Yeeeowtch
Ow ow dammit ow.
Forty minutes or so ago, Perrine leapt over my legs to join me on the bed but misjudged, catching my foot with one of her hind claws and digging in to compensate for having landed off balance. While I was trying to get by toe out from under her, she was trying to push harder to get the rest of the way onto the bed. So the contact was rather more prolonged than most cat scratches, and there was a lot of force ...
And she got me on my big toe right at the [expletive]ing edge of my [expletive]ing toenail, slicing me from about the middle of the trailing edge to halfway up one side of the nail.
I've gotten tired of holding pressure on it (it's not bleeding quickly, just doesn't want to stop -- because of the geometry of the area, I guess) so let's see how it does with some antibacterial ointment and some first-aid tape wrapped as tightly as I can manage (yes, the pink under the toenail fills right away again if pinch my toe to check the circulation). I hit it with peroxide and alcohol right away, less from fear of infection (though, come to think of it, I wonder how recently that paw was in the litter box) than from a desire to wash away or neutralize allergens as much as possible. 'Cause this is going to be a really [expletive]ing annoying spot to have that allergy-itch going at the same time as the after-the-initial-ouch pain of a cut in an awkward place. (I wasn't sure whether to reach for the cortizone ointment instead of the antibacterial ointment; if it's itching too badly later, I'll wash off the one and replace it with t'other, but so far it's itching less than expected, so I guess the peroxide did some good (alcohol alone isn't usually this effective) -- I didn't know whether to expect it to help or not, so I figured I may as well try it.)
I love my cat, and I like the fact that she likes to be near me, but damn, I wish she hadn't sliced me open right there -- a few millimeters would have made this less than half as annoying (though still a pain). And it's not like I can scold her for it, because I don't think she's even aware what her hind foot was doing to me, what her claw was digging into, and I know she didn't do it on purpose. So, no outlet for my frustration other than swearing ("the last refuge of the inarticulate motherfucker", as a friend at university used to say) and venting here.
So much for being about to fall asleep. And -- ugh -- now I'm getting referred pain to the other side of the toe. :-(
Oh -- and yes, this is the same foot with the sliced up pinkie-toe. Hmph. (And if my doctor tells me I should "always" be wearing shoes or slippers, c'mon, I was in bed, dammit.
And I'd already had a bad day because of not getting enough sleep last night, and having to wear earplugs most of the day because my ears were being way to sensitive to traffic sounds. *grumble*