This is a true story

[cremebrulee]

I had encouraged a dear friend who lost her husband to not stop living her life...she is independent and loves to travel, so she booked a room along the beach the other week.  Sok she is out on her front porch, having her morning coffee, and this cat comes over to her, and starts weaving in and out of her legs, while she's petting it.  She must have been petting it for 5 minutes, and then it bit her.

By early evening, her whole arm starts to swell....and she could not bend her fingers.

There is something in every cats saliva that can cause horrible infection in a human being....

so, she packs up everything and drives to her home hospital.

They admit her, and the doctor calls the renters, explains her story and asks him if he could locate the cat that fits that description, however, none of the neighbors had one.

So, the next morning they take her up to the OR and completely clean out the infection, and it was very infected....they leave the wound open, and immediately start rabie shots on her....she said the first 3  were very painful and after that they were not bad, however, she was out of work for a week, and had to go back to the doctor, and he kept cleaning the open wound out...plus she had to soak it 3 x's a day.....

What an ordeal?  Poor woman.....

so I went into the internet to find out more of what this is in a cat's saliva and couldn't find much, however, I did find others who had posted similar stories, however, some of them were sick a month or more...depends on where the bite is and how long it's left go.

[erma]

OMG!! cream, my bff just went through this!!! she just had her PIC line removed yesterday!! she was bitten by her neighbors cat and wound up in ICU!!! after 2 days in icu, a week in the hospital, then a pic line for 4 weeks, she is finally recovering!!!
so weird you should mention that now!!  lol............... i so love the coincidences in life!!   

[free_at_last]

Yikes!!  That is horrible.  I've heard stories like this before and the infections can be really bad.  I've had cats my whole life, been bitten a few times and scratched too many times to count, but I've never gotten the least bit sick from it.  Hope your friend in on the mend and feeling lots better!

[cremebrulee]

Yikes!!  That is horrible.  I've heard stories like this before and the infections can be really bad.  I've had cats my whole life, been bitten a few times and scratched too many times to count, but I've never gotten the least bit sick from it.  Hope your friend in on the mend and feeling lots better!

Same here, actually, I had forgotten about that saliva thing, and me being so curious, I wanted to find out more about it.  She told me the infection follows something in the body and it isn't the blood stream.  I'll have to ask her about it again, she was very knowledgable on the whole thing....but can you imagine? 

[cremebrulee]

OMG!! cream, my bff just went through this!!! she just had her PIC line removed yesterday!! she was bitten by her neighbors cat and wound up in ICU!!! after 2 days in icu, a week in the hospital, then a pic line for 4 weeks, she is finally recovering!!!
so weird you should mention that now!!  lol............... i so love the coincidences in life!!   

yes, my friend was in for a week....but some are sick for longer periods of time...I have to ask her if it is the same as cat scratch fever, I kind of believe it is not....

But yeah, awful isn't it, when I researched the internet, it said, some people die from it....

and she had to have the wound open and cleaned every few days, I mean, the doctor actually went in there and scraped it out...ouch!!!!

Erma, what is a pic line?

[erma]

hi cream, its actually PICC which means, peripherally inserted central catheter, like an iv but used for prolonged periods of use for things like, antibiotic therapy, chemotherapy,  nutrition, ect...

[pam1]

I have a friend who had that happened to her, along with the picc line, b/c of a dog bite.  The dog didn't have it's shots and stuff and the infection spread from her pinky finger.  Nasty stuff.

And actually, it turned out to be her husbands dog.  Since an ambulance was called at the time of the bite, they had to notify the authorities.  Dog bites are taken seriously around here.  And her husband was charged and had to go to court for failing to get his dog the shots.  And dog was ordered to be put down.  Sad stuff.

[cremebrulee]

hi cream, its actually PICC which means, peripherally inserted central catheter, like an iv but used for prolonged periods of use for things like, antibiotic therapy, chemotherapy,  nutrition, ect...

Ok, understand, thanks erma

[cremebrulee]

I have a friend who had that happened to her, along with the picc line, b/c of a dog bite.  The dog didn't have it's shots and stuff and the infection spread from her pinky finger.  Nasty stuff.

And actually, it turned out to be her husbands dog.  Since an ambulance was called at the time of the bite, they had to notify the authorities.  Dog bites are taken seriously around here.  And her husband was charged and had to go to court for failing to get his dog the shots.  And dog was ordered to be put down.  Sad stuff.

Hi Pam1



My friend told me around here, if you go to a doctor with a dog bite, it is reported immediately....
understandibly so....

Yanno what I was thinking?  Years ago, before technology, I wonder how many people actually died from infections...when now, we feed people antibiotics and usually it works....?  We're rather lucky...yanno? 

[pam1]

I have a friend who had that happened to her, along with the picc line, b/c of a dog bite.  The dog didn't have it's shots and stuff and the infection spread from her pinky finger.  Nasty stuff.

And actually, it turned out to be her husbands dog.  Since an ambulance was called at the time of the bite, they had to notify the authorities.  Dog bites are taken seriously around here.  And her husband was charged and had to go to court for failing to get his dog the shots.  And dog was ordered to be put down.  Sad stuff.

Hi Pam1



My friend told me around here, if you go to a doctor with a dog bite, it is reported immediately....
understandibly so....

Yanno what I was thinking?  Years ago, before technology, I wonder how many people actually died from infections...when now, we feed people antibiotics and usually it works....?  We're rather lucky...yanno?

True, but the studies are coming out now that the more antibiotics you take, the less you are able to fight off minor infections.  And in return, later on in life, the harder it will be to recover from surgery.  So, yeah, kind of double edged.

[cremebrulee]

I have a friend who had that happened to her, along with the picc line, b/c of a dog bite.  The dog didn't have it's shots and stuff and the infection spread from her pinky finger.  Nasty stuff.

And actually, it turned out to be her husbands dog.  Since an ambulance was called at the time of the bite, they had to notify the authorities.  Dog bites are taken seriously around here.  And her husband was charged and had to go to court for failing to get his dog the shots.  And dog was ordered to be put down.  Sad stuff.

Hi Pam1



My friend told me around here, if you go to a doctor with a dog bite, it is reported immediately....
understandably so....

Yanno what I was thinking?  Years ago, before technology, I wonder how many people actually died from infections...when now, we feed people antibiotics and usually it works....?  We're rather lucky...yanno?

True, but the studies are coming out now that the more antibiotics you take, the less you are able to fight off minor infections.  And in return, later on in life, the harder it will be to recover from surgery.  So, yeah, kind of double edged.

yanno what Pam, as we grow older, it is more and more difficult to recover even from a cold...but yes, I've heard that about taking to many antibiotics.

I'm immune deficient due to the MS, but also have two knee replacements, therefore, I'm a little more open to infection....so, it's hard...

when I was a kid, and we were sick, went to the doctors, the big thing then was you got a shot of Penicillin for everything....and I mean everything.....does anyone else remember that? 

[pam1]

I have a friend who had that happened to her, along with the picc line, b/c of a dog bite.  The dog didn't have it's shots and stuff and the infection spread from her pinky finger.  Nasty stuff.

And actually, it turned out to be her husbands dog.  Since an ambulance was called at the time of the bite, they had to notify the authorities.  Dog bites are taken seriously around here.  And her husband was charged and had to go to court for failing to get his dog the shots.  And dog was ordered to be put down.  Sad stuff.

Hi Pam1



My friend told me around here, if you go to a doctor with a dog bite, it is reported immediately....
understandably so....

Yanno what I was thinking?  Years ago, before technology, I wonder how many people actually died from infections...when now, we feed people antibiotics and usually it works....?  We're rather lucky...yanno?

True, but the studies are coming out now that the more antibiotics you take, the less you are able to fight off minor infections.  And in return, later on in life, the harder it will be to recover from surgery.  So, yeah, kind of double edged.

yanno what Pam, as we grow older, it is more and more difficult to recover even from a cold...but yes, I've heard that about taking to many antibiotics.

I'm immune deficient due to the MS, but also have two knee replacements, therefore, I'm a little more open to infection....so, it's hard...

when I was a kid, and we were sick, went to the doctors, the big thing then was you got a shot of Penicillin for everything....and I mean everything.....does anyone else remember that?

I'm really sorry to hear that, (((Creme))) 

[Orly]

"when I was a kid, and we were sick, went to the doctors, the big thing then was you got a shot of Penicillin for everything....and I mean everything.....does anyone else remember that? "

Yes, I remember going for those shots to clear up an infection near my mastoid bone that started as an ear infection.  The water in the Lake of the Ozarks and my ear canal just didn't get along.  Before those if you had a bad infection you dealt with it with sulfa or other alternative treatments.  My mother had a bad kidney infection and it was treated with sulfa drugs and strychnine injections.  I'm glad we are past those methods of curing something with rat poison....of course, from what I've heard about chemo ...maybe we aren't.

[barelythere]

"when I was a kid, and we were sick, went to the doctors, the big thing then was you got a shot of Penicillin for everything....and I mean everything.....does anyone else remember that? "

Yes, I remember going for those shots to clear up an infection near my mastoid bone that started as an ear infection.  The water in the Lake of the Ozarks and my ear canal just didn't get along.  Before those if you had a bad infection you dealt with it with sulfa or other alternative treatments.  My mother had a bad kidney infection and it was treated with sulfa drugs and strychnine injections.  I'm glad we are past those methods of curing something with rat poison....of course, from what I've heard about chemo ...maybe we aren't.

I just don't remember going to the Dr.  However, I do remember the Mother of all Cures!!! CASTER OIL!!!!  I can taste the disgusting stuff to this day!  OH!  People would be put in jail today for giving a child that stuff.  It was horrible! (maybe that's why we didn't go to the Dr.??)  You didn't dare say you felt bad or you'd get a dose of it.  Lord have mercy!

[MLW07]

Cat scratch fever really exists.  I have had it twice; once by being bitten and once by being scratched.

Everyone sing, "Cat scratch fever nu nu nu, cat scratch fever nu nu."  LOL