Cat bite while trimming nails

[jen-s]

So, no good deed goes unpunished apparently. A good friend has been having problems with one cat beating up on her newer kitty so I offered to put on soft paws hoping that would mitigate some of the damage. I’m pretty dang good with squirmy cats but this one went bat crap crazy! I quickly abandoned the soft paws plan in favor for a really good trim. Sadly I only managed the fronts before she got too violent. But before I could let her go, she nailed me pretty good on one finger.

I’ve scrubbed it with betadine and hibiclens and it’s bandaged with neosporin. No need for stitches, just puncture wounds. If, IF, it seems infected I’ll absolutely go get antibiotics, but how do I make sure that there aren’t any visits by animal control. The cat is totally up to date on shots. She does have a confirmed history of being fractious for nail trims and I shouldn’t have pushed for back claws without someone to hold (and a muzzle!), so I feel like this is totally my fault. I just want to be able to get antibiotics if I need them without drama. Any suggestions appreciated!

[Laurierace]

Don’t think you can avoid it if you go to the doctor. I got bit by a feral kitten I was bathing and the sheriff literally followed me home from the urgent care place to fill out the paperwork. I was able to quarantine them here, it was no big deal really.

[AKB]

You should probably go to an Urgent Care tonight to get on some amoxicillin-clavulanate/Augmentin or other preventive antibiotic. Cat bites can get really infected in a few hours. Is the cat up to date on his rabies vaccine? Are you up to date on tetanus vaccine?

The clinic is required to report that you had a cat bite, although they won’t have any details about the actual cat and owner unless you provide them. However, I don’t know if you are legally required to give any information when animal control calls.

[Chall]

My cat was reported, and I told them she bit me as I was removing a baby bunny from her mouth, so not an intentional bite or not aggressive to humans.
She was uptodate on rabies and I gave them (ER) her vets number.
One year later I got a call from the state agency saying I was going to get a $1000 fine because I didn’t fill out the paperwork. I was like"you have had the vet number, what difference does a statement I make going to make, you have the definitive source, the vet"
It didn’t matter anyway as the cat was PTS the day before (pancreatitis) the state called.

So, even with the vet verification of her shot status (and they need the serial number of that particular shot used), you must fill out the form the state mails you or your risk a hefty fine.
This for NY state.

[jen-s]

Thanks all. This was NOT a feral cat. She is up to date on her shots and my tetanus was boostered about 5 years ago so I’m good.

Again, no need for immediate care, or stitches. I’m well versed in how to scrub a wound and it got very well scrubbed. It’s very mildly swollen and tender today–no more than you would expect for a similar non-bite-type injury. No discernable heat or redness. If that changes, I’ll absolutely go get seen.

[Fox_Wood_Farm]

I was bitten by my ancient indoor-only house cat, while trying to give him a pill. Fang went in the base of the nail bed on my thumb. He was UTD on shots. I washed the heck out of the bite. All on a Friday night. By mid day Saturday I had swelling and red stripes down the thumb. Went to one of those doctors walk-in urgent care clinics since my doc wasn’t open on a Saturday. Explained the circumstances and walked out with Rx for antibiotics. Never heard anything from animal control. And right now, I don’t remember the doctor even asking for details. Not sure I even thought about AC. That was probably 8-10 years ago.

Was not long after that that I trapped a raccoon in the barn. During the struggle to get coon and trap away from the barn cats, my hand got wet - from something - not sure what but assumed it came from the trap where coon had drooled or peed. I had to beg authorities to even get interested when I called. At first I wasn’t concerned, because I had no broken skin, and knew that I had not actually been bitten. But damn, rabies is 100% fatal. Eventually got somebody to come get the coon for testing. I remember that they made me feel kinda silly for even worrying about it. Fortunately it was negative.

Maybe the lax attitude is a SC thing? Or maybe times have changed…

Hope you don’t get infected!

[MEP]

Even with immediate emergency care (they cleaned and bandaged it within two hours of the bite) and antibiotics, I had a cat bite get infected and had to get a different antibiotic. Those bites can be nasty.

This was in California about 15 years ago and there was no inquiry or paperwork at all.

[regalace]

If your hand hasn’t gotten significantly worse since you posted, you probably got lucky and it wasn’t too serious. But keep an eye on it, especially if it’s still swollen or red. Puncture wounds are the worst! My old cat bit me and it didn’t bleed a drop, but got a nasty infection. The urgent care doctor said hands are the worst place to be bitten because of the joints.

YMMV on the animal control report. I am in NC, and I never got paperwork or a call from AC for my cat biting me. Don’t know if they called the vet. But when the same cat bit my BF in a different city/county, the urgent care office called the AC and I talked with them right then. They said they were going to refer it to my county AC and the cat would have to be quarantined, but that did not happen. IIRC they said the quarantine could be at home and the AC officer would visit.

[Twisting]

My cat bit me twice on the hand after she tried to jump off the radiator and got a single toe caught. A cat dangling from one toe is not a happy animal. She bit and bit hard when I grabbed her to fix the situation. Even with an ER trip, serious scrubbing and antibiotics it got infected. I too had to go back in for a different prescription. You sound like you know a thing or two medically so I doubt we need to tell you too keep an eye on it. But if it were me I would have gone already. Animal control be damned.

[jen-s]

Thanks all. Really.

I’m in NC but in a county where I can see the officials getting twitchy. The bite was in between joints in a finger so I’m a little less concerned than if a joint had taken a direct impact. It looks great this morning after leaving my bandaid off overnight. I’ll rebandage and reapply neosporin before work. And I solemnly swear that when I attempt the next trim on this beastie, she’ll absolutely get muzzled!

[mvp]

I’d lie on behalf of a cat who bit me because I screwed up. What’s fair is fair, right?

So do you think the authorities would be worried about the vaccination history of this particular cat? Or are you worried that any cat named would become the subject of state interrogation? If it’s the former, why don’t you find a known cat with a squeaky clean vaccination history and (falsely) accuse that cat, if the state must have a perpetrator to blame?

By now, you know whether the cat gave you merely a bite or a bite plus bonus infection, right?

[jen-s]

Exactly, mpv. I don’t want ANYONE to have to go through any extra hassle. Especially since it was MY mistake. I could easily name one of mine. Quarantining isn’t a problem since they are all indoor-only.

So far, so good. I’ve had splinters that looked worse at this point. Still no heat. Very mild redness, but I just poked at it so that’s also my fault.