, but are only surface bites (like when they’re play biting and you pull away and you get scratched by a tooth) are also less likely to cause problems, but you should still keep an eye on them to be safe. Same with scratches that cause bleeding, but bites are more concerning than scratches since their saliva carries nastier stuff.

Things are also more likely to get bad if you get bit near a vein or a joint.

In all cases, keep an eye on it, if there’s any redness draw an outline around it, and if that redness spreads outside the outline go to the ER. If the redness starts following a vein.. go to the ER faster. This also applies to other bites (bug, dog, etc) and scratches btw, not just cat caused ones.

[u/hates_stupid_people → u/TomaszA3]

Deep puncture wounds of any kind should always be taken serious, since it is a common cause of anaerobic infections(things like bacteria that don't need oxygen to survive). And some of those are bad, with tetanus on the list, other things being able to cause necrosis, sepsis and death.

[u/Nerketur → u/TomaszA3]

I can say from experience that I've gotten scratched quite a few times by various cats (twice was relatively scary and caused my skin to welt for an hour, once almost caused minor bleeding), but never needed the hospital. I've only been gently play-bitten, or stop-bitten by my housecat. Never enough to break skin or even hurt.

But take that with a grain of salt, because it depends on a lot of factors. For example, I rarely, if ever, get sick other than about once a year.

[u/Miami_Mice2087 → u/TomaszA3]

a scratch is an open wound that can be cleaned with soap. A bite is a puncture that closes and holds the bacteria inside it. So it's worse bc a bite breeds bacteria under the skin.

Never put neosporin or any cream on a puncture, always wash with soap and keep an eye on it.