Cat Bite - Can It Kill You?
I really can't figure out why Americans are against our Canadian Free Health Care system to be implemented into American society. I don't understand what the fuss is all about.
If something like this happened to an American Citizen who didn't have health insurance, they probably would never have gone to a hospital because of the bill they would have received. There are no bills here in Canada for a hospital stay or surgery, but this topic is for another Hub (blog).
I thought that when the power went out this morning, I wouldn't get a chance to write another hub for a while. I wish you Americans would please keep your tornadoes and winds on your side of the border. You can have all those nasty tornadoes just for yourself. Today, your high winds crossed our border and caught us by surprise. I don't even think Mother Nature has a legal passport to come over here, but she did, and all the work we did on our cat hotel came apart this afternoon with your invasive hurricane force winds. But look at the bright side. I now have something to write about after having writers block for a day or so.
Cats, cat bites and infection all go together and can cause major health problems.
Judy was bitten by a cat yesterday and decided against going to emergency because there was always a long wait of three to four hours. After all, it was only a cat bite and what can happen with a cat bite. But this time, her hand swelled up pretty fast and I told her that she should go to the hospital. After many of her friends said the same thing to her, she decided to go. It was a good thing. After waiting almost six hours to see a doctor, her hand was even more puffed up. The doctor told her that the poison was going up her arm and was halfway to the elbow. If it makes it to the elbow, it spreads through the blood system and, it's "lights out" for this life. She was lucky, for sure.
A nurse came into the room and placed an intravenous line in her arm which lets the antibiotic flow through the veins thus preventing further infection. If this had not been done, tomorrow I'd be making plans for a funeral. Who would have thought that a cat bite, even though it was fairly deep, could have caused such a problem.
Judy has been a dog and cat groomer for seven years. She has been bitten before by dogs, scratched by cats but never bitten by a cat so she thought -- no big deal. I have no idea why groomers don't protect themselves with gloves or long sleeves but it seems none do. So, this is the result.
The hospital filled out a report of this incident and took the cat owners name. The Public Health Department will be calling tomorrow to see what happened and this poor innocent cat may have to be quarantined and if it does not have the proper shots,they may go after the owner to have the animal put down. Now we are both animal lovers and this was not the cats fault. It was being shaved to get rid of mats and obviously didn't like what was going on. As far as I'm concerned, groomers should protect themselves with some sort of glove and long sleeves or, as in most cases, the cats should be tranquilized before they arrive here in order to have this procedure done. The owner said that this cat was very hard to work with. Judy did look for a muzzle to fit the cat but they were all too big.
So -- if anybody thinks that a cat bite can't kill you, then think again. The proof is in the hospital report and in the photos below. Once the infection begins to move up your arm, you better move fast.