I have a friend who has done cat rescue for years and years. She's placed hundreds of animals in homes, fosters a dozen or two in her home at all times, always makes sure that they are spayed/neutered, does fund-raisers and gets vets to donate their time. I could go on and on.

So, while rescuing a feral cat last month she was bitten. After two days it looked pretty bad, so she went to the doctor and got antibiotics. Then more antibiotics. Then she went to a different doctor and he was like, "Oh my god, we've got to do surgery immediately!"

She ended up having a bone infection, has had two surgeries, has to take intravenous antibiotics 3 times a day, and will miss work for a total of 8 weeks. Sheesh!!

But both she and the biting kitty are going to be fine .... :)

i saw a similar case on Animal Planet...
this womans cat got outside and in a tree or something and then jumped down, but got impaled on her wrought iron fence...

she heard the cries, ran outside, and held the injured kitty up off the spikes and screamed until a neighbor got medical help...
in that meantime, the cat bit and scratched up the womans hands and arms

the cat ended up fine, the woman was 'okay' after surgeries and antibiotics and stuff, but she was like a professional piano player or something and will never really play again

so heres my question... is this like 'cat scratch disease' ? or just some bacteria got into the open wound?

Oh my..... I do empathize with your friend!!

I've had such an experience myself (and have the scars to show for it).

When I was a teenager a stray cat who hung out at our house found its way inside. We had a house cat who was indoor/outdoor. The stray got into the bedroom and our cat confronted it (hissing match).

I came in to break it up. I was able to get the stray in my arms, but then our cat lunged at it - and it went crazy clawing me then bit hold of my hand (right by my wrist). I couldn't get it off (like a pit bull!). My dad finally pulled it away.

My dad cleaned me up and said I'd be fine, but by midnight that night I had a fever and my arm was swollen up like a blimp. He brought me to the emergency room, and the nurses scrubbed it and gave me a shot and pills. Told me to come back the next day. I came back and everyone panicked - then they put me in the hospital. I had to have surgery to get it all cleaned out (first and last time I ever go under general anesthesia!). They put a cast on it and I wore it for weeks - because they were worried about having the use of my hand. The antibiotics gave me a chronic yeast infection the entire time I took them (several weeks) I am still stiff in that wrist, and I still have the scars (people say it looks like I tried to commit suicide while drunk).

We still cared for the cat though, and he stayed on my parent's property until he died (I was long gone and on my own). After it happened I named him "The Cat From Hell", but we all really did love him.

so heres my question... is this like 'cat scratch disease' ? or just some bacteria got into the open wound?

I'm not sure if it is "cat scratch fever/disease," but cats are known for having very nasty bites. After an experience of my own, my personal rule is, If I get bitten by any cat, including my own, I'm off to the dr's immediately.

In college I volunteered at a cat rescue and got bitten by a resident in the webbing between my thumb and first finger. I cleaned it out real good and kept putting antibacterial cream on it but sure enough a couple of days later, I could hardly make a fist. I had to go on anti-biotics that kept me from drinking on my 21st birthday. :grr: From what I've seen/heard about since then, I got off very lucky.

Weird... I get bit/scratched by my cat frequently... doesn't even really even do anything other than a 1-2day healing of the wound.

At least they're both going to be ok.

I must be lucky. I've been scratched and/or bitten by stray cats at the shelter on numerous occasions and other than the usual hives I get (I'm allergic to animals and get a mild case of hives when I'm around them whether they scratch me or not), haven't had any problems.

I feel bad for your friend, though! Definitely something wrong with the state of the universe when someone who is doing good by animals ends up getting harmed and the people that abuse animals get off scot free (generally).

Oh my! How horrible for her to have to go through that!! I'm glad they're both doing better, though. :)

I heard cat's claws can have a lot of stuff under them, like bacteria, they're dirty... which is really why I clean scratches as soon as I get them (even though I have a awesome immune system)

cat scratches and bites can be dangerous, depending upon how deep they are. Most of us get very small scratches and bites--many don't really break the skin. But, any bite or scratch that is really deep, one should get checked immediately.

our cat tiger never bit that hard (she was an amazing once-feral!), but another feral did get a good piece of me while i was trying to help her out with her kittens (it was a real deal need, otherwise i would have just let nature do it's thing). we went to the hospital immediately to have it cleaned out--and everything worked out fine. They put me on antibiotics right away, washed everything out, and then had me care for the wound in a particular way. So, no bigger problem for me.

Doc said that it's always a good idea togo to the hospital when you get a deep scratch or bite--dog, cat, particularly human--because the infections can be major!

This brings up some questions as to the veracity of the Law of Karma. According to many, the Law of Karma is not like a social law that can be broken successfully, and with impunity, on occaision, because it depends on people to enforce it, and they don't always enforce it well, but more like a scientific law, which cannot be broken, because breaking it would simply be outside the nature of reality. Supposedly The law of Karma cannot be broken any more than the Laws of Physics.

Are people mistaken about the law of Karma being immutable, or is this an example where the person who helped the cat got what the law of Karma would predict they would get? Can someone help me out with regard to what happened here? Seems that either I should avoid contact with cats, or if I want to help cats, I would need to reject the law of Karma, and insist that and that the idea is just religious make-believe and not worthy of respect.

o thats horrid !
it reminds me of this story i heard..
2 animal rights activists who were like campaigning to save bears went camping and then were mauled by a bear !
so sad !!!

Ooooooh that's nasty. Glad they're going to be ok though.

It makes me laugh really. I have cats and rats. One of the cats bites, the rats never ever have, and yet people who visit always worry far more about the rats biting! The reality is that if a rat bites you you are far far less likely to get an infection than if you get bitten by a cat, dog or human - the way their teeth are positioned means that they do not connect with the saliva in their mouths, and the bite is therefore dry and less "dirty". There you go folks, interesting fact of the day!

o thats horrid !
it reminds me of this story i heard..
2 animal rights activists who were like campaigning to save bears went camping and then were mauled by a bear !
so sad !!!

I heard about that too, it was in Alaska -- I think? I think they were both killed. Sad.

I should add some good news: we did a few fund-raisers (bake sales, raffles) for my injured friend, and raised $1200 for her. :D

I heard about that too, it was in Alaska -- I think? I think they were both killed. Sad.

Ya it was and a horrible thing also that happened was they had a video camera with them at the time but they guy dropped it so it was facing some bushes but it caught all the noises as they were mauled !! I would never want to listen to such a thing !!

I should add some good news: we did a few fund-raisers (bake sales, raffles) for my injured friend, and raised $1200 for her.

Aww thats really great !! :up:

I dont try to look at it as punishment as much as for every situtaton that you put yourself in, you will be given the opportunity to learn from it, it might not seem pleasant, but often it is exactly what we need..

Cats have a really nasty bacteria in their saliva, so if you're ever bitten by a cat, you absolutely must run to the doctor to get antibiotics.

My cat, who had never bitten before, got so freaked out at the vet's, that she bit my finger pretty deep when I was trying to calm her down. Even though I got the topical and oral antibiotics from the doctor, my finger was still swollen for several days.

By the way, if you live in Toronto, never take your pet to the Animal Clinic II on Avenue Rd. This is the vet office that seriously messed up my cat when taking a routine blood sample. I didn't notice until later that she was missing clumps of fur, a couple of square inches, and hadn't made the connection with the bits of fur on a muzzle that was on the vet's table. No wonder she was pissed!