October Spook!

(Yes, I realize it is actually November now...I'm a little behind!)

Two or three weekends before Halloween...I got bit by a cat...a black cat, nonetheless.

It was one of our several "barn" cats and I'm sure it was hungry (probably thought my foot was a chicken leg or something), and as I stepped out onto the porch barefoot to feed them, it bit me.  I screamed...the cat unhooked and looked at me in shock...the children behind me started screaming...and I just kept thinking-did that cat actually just do that!  It had.

Did you know that a cat bite bleeds?  And it doesn't like to stop...
As I'm trying to fix up my foot, I hear choruses of "Mom, why did the cat bite you? Does it hurt?" from one child and "Oh no...katty kat...bite mama...ouch...boo boo (whimpering voice)" from another child...repeat all of these 20,000 more times for the actual experience!

Well, I got it cleaned up and briefly wondered if one should visit an E.R. (since it was the weekend, of course), but thought "Nah, it's just a cat!"

Scott had been away visiting his brother on this particular weekend and got home about an hour after all of this had occurred and as soon as he walked in the door, the children replayed the events described above for him.  And the bite still hurt.

After all of the children were in bed and with my foot still hurting (pretty bad for being several hours later), I was still wondering whether I should have gone to the E.R. or not...if it had been a dog, I rationalized, I wouldn't have hesitated...so I googled "cat bite treatment".

Did you know that 80% of cat bites become infected with various strains of bacteria and can be considered worse than dog bites due to their "needle-like" teeth that can inject bacteria deep into the tissue?

I didn't either...and even after reading several horror stories, I still decided to see if it would be "better in the morning".

It wasn't.  It wasn't way worse, but it definitely was not better.

I limped my way through Mass and around the in-law's after church.  When we got home, I told Scott that I was going to the E.R. (even though I'm sure he thought I was being overly dramatic).  The doctor scolded me for waiting so long and asked if I knew what the worst thing is that could happen from a cat bite.  I jokingly asked if she was going to have to amputate my foot.

She did not think that was funny...

My infection was not the worst case scenario, but it was slowly spreading from my big toe area up the to the top of my arch so she gave me antibiotics and told me to see someone else within 24 hours.

So on Monday after school, I hauled myself in for another appointment after watching the top of my foot get just a little bit redder throughout the day.  I learned that what I was taking was not even strong enough to kill "cat bite bacteria" so I got a brand new prescription and after much elevation, H20, and plenty of big white pills, I can now say that I am fully healed!

Moral of the story:  A cat is not "just a cat" when it comes to bites...seek medical attention! :)