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My lovely wife went to pet our 'outdoor' cat yesterday afternoon when she returned from work. 16 year old 20 lb black cat decided "DO NOT WANT" and bit the heck out of her right hand, buried his fangs all the way down in the back of her hand and on the web between her forefinger and thumb, and would not let go until she squeezed his jaw joint with her other hand. While, I'm sure, saying rather angry things at the cat in German. (German's an awesome language to curse in.)
I cleaned it off with Betadine, dressed the wound with antibiotic ointment, and off to Urgent care. Antibiotics, dressing change. 24 hours later she's running 3 degrees of fever and the bite area is a spreading patch of angry warm red. We're going to wait overnight and see if the antibiotics kick in. If not, off to the ER for a good shot of heavy duty IV antibiotics.
Stupid cat.
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And people wonder why I don't have a cat. I'm very sorry to hear about your wife's hand, and I understand cat bites can be surprisingly dangerous.
From your description, I wouldn't be waiting until tomorrow to take her back to the ER. Spreading patches of angry red are not considered to be good signs, medically speaking. You should know that, too. Club her unconscious and drag her if you have to.
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(insert lots of words that sound like phanism). Flesh before fur.
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I wouldn't wait to go see a doc. Sounds dangerous!
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Put a sharpie line around the red...
If it moves another 1/2" (semi-arbitrary limit...), go RIGHT THEN.
I love cats. I love my cat.
I have no illusions about the danger of cat bites.
The Urgent care probably should have given her a heavy dose of antibiotics there... I don't like to second guess medical professionals, but cat bites have a habit of causing VERY serious infections VERY quickly...
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I got bit really hard by a cat once about 7-8 years ago. I had to get a tetanus shot and antibiotics. A cat bite is a puncture wound and it leaves nasty stuff buried in the wound.
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I deal with this all the time. I have a bitey cat - he can't help it - it's the way he's wired. Great animal otherwise...
If the wound bled a lot, I would be less concerned - I always encourage as much bleeding as possible for these wounds. Gotta give the meds a bit of time to work. If it's a puncture wound that saw no bleeding, I'd worry a bit.
By morning - that should be 36-40 hours(?) - I would certainly expect some improvement. I would call first and see what they suggest.
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Soak in HOT salt water - water as hot as she can stand it in a small bowl of water with a couple of tablespoons of table salt. Soak several times tonight.
Antibiotics should kick in by morning.
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After soaking the cat in hot water, tend to your wife afterwards.
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:driving:
This is meant to indicate a trip should be planned IMMEDIATELY! . . . Go . . . NOW! Do NOT wait.
Have you gone, yet???
Why not????
LEAVE!!!!
