Pasturella
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| Fri, 08-27-2004 - 7:44pm |
This is about one of my best friends, Mush Mouse, my cat. He is a 3 year old neutered tabby that we rescued from under our house when a stray cat abandoned him when he was only about a week old. Needless to say he is and always will be my baby. I even have a special screen saver on my computer for him....The one with the flying butterflies. He is strictly an inside cat and has all his shots.
Now on to what happened. Yesterday morning I was bathing Mush Mouse(no big deal I have always bathed him with no problems) Well he had a hot spot on his back from an allergy and when I put the special shampoo on him the vet gave me, he went crazy he bit my arm and when I tried to get him to let go he bite through the pad of my index finger, one tooth going through my fingernail, tearing it half off. My finger was dripping blood and sure it hurt like $%&* but I rinsed him off, he was protesting the whole time but this time I gave him towel to bite.
Didn't think anything of it, put peroxide on my finger and bandaged it up. When I got up this morning my finger was very swollen and red. Went to my doctor and and after him taking a culture and putting my arm in a sling to keep my hand elevated and a VERY expensive antibiotic I found out how dangerous cat bites are.
Cats have needle like teeth and when they bite and create a punture they inject a bacteria called Pasturella into the wound. All cats carry this bacteria but when introduced into a wild animal or human it can become fatal without aggressive antibiotic treatment.
Within 24 hours of me being bit I had a fever of 101. ALL cat bites whether you know the cat or not should be treated by your doctor immediately.
I wanted to let everyone know that this is a issue with owning a cat and should be treated seriously.
Mush Mouse didn't realize what he was doing when he bit me because he was in pain but he knew he hurt me because afterward he has become a leech to me. I can't go anywhere without him being right there and heaven help us if there is a door between us. He howls like a wild cat until I let him in. I just have to hold him in my lap and pet him and let him know I'm ok.
I did cuss out the vet for giving me that shampoo. He said to me "I guess I forgot to mention that it would cause him "some" discomfort". I showed him my finger and I said "next time warn people that it could cause them "some" discomfort too not to mention feeling awful about being the one to cause your baby pain too.
Sorry this is so long but I feel so bad about what my baby went through physically and mentally. My husbands claims that cats have no feelings and could care less about their humans, until he saw how bad Mush Mouse was feeling after he bit me.
Thanks for listening and please keep this in the back of your mind in case you or someone you know gets bitten by a cat.
Be Happy and make sure you hug your best friend everyday!!!(I'm talking about your cat)
Suzee

*WELCOME* to the board Suzee_cookie.
hi suzee!
Hi Suzee.
{{{{hugs for both of you}}}}
Thank you so much for your letters. I would have replied sooner except the antibiotics did not work and I was in the hospital. Everything is fine now though.
I would love to post some pics of Mush Mouse, but how do you do it? Let me know asap and I'll be happy to post them.
I am a animal lover and other than Mush Mouse I have 8 dogs, 3 other cats, 6 rescued turtles(2 of them with only 3 legs) a guinea pig and a rat. Not to mention the snake, the frogs and lizards my son has.
All of them are rescued animals and the wild ones I receive I return to the wild if they can be rehabilitated enough to be released. If not they become a member of our family. I have an indoor pond that they winter over in that's in my living room.
Anyway....let me know how to post the pics.
Suzy
hi suzy!
you have turtles?
I'm looking forward to seeing your photos, too!
I hope you're feeling better,
Suzy
As a matter of fact...i found out that baby shampoo is the best!!! It will manage any skin conditions Mush has and is real gentle on his skin. AND it won't burn or sting!!! I also use gold bond powder on him, he loves the attention and then I give him a good brushing as he has medium length fur. I alway tell everyone before you use a human product on your pet always make sure it's ok for your pet by checking with your vet first.
Mush is much better and has apparently forgotten the "incident". Even though I will have a scar on my finger. But I will always have something to remember him by. Tee Hee!!!
suzy