Cat scratch fever

[polaris93]

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

Comments

[mosinging1986]

Ouch! Take care.

I'm a cat lover, but they sure can be difficult! (And not very lovable at times.)

[polaris93]

Well, there wasn't any malice on his part -- he was just frightened and unhappy. As for his being difficult and not very lovable at times, well, that's true of every human being that ever lived. I love him, though sometimes it's in spite of him. I'll never give him up -- for one thing, I'm willing to put up with his nasty side, and very few others would. For another, when he's not nasty, he is a funny, very loving creature whose company is well worth it. :-)

Because you're his human...

[spookshow1313]

And I make the same mistakes with Rufus and Lilith, thinking that I can calm them down rather than a stranger who has routine experience dealing with such fear. Nick is the only one who doesn't spaz about going to the vet (or anywhere, really - I think he got used to cages while he was at the shelter for so long, then again during his emergency four-day vet stay in 2008) and Ash is fine so long as she's NOT in a carrier. She'll curl up on the front passenger or back seat of the car, or the rear floorboard, and let me pick her up and carry her fat butt anywhere once we arrive at our destination without trying to escape, but she will howl until she pukes, doggedly scratch to get out and hyperventilate if she's put into a carrier, except for the soft sided-one which is hit or miss

Re: Because you're his human...

[polaris93]

It's easy to forget that they're feline, not human, during their sweet-and-cuddly moments. But man, oh, man, can they ever remind you that they're cats at other times! My fault, though, not his -- I should have known better. In fact, I did know better, and chose to disregard what I knew, so I deserved what I got. -- The antibiotic seems to be working now, so it should be all right. I should go in to the clinic next week and have them check it, though, just to be on the safe side. I should also pick up some neosporin, too -- there's a Walgreen's up the street, maybe I can go there tomorrow.

[docstrange]

Augmentin is THE antibiotic for cat bites. It's given in large doses for it, because the problem bacterium - Pasteurella multocida - is very aggressive in closed-area infections. This is the kind of bacterium that crawls back your lymph system, giving you those characteristic red stripes leading ultimately towards your heart.

That is, take the antibiotics. Take them as directed. Finish them all even if you think you're all better. All.

[docstrange]

(which is to say... hope you feel better!)

[polaris93]

Thanks. :-)

[polaris93]

That is, take the antibiotics. Take them as directed. Finish them all even if you think you're all better.

Oh, yes. I always do -- I know what not finishing a full course of antibiotics can do, which is establish a much tougher, more antibiotic-resistant population of the original pathogens in one's body, one that definitely has a chance to kill one very dead in just the way you described, even in the face of intravenously-given secondary antibiotics (that is, a different course of antibiotics given in the hospital over a period of several days in an attempt to do what the first course of antibiotics wasn't givena chance to do). Population Biology 101. :-) I've seen it happen to other people, and I've been aware of what bacteria can do when badly stressed but not completely killed off since I was a college student (bacteria are an ideal type of organism for study of population biology, because they breed fast and can be carried around in a petri dish, which you can't do with, say, mice ;-)).