Attacked by a cat. Do I need to be seen?

[Indi84]

Big hugs, I'm late to the post but I'm another one who used to work in a vets and would have said to go in! I've seen many hands and arms get horribly infected and need treatment. Hope you feel better soon.

 

[BrandiCanucks]

If the infection spreads outside of this line in the next few days, it'll be surgery, otherwise, I won't know til the 15th if I'll face surgery or not.

 

[Misscalais]

Wow!!!!! Where that cat must have been scratching around in some nasty bacteria in her mouth and claws. Ive been bitten and scratch so many times over my life and have never had a reaction like this. You poor thing!!!
Do they have you on IV antibiotics? Hubby got an infection from his marine fish tank when cleaning it. He swelled up bad like you had they had him on 12 hourly IV antibiotics and if that didn't work it was surgery to open the and flush. Luckily it didn't get to that point.
Fingers crossed for you x

 

[BrandiCanucks]

They were going to put in a saline lock and have me come in daily for IV antibiotics, but given that I'm pregnant and already have an infection, he wasn't comfortable with leaving a saline lock in for 5 days, because that would increase the risk of leaving another infection source open, and no one wants me getting more infections.

Instead, I have to keep up with the oral Clavulin (antibiotic for skin tissue infections) and get daily injections of Ceftriaxone in my thigh muscle until the 14th. It's an antibiotic that gets injected right into the muscle. The hope is that the two antibiotics together will kill the infection and I can avoid surgery.

They'll reassess my hand on the 15th and if the swelling hasn't gone down, or there are still parts swollen, I'll go for surgery. If the swelling is completely gone, I'm good to keep on as if it never happened. If the infection keeps spreading before the injections are done, it'll be immediate surgery.

Been 7 hours since the first injection, and so far, it hasn't gone outside that line so hopefully that means it is working.

 

[BrandiCanucks]

Bad news is, the redness and swelling went beyond the line. Good news is, it's not too far, so I'm not worried. I'm not in as much pain as I was yesterday, so I think it's working. The hand itself doesn't hurt so much unless I touch the swollen part, but my finger still kills and I can't move it. All in all, improvement is good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6KDaPHXjsI&feature=youtu.be

 

[Nerdy]

No bueno, chica. That's mighty nasty and I'm just hoping the injections seriously work. Keep a super sharp eye on it. You're a lot kinder than I am regarding the neighbor with the wee beastie that did this, and this is coming from someone who has a devil cat. ONE of my Folds suffers dwarfism and while normally aloof and cute as a button, can be down right vicious if cornered or feeling cornered. I do everything I can to keep guests away from him JIC. Oddly enough, he doesn't mind my son messing with him and will just pick up and walk away if it becomes too much. Adults? Forget it. Best policy? Avoid the cat from Hell.

 

[jessmke]

I just want to point out that although the cat was obviously quite viscous, the infection does not mean this cat is particularly dirty or being poorly taken care of. Little scratches and bites from cats are usually no big deal, but deep puncture wounds like the ones you received almost always become badly infected. Cat mouths are dirty no matter how pampered a cat is. I feel bad sticking up for the cat when you are going through this, but the infection is not related to how evil the cat is. I still think you should tell your neighbor what happened so she keeps better control over her pets from now on. Here's to hoping you won't need surgery! I've used an essential oil called Melrose (a blend from Young Living) on infected puncture wounds which helped (along with antibiotics) to heal infections from bite wounds.

 

[justplay91]

Oh no! I just read a story on another site where a woman was bitten by her own cat and it swelled up like that and she had to have surgery immediately. I hope you're okay and can avoid the surgery!

 

[cosmicgirlxxx]

OMG, I've had cats for years and never seen anything like that!
Hope your neighbour is apologetic!
Feel better soon x

 

[BrandiCanucks]

I trust the neighbour, and don't blame the cat for being scared and trying to protect herself. She did what she did instinctively. Neighbour is very apologetic and helping where she can...she helped with my dishes, loading and unloading my van, and is taking my garbage out for me tonight.

Nurses at the outpatient centre where I'm getting my injections said they'll reassess my hand tomorrow and decide if the splint can come off. Had it off today for a bit to have a bath and flex the good fingers and within an hour, my index finger killed again, so I put it back on and went the rest of the day pain free.

We had Thanksgiving with my family and my aunt was quiet rude about it. Saw me struggling to get my son's high chair out of my trunk and turned away and went in the house, leaving me to juggle 4 kids, a diaper bag, and a giant high chair. Later on, my daughter asked me for some pop and I said I'd see if someone can help get her some. My aunt overheard and goes, "Really? You can't open a bottle of pop and pour it? If you can't do that, how can you take care of your kids?"

Okay, Aunty P...you get bitten by a cat, get lymphangitis, take two antibiotics, one of them shots in your leg, have your hand in a splint to immobilize it and prevent the infection from spreading and minimize the pain, and face possible surgery within the next week and try and open a damn bottle of pop and see how well you do. My mother and other aunt shut her up pretty quickly though

 

[Nerdy]

Boo on your aunt and happy Thanksgiving!!!! Some people really haven't a clue. You're injured via an accident, not an invalid! Not like you asked to be mauled. Sorry you had to deal with someone so obtuse over the holidays.