there was this small black and white cat which came into the yard and was eating the doves and was after the squirrel.
so we brought it into the house. it was very friendly and i think it belonged to the low lifes down the street.
it was obviously very hungry and thin. so we fed the poor thing.
animal control came and picked it up. it had no signs of illness but did have a mass in the stomach area.
when i handed the cat to her i got a small scratch on the left arm. she said well dang, now i have to quarantee it for 10 days. and i have to watch that scratch.
i washed it immediately with soap and water and put neosporin on it.
now i get to thinking and i'm scared witless. i mean i have lyme!!! now this...
i'm already on biaxin and flagyl.
anything i should look for? geez, i'm scared....
Posted by soleil16 (Member # 16326) on :
Maybe just watch for bartonella henselae, cat scratch disease. I already had it but when I was scratched by a cat, I think the cat had it also and my bartonella symptoms got so much worse. I had swollen lymph nodes and fever.
But hopefully the kitty isn't sick and you'll be ok. How sweet of you to take care of it!
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
i feel so bad for the kitty. mike said no, we are not keeping it, altho he played with it.
we travel sooo much and we're constantly on the go.
i'd have kept it, but with all the new carpeting and money we're putting into the house, i could just see it peeing on the floor or something.
i'm just not up to having a pet again...maybe later.
it didn't have a collar and these people are, sorry to be mean, really low lifes, scumbuckets...yelling in the front yard, the daughter making out on the lawn, drinking and all. they've had several pets before and they got killed in the street. they were raising pit bulls until the city made them stop.
i didn't want to do it but i hated seeing little bird feathers all over my backyard.
i feel so guilty tho....
Posted by mjbucuk (Member # 843) on :
A vet I know said that sometimes when a cat has bart, the gumline is especially red.
Posted by hoot (Member # 19281) on :
I'd put some lugol's iodine on that right away.
hoot
Posted by Silverwolf (Member # 9196) on :
<<<<< Randibear Dear Friend >>>>>,
Honey,I am sorry you got scratched,you know tho' because y'all rescued it,and called it in, it may have a chance at a better life.
Keep an eye on that scratch,hopefully the Neosporin and Biaxin will keep things in check!
Silverwolfy hoping you are doing better!
Posted by Sue vG (Member # 3143) on :
In case this could be helpful, here is how it went for me when I got cat scratch disease in 1983. This was several years before they'd isolated the bart organism, and it was considered a chlamydial disease.
I had a new kitten that had been outside with her mom at her previous home. Early on, she hooked me on the inside of my left wrist.
A few days later I noticed a small raised "papule" with a tiny scab on top at the puncture site. It was basically painless but curious so I picked at it. Big mistake! Pain shot up the inside of my arm into my armpit.
Over the next few days later I noticed that I was having trouble sleeping on my left side since it was tender under my arm. I found a lump, and when it got to be the size of a lemon, with a grape-sized nodule in my groin, I went to the emergency room.
I showed them the papule and they diagnosed CSD. They gave me the standard tx of the day, 10 days of erythromycin, told me that it wouldn't cure it but would knock back the bacterial load to a point where my immune system could handle it, and sent me on my way.
They were basically right. They also mentioned that people are more apt to get the disease from a kitten scratch than from an adult cat scratch because kittens are not yet adept at cleaning their feet.
A few times in the ensuing years, when under extraordinary stress, the armpit pain would flare up and radiate down my arm, but that's about it. It's possible that some of my "soft symptom" complaints over the years have been due to bart. I didn't contract lyme until years later.
Posted by Tincup (Member # 5829) on :
Randibear said..
"anything i should look for?"
You do know why they are holding the cat for 10 days.... right?
This goes for scratches as well as bites....
"Q. What should I do if I am bitten by a dog, cat or ferret?
A. Flush and clean the wound(s) immediately with warm, soapy water and then apply an antiseptic.
Contact your Health Care Provider for further instructions, including the need for tetanus immunization and/or antibiotics to control bacterial infection.
If the biting animal is obviously sick, behaving abnormally, or if the injury is serious, go to the nearest emergency room for evaluation.
The risk of rabies from bites inflicted by apparently healthy dogs, cats, ferrets can be dismissed if the animal is confined (usually by the owner) and observed as healthy for the prescribed 10 days following the bite.
No person in the United States has ever contracted rabies from a dog, cat or ferret which has held in quarantine for 10 days."
Posted by 'Kete-tracker (Member # 17189) on :
Good to immediately wash w/ "hot soap & water" (what an odd phrase) & apply Neosporin.
If the scratch healed up fine, it's highly doubtful you will contract any "bart". The more serious bug is the Lyssavirus rabies virus. Though your chances of getting that IS very small, get a report from that AC officer & be vigilant for any unusual "malaise, headache, and fever".
Forunately, rabies is very treatable in the early stages via injections of immunoglobin (HRIG) & rabies vaccine.
Keep some iodine handy if this happens again, though. More effective than Neosporin on viruses. Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
whew, i did the right thing. i mean i ran to the bathroom before mike even shut the door. washed it thoroughly with soap and water and slapped a ton of neosporin on it.
i went to the llmd and he looked at it and said, fine, keep an eye on it.
that night i washed it again and put iodine on it. burned like heck, but then, it always does.
this morning washed it again and put more neosporin.
have been on biaxin for about a week now.
paranoid i know, but when ya got lyme, man, you have to be careful....
thanks for all the responses...don't know what i would do without you guys anbd gals...
Posted by lymebytes (Member # 11830) on :
Biaxin and flagyl would cover any possibility of b.henselae I would think. I got rid of b.henselae on Biaxin.
The estimates are 50% of cats are carriers, mostly kittens, they get it from fleas and ticks.
I wouldn't worry, but mention it to your LLMd.
Posted by nenet (Member # 13174) on :
I hope you will be ok, and that kitty was clean. Also hope kitty will be ok.
This is kind of off-topic, a little, but I recently discovered that Polysporin works much better for me than Neosporin. As in my wounds/skin infections heal much much quicker.
A nurse told me about it, so I tried it out and she was right. I'm not a medical professional, just sharing personal experience.
Posted by CD57 (Member # 11749) on :
if a cat is a carrier and scratches you, will you definitely get bart?
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
ha, well, i've already got bart and lyme and been on treatment for 3 years so hopefully i'll be ok.
it's just red today but not swollen or painful
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
I do hope the cat is free of anything bad, like Tincup mentioned. Here's praying for you!
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