So recently I had been scratched by a feral kitten that I have took in and has been staying with us for a month and a half, when i took her in she was thin and sick, her poop was green and white and she didn't move that much and slept alot, but now she is a healthy normal kitty and is taking in deworming shots with 2 more left to go, and by the way she is too young to have a vaccination shot ( i think )
Anyways I was playing with her and she was on my leg, she fell off and scratched me in the process, it wasn't deep but it was enough to draw blood, it wasn't a heavy flow, it was just a bit of blood actually, really light, she seemed okay, this was after she took vitamins and is being a lot more active than usual
A second time was when I was playing with her again, it was on my hand this time and it was a bit deeper this time, bled but stopped after awhile
both wounds are healed by now, they both didn't seem infected, no swelling, no redness nothing, I certainly don't have a cat scratch fever but I'm still concerned since our country has alot of rabies things going on, should I be worried?
Feral kitty scratch, help?
- Posted:
- 3+ months ago by 2paranoid...
- Topics:
- kitty, kitten, scratch, feral
Responses (2)
Cat scratches are not nearly as serious a potential problem as bites. Personally I think they can usually be washed and coated with an antibacterial ointment. You can expect them to be red and perhaps a bit swollen for a day or two, but if nothing is getting worse after 12 hours or so, you can just watch and do nothing. There's no point in even redressing them after they've crusted over.
If you get worse swelling and redness the next day, and it doesn't hit a plateau after 24 hours but just gets more painful and swollen, then you need to see a doctor for antibiotics. In a long time as a cat rescue worker I've seen many hundreds of cat scratches in all severities, and only a couple that needed medical treatment.
Cat scratch fever is theoretical possibility, but in otherwise healthy people it only causes lymph node swelling near the bite (or in the same limb) for a few weeks, and there's not much difference between treating it and not. Mostly it causes anxiety more than anything serious. Children and adults who've worked with a lot of cats are probably already immune.
Stray cats may sound like they are full of horrid diseases, but getting scratched by one is not a lot more likely to give you something than getting scratched by your pet who spends time outdoors.
It's very unlikely that the kitty has rabies, it would probably already show symptoms, so I wouldn't worry about that. But if you are ever concerned about rabies after getting bitten/scratched by a feral animal in the future, you need to go to the doctor straight away and get vaccinated. Don't wait for symptoms to appear- it's too late then.
thank you that is really a relief, in the future I'll make sure to be a bit more careful around ferals, thanks a lot ^^
the wound didn't actually swell it was red for a bit but it was gone a few hours after ( probably because I did squeeze it by a bit under water ) , when i woke up it was starting to crust and there was no red after that, it didn't hurt it just stings but it faded after a few hours, do you think I got rabies instead?