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Cat Bites Pose Risk Of Infection...

A small bite on the hand from Fluffy or Fido is often laughed off, especially if it’s done by a family pet. However, even the slightest pinprick bite-related injury can potentially be life-threatening to victims. According to a recent study published in the Journal of Hand Surgery, these tiny cat bites can penetrate bacteria deep into the joints and tissue, increasing the likelihood of infection, hospitalization, and, in some cases, reconstructive surgery.

Cat aggression is sometimes taken less seriously than dog aggression most likely due to cats’ size, and because they don’t pursue people to bite them like dogs can, says the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty…

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 Keep A Close Eye on Cat Bite Wounds

However, there are bacteria that are specific to cat bites, as well, and these can be serious, too. One of these is pasturalla, which can cause a superficial skin infection but can spread to the joints, she said. Capnocytophaga is another and this bacteria can lead to an infection of the internal organs.

Articles of Interest

Are cat bites and depression related? Not so fast.

I’m starting to feel like a broken record. Here comes another overhyped study about cats, and here’s where I try to get to the bottom of what is really going on.

Beware of a Cat’s Bite

Although cat bites account for only 10 to 15 percent of animal bites treated in emergency rooms, they pose special infection risks. Dog bites, the most common bites treated, can tear flesh and break bones, but they create open wounds that are easy to clean and less likely to become infected than the puncture wounds created by cats, which usually affect the hand and can inject bacteria into tendons and bones.

Cat Bites Pose Little-Known Dangers

Cats can reduce stress and lift spirits, but there can be serious risks involved with keeping felines in the house...

Cat bites: The peril beyond the pain

A retrospective review of patients with cat bite injuries to the hand has revealed some risk factors associated with the need for hospitalization and more aggressive treatment of these types of injuries.

Dog and Cat Bites

Cat bites account for approximately 10% of animal bites and occur most often in adult women.2 Cat bites typically occur on the extremities. While at first glance the injury may seem less severe than those caused by dogs, they tend to be deep puncture wounds that are difficult to cleanse and are more likely to develop deep infections.1

How to Treat Cat Bites and Cat Bite Infections

The puncture wounds are highly infectious. Here's how to deal with (and maybe avoid) them.

What You Should Do for a Cat Bite or Scratch

“See a doctor within eight hours to cut your infection risk,” says emergency medicine physician Stephen Sayles III, MD. “You may need intravenous, or through the vein, antibiotics or, in some cases, you may even need to be hospitalized.”

When Cats Bite: 1 in 3 Patients Bitten in Hand Hospitalized, Infections Common

Why are cat bites to the hand so dangerous? It’s not that their mouths have more germs than dogs’ mouths — or people’s, for that matter. Actually, it’s all in the fangs.

Why Cat Bites Are Pretty Much the Worst Thing Ever

All of you who are under the impression that cats are absolutely the best thing for the Internet—producing GIFs and memes galore—are bloody delusional. My 8lb house cat Franny almost destroyed a small section of your Internet last week, temporarily crippling one of the hands I use to type all your nightly posts.

Resources

11 Reasons Why Cat Bites May Be Linked To Depression

Here are the best possible explanations for the strange correlation.

Patient

The most common complication following a bite is an infection of the wound. See a doctor as soon as possible if the skin surrounding a wound becomes more tender, painful, swollen, or inflamed over the following few days.