Yesterday (Friday) morning, I was rudely awakened by my cat either biting or scratching my toes. On my left foot, I have a scratch at the base of my middle toe. On the right, my pinkie toe has either a puncture or VERY small scratch. I got up, washed and disinfected it, then forgot about it except that it would sting a bit as these things will.
Earlier this evening, I noticed that on my pinkie toe, my toe is slightly swollen and very red. The scratch on my other toe seems fine, just a scratch already pretty much healed. Is it too soon for me to be worrying about it? It doesn’t hurt when I touch it or anything, but it is quite red…:shrug:
Yeah it does sound like an early stage infection. Cat scratches are notorious for such infections and the sooner it’s treated the more quickly it will go away.
I’m a wait and see gal myself. I used to work for a small animal vet and have had cat bites and scratches on my hands. My hands would swell up and be unusable for a few days but would eventually heal, thank goodness, as I didn’t have health insurance then. If it gets painful and doesn’t clear up in a couple of days then I would definitely seek treatment.
I get scratched all the time as i have 15 cats, mainly kittens that like to play rough.
personally i dont get any kind of treatment for them, i usually just leave them alone and they sort out. but as your sounds worse than the once i get i would antiseptic it and wait a couple of days, if it looks better then great, if not go and see someone.
Its as long as you know there is nothing wrong with your cat. i know mine are fine as i get them vet checked often and they are all indoor cats so less likley to pick up nasties.
they fliiping hurt though, and take far far longer than the average like for like dog bite i think to heal
I got a blister on my foot that tore and got infected. That whole side of my foot got swollen and was in pain. I took some Tylenol and soaked it for sveral hours in hot water with Epsom salts. I did this a few times until it completely went away several hours later and then just wore flip-flops for the next week.
I have a habit of self-treating though and not going to the doctor unless I absolutely have to.
I’ve always pretty much ignored cat scratches and bites, after cleaning them. Unless they’re really deep scratches, a wash with soap and water is all I do. This kinda struck me. It seemed to go away, now it looks like it’s back. I’ll wait until tomorrow after following the suggestions I’ve received. My aunt said I’d probably have to have a tetanus shot if I do go in. Ugh, not my cup of tea right there.
I go to the doctor when I’m sure I’m dying (generally a fever that just won’t go down) so I agree with the treat-it-myself-and -see-how-it-goes folks here.
I’d keep a close eye on it, particularly if you think it could have been a bite.
Cat bite are far worse than scratches, or dog bites, from a bacteria point of view. Also, their teeth are so thin and pointy that they get much deeper than we realize.
Strictly speaking, any cat bite that breaks the skin should be treated with an oral antibiotic.
The epsom salts and topical neosporin are good ideas, but if it shows any signs other than clearly getting better, you should get an antibiotic.
I have had many scratches (and so have my kids) that get red and puffy, but, I also wait it out. I clean the area thoroughly with soap and warm water, apply peroxide and let that bubble up, dry it off, apply Bactine, wait for that to dry, then use a Q-Tip to apply an antibiotic cream then cover it with a band-aid. I usually take the band-aid off at night to let the wound “breathe” and repeat the above steps the next day. Usually, by morning, the redness and puffiness is gone. Once it starts to look like it’s healing, I just use the Bactine and antibiotic cream and it’s all better in a few days. Hope ya get better soon, cat scratches suck!