Cats are one of the most popular pets. They are considered family members and are allowed to live in the yard, or even in a house or apartment, and even sleep in the same bed with the owners. But, despite such mutual love, there are also "quarrels" between pets and owners. The result of this is most often a cat bite or long scratches, which bring a lot of worries to the owners, especially if the victims are children. What you need to know about cat bites and complications after them? The following information will help you understand this and other issues.
Fluffy and purring
Domestic cats are very wayward animals. They are completely dependent on a person, but with all their appearance and behavior they always prove the opposite and allow themselves to be loved. Those who get fluffy beauties do it with pleasure, because purring creatures bring a lot of joy.
The advantages of cats over other pets are obvious:
- They are highly trainable - cats perfectly remember the "house rules" of an apartment or house, they know what is possible and what is not.
- Do not require walks on the street. Cats can go to the toilet on a tray, and special fillers allow you to completely get rid offrom unpleasant odors.
- They are not hard to feed. Most tailed pets are unpretentious in food and eat dry food, which is sold in any store. They also tolerate food from the diet of the owners perfectly.
- Give positive emotions. It has been scientifically proven that stroking a cat to the sound of her purring calms the nerves and normalizes the heart rhythm. In addition, even with an adult beauty, you can always play and watch how she frolic, charging with positive.
Why can a cat bite?
At first glance, it may seem that life with a fluffy pet has only pluses. But do not forget that a cat is a very independent animal with character, besides, a descendant of experienced predators.
If she doesn't like something or causes her fear, she can defend herself or warn of danger. For this, nature has awarded the purr with sharp claws and strong thin teeth. In what situations do they use them?
To be fair, a normal he althy cat, especially a domestic cat, will never bite or scratch for no reason.
Most often, such a problem as a cat bite affects children: they mercilessly "play" with an animal, often ignoring their desires and mood. Also, a pet can bite if:
- he is forced to caress;
- the cat wants to be picked up by people he doesn't know;
- being hurt or uncomfortable;
- encroach on his food.
Outdoor cats are less predictable, but they can attack and bite a person for the same reasons. The exception is sick animals, which, in the case of rabies, can bite without irritants.
Features of cat bites
Physiologically, a cat cannot inflict dangerous wounds with its teeth, as another, larger pet can do. But that doesn't make the cat's bite any better.
The cat family has very thin, but rather sharp teeth. Therefore, if a cat bites, then the wound immediately becomes not extensive, but rather deep.
Another feature of cats is the large number of microbes and bacteria living in the animal's mouth and saliva. From this follow the features that distinguish the bite of a cat: its consequences are much more difficult than the injury itself. Various microorganisms penetrate into a deep wound from the teeth along with cat saliva. As a result, in more than half of the cases, cat bites are accompanied by complications - inflammation of the wound of varying severity.
But serious consequences can be avoided if you know what to do if a cat has bitten.
Proper wound care
The guarantee that the consequences will be minimal and swelling from the bite will not develop is the correct treatment of the injured area.
First of all, the wound should be washed with running cool water and soap, preferably laundry. After that, carefully treat with a three percent solution of hydrogen peroxide, and the procedure must berepeat several times. After some time, it is necessary to wash the wound again with running water and soap, and then grease the edges with a drying alcohol solution: iodine, fucorcin, brilliant green.
No need to pour alcohol solutions into the wound - this will no longer bring any benefit, but will only burn already damaged tissues.
Depending on how deep the cat's bite was, the consequences can vary from redness and swelling to extensive inflammation.
What does traditional medicine offer?
For ardent opponents of traditional disinfectants, traditional medicine can offer antiseptics of natural origin in case a person has received such an injury as a cat bite. Treatment in this situation should take place under the constant supervision of a specialist, and at the first sign of deterioration, you should immediately consult a doctor.
For the primary treatment of the wound, you can use the alcohol infusion of medicinal herbs. Calendula tincture has an excellent antiseptic and wound-healing effect.
Also, in order to disinfect the bite site, chlorophyllipt tincture is perfect - this remedy perfectly fights a large number of staphylococcal bacteria that can easily penetrate into the wound with the saliva of the animal.
In order to relieve swelling from a bite, you can use warm compresses or baths from infusion of chamomile, calendula, oak bark. These herbs have healing and soothing properties.
What are the possible complications?
The risk of injury of this kind depends most often on their source - a cat. If there has been a bite from a domestic cat that is regularly examined by a veterinarian, is clean and he althy, then the consequences of the incident will be minimal. In this case, a complication of the injury can be a slight inflammation and a long, and sometimes debilitating process of wound healing.
If a cat bite happened in an unfamiliar environment - at a party or on the street, then the situation can be much more serious. Street animals carry various germs and infectious diseases, the most serious of which is rabies.
If a similar trouble happened to you, you need not to panic and remember what to do if a cat has bitten.
When is medical attention needed?
After being bitten by a cat, you need to carry out self-treatment of wounds and monitor them. Urgent care should be sought in the following situations:
- Can't stop the bleeding at the bite site on my own.
- Injured large vessels, muscles or ligaments. A characteristic sign of this may be severe pain when moving in the affected area.
- Significant swelling, blueness at the bite site.
- Increase in body temperature and deterioration of the general condition against the background of a non-healing wound.
If over time the wound does not heal, and the soreness and inflammation only progress, signs appearpurulent inflammation, then there is a high probability that an infection has joined. What to do with such a development of events? How to treat a cat bite? Treatment in this case should also be prescribed by a doctor. For our part, we note that in such situations it is rarely possible to avoid prescribing a course of antibiotics.
Can I get rabies?
In a situation where a pet simply shows character and bites its owners "for order", you don't have to worry about rabies.
But if on the street for no reason you were attacked, bitten or scratched by a cat, you need to be alarmed. Aggressive individuals that rush at people, cannot focus their eyes, do not control salivation, are very similar to those with rabies. The disease is rare, only animals act as carriers, but its danger to humans cannot be underestimated.
Rabies after a cat bite cannot be diagnosed instantly. The task of a person after an attack by a stray animal, especially one that looks unhe althy, is to immediately seek medical attention.
The specialist will not only properly treat the wound, but also offer anti-rabies serum, which is injected with a course of three vaccines at intervals of a month. Such a precautionary measure will avoid a serious illness.
Should my cat be examined?
Usually, after an animal attack, a person is concerned about their own he alth and does not think about the source of their problems. But in vain!
The cat that showed aggression andattacked a human, must be isolated and safely transported to the nearest veterinarian. It is this specialist who should examine the animal for rabies and decide its future fate. The veterinarian has ten days to do this, during which the cat is quarantined.
After this time, the specialist decides whether the animal is he althy or not. In the latter case, the cat must be euthanized to protect others.
Can cat bites be avoided?
Any danger can always be prevented with less effort and he alth. In order not to suffer from cat teeth and claws, you need to follow simple rules, and especially teach them to children.
- You must not touch, stroke, tease homeless animals. Unfamiliar cats and dogs should be avoided.
- Don't take food from the cat.
- Do not pull or pull the animal beyond measure.
Domestic cats usually do not show aggression without an objective reason. And most often such a cause, and later the victim of a bite and scratch, are small children. Kids do not understand that the pet does not want to indulge, dress up, play with the tail. The task of parents is to convey to children that an animal should not be tortured and forced to play, no matter how fluffy and cute it may look.
Injuries from pets are not uncommon. They usually pose no danger. Injuries from stray animals look much more serious.
Man is stronger than cats and dogs. But he must not forget thatanimals also have their own character, feelings, experiences. They need to be treated with due respect, and then the problem of bites and scratches will disappear by itself.
