Cat Health Symptoms

How do I care for a serious feral cat bite?

A feral cat what I've been caring for recently suddenly attacked me when I tried to separate it from my brother's other cat. The feral cat has always been very nice to me but for that split second apparently forgot I was a friend and took out it's anger on my left hand (causing four serious puncture wounds which bled a lot) and required a visit to Urgent Care, a Tetanus shot and 10 days worth of double antibiotics (3 times day, which is 30 pills in total). I discussed my concern about rabies infection with the doctor, but he said that rabies in cats are "exceedingly rare." The nurse said that the Tetnus shot would "cover all the bases." The wounds are four fairly deep puncture wounds on my left hand (no veins appeared to have been cut, but the hand is very swollen and sore and took a few hours to fully coagulate). What infections should I be worried about specific to feral cat bites, and should I keep the hand bandaged or leave it open to the air -- while cleaning it daily? The animal appears normal and does not show any external signs of rabies. But should I still get a PEP done as a precaution? It is pretty darn expensive (around $1500). And if I needed to get a PEP done, where would I go to receive the 5 injections over 28-days? My primary care physician? Urgent care? The ER?

Public Comments

1. if you begin to foam at the mouth, panic
2. Keep it clean with soap and water, maybe occasional alcohol, no peroxide. the antibiotics should cover you. Keep it dry and clean as much as possible. If it starts to smell bad or ooze make another trip to the dr.
3. keep it covered loosly when u go places but at night or when ur veggin out uncover it. make sure you clean it each morning and each night and maybe use rubbing alcohol once or twice a month to prevent infections. If it gets really red immediatly clean it out with rubbing alcohol and go to the doctors for another tetnus shot. Email me at mybizyagottaknowthat2@yahoo.com if u have any more questions