Weddingbee boards

So I read an ad on craigslist about stray cats that the neighbors were poisoning, so a friend & I went to capture some of the stray cats so we could rehome them. We set up a trap involving a cat carrier & tuna & we caught 2 of them. Well, one of them bit me pretty bad on my thumb :(. Within 5 minutes I had washed it with Dawn dish soap & used hydrogen peroxide, then put antibiotic ointment. I'm keeping my hand elevated too. What else can I do to help it not get infected?

Well we have the cat that bit me & I think I need to watch him/her for about 2 weeks to make sure they don't have rabies. I did a report on rabies when I was in high school & the only way to test for it then was to kill the animal, so hopefully there's new testing now.

We don't have health insurance :(. If it gets bad, I'll go... but for now I'm gonna try to avoid the doctor.

If you can find a free clinic go to that but you probably should get a rabies shot and antibiotics.  There's no treatment for rabies and it's basically 100% fatal (or 99%), which is why people get a shot when they get bit by an unknown animal and there have been several animal cases of rabies in Oregon this year so my guess is that they'll give shots.  

Yes, as @PitBulLover: said, go to urgent care.

My dog bit me last year and broke the skin so deep I thought I needed stiches. I went to the ER, but urgent care could do the same. Due to the bacteria on animals' teeth, you can get very, very sick. I was immediately given a tetanus shot and antibiotics, along with having the bite site cleaned and bandaged. You probably will have to fill out paperwork about the bite, too, to be submitted to your county's Health Deapartment. (I had to fill them out about my own dog...there was a section there about bites from strays). If the animal was not showing any signs of rabies or acting out of the ordinary, they will most likely not give you a rabies shot. However, you could be at risk since it was a stray.

DONT WAIT. GO NOW.

So I left a message with animal control just now, so we'll see what they say. I don't want the cat to be put down because of my stupidity. We trapped the cat, it was letting me pet him & wasn't growling or anything. I started to grab him by the scruff of his neck to put in the cat carrier, but then it got scared & somehow flipped over & bit me. It didn't just attack me, I did something to upset him.

I got my last tetnus in early 2004, so it should still be good (I think they last for 10 years). But we'll see what animal control says.

You've all made it very clear that infection is a strong posibbility :(. I'm checking my thumb every 30 mins. If it shows any signs of any infection, I WILL go to the doctor! Its very slightly swollen & it doesn't really hurt either. For now I'm just washing it out really well & very often, keeping it elevated as much as possible, using anti-biotic cream (neosporin), & epson salts & will start on natural anti-biotics like grapefruit seed extract & also tea tree oil. I soaked it in bleach water like @CindyRelly suggested.

@julies1949: I'm not only taking advice from here, I researched MANY places online as well. It was late & everything was closed when it happened & no way can we afford the ER & it wasn't THAT bad of a bite. And I will talk to the animal control people & see what they suggest. But thank you for your concern :).

I'm kinda nervous... animal control said there's been rabies around this area, but they didn't say in cats or how severe.

I'm so sorry I called animal control. The person I spoke to said I wouldn't be charged anything & that I could get the cat back after quarantine. Today they said if I wanted it back, I'd have to pay for it & also that if its not friendly enough, it'll be put down after the 10 days :(. I'm so sad... I feel like I made everything worse by trying to help & that my dumb actions killed a cat :(. I didn't think it'd bite me, most animals are calmer around me. But from now on, I'm wearing gloves when catching stray cats!

I'm taking a natural antibiotic "olive leaf" as well as echinacea & golden seal & using tea tree oil & neosporin & I'm keeping it elevated. My thumb kinda hurts but not too bad & is slightly swollen still, but its not getting worse.

@serabell: I'd still go to a doctor and get it looked at. Better safe than sorry. Any swelling is a sign that it could be infected, even if it doesn't hurt.

Sorry for the multiple posts... but now I'm really nervous!! Feral cats in my county have had rabies :(. Uggg.... most likely the one I got bit by doesn't have it but still, I'm nervous!!

So animal control called me yesterday & told me I have no chance of rabies :). Also, it didn't get infected! One of the punctures just healed over today & it hurts if I touch it, but otherwise its good & the 2nd puncture looks fine, but hurts if I put pressure on it & the others are completely fine. All I did was take Olive Leaf extract (natural antibiotic) & used tea tree oil. & I took a few doses of colodial silver. I'm still going to take these things for about a week longer, just because its not fully healed, but if it were to get infected, it likely would have happened by now.

Very sadly, the cat will likely be put down. He is probably around 6-7 months old & completely wild... little hope of him becoming people friendly. So sad :(. I feel horrible, but GOOD news is that I teamed up with others interested in helping the cats being poisoned & between all of us, we got 9 of them & all are now spayed/neutered & being re-homed, except 1 had to be let go back to where we got them, but he's fixed... he was too terrified & wild for anyone to foster. I think 3 of them have found homes so far :). & I'm fostering one.

@AnneTossy Thanks for checking up :)