Cat scratch fever
Yesterday I took my cat to the vet for his annual round of shots -- rabies and panleukemia, among others. When we got there, for reasons that I'm not sure of but probably involve a good deal of arrogance on my part, I volunteered to take him out of his carrier -- he was already growling and making it clear he did not want to be there, and I thought I'd be able to handle him safely, and would be able to keep him from clawing or biting the vet.
I got badly clawed and bitten, instead. The two veterinarians, both very kind ladies, helped me wash off my bloody hand and bandage it, then donned thick, elbow-length leather gloves, carefully took off the top of the carrier, and lifted PuggsleyOne out of it. While one held him, the other gave him his shots. They couldn't really do much more than that, angry and frightened as he was, so they put him back in his carrier, made sure that the bandages on my hand were secure, and helped carry him back into the outer office, where I paid the bill. They made me promise to see the doctor as soon as possible about the bites and scratches on my hand -- it would have been my right hand, too, making it damned awkward to get anything done -- because cat bites can be very septic, and cat scratches can be, too.
I took PuggsleyOne home, made dinner, messed around on the Internet, and went to bed. Today, after going to the bank to deposit a check, I went to Northwest Hospital's ER and had them look at the gouges on my right hand, which by then were showing signs of serious infection. There was a deep, sickening ache in the tissues directly under the wounds, as well. Not good. At the ER, they checked my hand, cleaned it up some, and gave me a prescription for Percocet and an antibiotic named Augmentin. I got the prescriptions filled at the pharmacy in the MacMillan Building on the Northwest Hospital campus, then caught the bus home at the bus stop in front of the ER.
At home I took the first dose of Augmentin and two Percocet and crashed out for a while. Then, waking up, I got up, fired up the computer, and got online, where I've been ever since. I think I'm feeling better, but like they said, if I experience a lot of swelling, fever, or pain from the wounds in the next couple of days, back to the ER I'll go to get a new assessment and whatever treatment they recommend. Now, why the hell did I have to volunteer to take the cat out of the carrier?
I got badly clawed and bitten, instead. The two veterinarians, both very kind ladies, helped me wash off my bloody hand and bandage it, then donned thick, elbow-length leather gloves, carefully took off the top of the carrier, and lifted PuggsleyOne out of it. While one held him, the other gave him his shots. They couldn't really do much more than that, angry and frightened as he was, so they put him back in his carrier, made sure that the bandages on my hand were secure, and helped carry him back into the outer office, where I paid the bill. They made me promise to see the doctor as soon as possible about the bites and scratches on my hand -- it would have been my right hand, too, making it damned awkward to get anything done -- because cat bites can be very septic, and cat scratches can be, too.
I took PuggsleyOne home, made dinner, messed around on the Internet, and went to bed. Today, after going to the bank to deposit a check, I went to Northwest Hospital's ER and had them look at the gouges on my right hand, which by then were showing signs of serious infection. There was a deep, sickening ache in the tissues directly under the wounds, as well. Not good. At the ER, they checked my hand, cleaned it up some, and gave me a prescription for Percocet and an antibiotic named Augmentin. I got the prescriptions filled at the pharmacy in the MacMillan Building on the Northwest Hospital campus, then caught the bus home at the bus stop in front of the ER.
At home I took the first dose of Augmentin and two Percocet and crashed out for a while. Then, waking up, I got up, fired up the computer, and got online, where I've been ever since. I think I'm feeling better, but like they said, if I experience a lot of swelling, fever, or pain from the wounds in the next couple of days, back to the ER I'll go to get a new assessment and whatever treatment they recommend. Now, why the hell did I have to volunteer to take the cat out of the carrier?