I Was Bitten By A Stray Kitten...

[Lauren M]

Hey everyone,

I know this is totally off topic, but I was hoping that with all the knowledgeable people here, maybe someone would have experience or advice to share.

Last night I was working (I work at an Outback). I was getting ready to leave, when I saw couple of customers trying to catch a stray kitten in the parking lot. I joined in to help, as I am an animal lover too. Long story short, we eventually caught the kitten, but I got bitten badly in my thumb.

My boss told me to go to the doctor that night (it was bleeding a lot - I think it looked bad to him). I decided to wait until today. It doesn't hurt that badly today, and I cleaned it up immediately after I was bitten. The problem is that it was a deep bite. I will continue to clean it so it doesn't get infected (hopefully) but I'm wondering if I need rabies shots... The kitten looked healthy!

Any advice?

- Lauren

[spunky]

Well, if I was up on my tetanus shot, and the kitten APPEARED healthy...and someone caught the kitten...I would just want to know the whereabouts of the kitten. Ask whoever has it to keep you informed for the next two weeks, and if the kitten shows no signs of rabies, very rare, especially in a small animal such as a kitten, who would've had to have been bitten by something rabid to get infected, and would probably have been harmed by the bite. Still, it's best to keep an eye on the kitten for a couple of weeks if at all possible. If this isn't possible, you might want to contact your local health department and see what they recommend.

I knew a person in our area who was bitten while feeding homeless cats, and the health department didn't recommend rabies vaccination because at the time in our area rabies was at such an all time low among wildlife, etc. But it's best to be certain!

[eKatherine]

At least around here, the animal would be placed in quarantine for a period of time. If there is any reason to suspect rabies, the only way to be sure is to destroy the animal to do a test on its brain. If the animal was unavailable, it would be necessary for you to have the rabies shots, since there is no way to prove it was healthy.

Years back, there was a case where a child in a schoolyard found a sick bat and was playing with it. Someone said "rabies", and a teacher, doing a favor for the bat, put it in her handbag and later released it. Since the bat was unavailable for testing, and bats often carry rabies, everybody that touched the bat had to have rabies shots, and it ended up costing $300K.

[Lauren M]

Thanks for the replies. The problem is that these random people took the kitten, and I have no way of getting in contact with them. Had I been really thinking proactively at the time, I would have asked them to contact me, but I was just happy that someone was taking the kitten home, and I had to rush off to clean up the bite. I guess that makes this a little more complicated...

Keep the advice coming please, thanks!!!

- Lauren

[jerseyangel]

Hi Lauren,

I can tell by your posting that you're pretty nervous about this. My only advice, because I have no experience with this, would be to call your doctor this morning and tell them what happened.

That's what I would do, anyway. Please, let us know what you decide to do--chances are that everything will be fine, but just to be safe, I'd call.

I just had a thought--if it happened in the parking lot at the restaurant, could you put up a little sign in the entryway to ask if anyone knows anything about the people who took the kitten? Maybe someone who was there will come back next weekend to eat.

[psawyer]

As previously mentioned, rabies is likely a low risk in these circumstances. Infection, however, is a major risk. The mouth of a cat is loaded with all kinds of nasty bacteria which don't harm the cat but can be very dangerous to humans. I would recommend that a doctor be consulted in any case of a cat bite which draws blood.

[2kids4me]

hI, I am an Animal Health Technologist. Good advice by all so far.

Any animal bite near a joint (like anywhere on the hand) should be examined - at the very least, as others have said...contact your doctor.

Rabies would be low on my list because cats bite when frightened - esp kittens trying to caught. BUT any advice re: rabies should come form local health dept or doctor.

The concern with cat bites is that they have teeth that are sharp and create deep puncture wounds. The common bacteria in their mouths are streptococcus (strep) and one called Pasteurella.

I have had a few cat bites over the years and ones on the hand - near a joint like a finger/thumb are usually treated with antibiotics.

Chances are - it will heal just fine - but better to be safe than sorry.

I am in a high risk profession for bites and scratches and with appropriate early care - cleaning and antibiotics if needed .......... they heal without a problem

[Lauren M]

Thank you SO much to you all - I knew I could turn to you for advice!

I called my doctor's office, and they want me to come in so the doctor can take a look at it. I'm headed in now. Thanks again for the advice - I'll keep it in mind when I talk to my doctor and hopefully won't have to go through any painful shots! (though they mentioned tetanus) Oh well - I'm a Celiac, I'm tough

- Lauren

[Judyin Philly]

GOOD LUCK

WILL WATCH TO SEE HOW YOUR APT WENT.

JUDY

[Lauren M]

Thanks again, everyone. I got a tetanus shot and a prescription for antibiotics. The doctor wanted to give me the rabies series of shots , but luckily consulted another doctor who said to just watch and wait, that I would most likely be fine.

Thanks for all the advice, I'm glad I went to the doctor - if you all hadn't encouraged me to I probably wouldn't have!

- Lauren

[jerseyangel]

Lauren,

Good--I'm glad you went and got the appropriate treatment. This was nothing to fool around with. Hope it heals quickly

[Judyin Philly]

GREAT NEWS

KEEP AN EYE ON IT OF COURSE

AT LEAST YOU WENT TO THE DR AND HE SAW IT.

THANKS FOR LETING US KNOW.

JUDY

[mommida]

What exactly are you watching and waiting for before getting the rabies vaccination series? Do you have someone to stay close to you who knows what to look for too?

My hair client/friend had the unfortunate experience of being bitten by an infected kitten. Take any reasonable option to locate the kitten for the observation period. There is more concern for the rare chance that this kitten does have rabies, because kittens are born in litters.

My friend wishes her 15 minutes of fame (she was in major media coverage trying to locate any other infected kittens) could have been a nicer experience.

L.

[2kids4me]

umm, hmm I am confused too -watch and wait for what? If rabies is endemic in the area and local health dept has concerns - go with their advice.

If symptoms of rabies develop - umm, too late.

Chances are very low that a stray kitten has rabies - it depends on # cases seen annually. If animals have the "vicious" form and are biting - they are also acting strange, salivating (foaming) (cant swallow) and die soon after.

It is normal behavior for a stray kitten to try and bite people who want to pick it up - I have great respect for 8 week old barn kittens who have never been held before - all claws and teeth

I hope it heals well and doesnt swell too much

[Generic]

Not to mention you can get cat scratch fever (the antibiotics will take care of it).

My dad got bit by our family cat once, and got cat scratch fever. He went to the Dr. after his arm swelled up clear up to his elbow. (he was bit on his finger). The Dr. said cat scratch fever is related to the bubonic plague. YIKES!

[Lauren M]

So... are you folks saying you would have done the rabies series? My doctor said that he had to contact the Center for Disease Control, which of course said locate the kitten. Well, I have no idea who the people were who took it. The doctor asked could I locate them- they were patrons of the restaurant - could I locate them through receipts. I said that it was doubtful. The CDC recommended that I locate the kitten to observe it for 5 days.

Since I said it wouldn't be possible to locate the kitten, Dr. said that by law, he had to recommend the rabies vaccines. They didn't have any in the office, so he called another doctor, explained the situation, and they said that it wouldn't be necessary. I tend to agree - I didn't think rabies was much of a concern as the kitten looked healthy and I know he was just scared from being caught - he also peed all over.

The rabies shots are a looong series, and although I would definitely do it if I thought necessary, I didn't really think they were.... hmm

- Lauren

[chicagojen]

I just went through rabies shots last month, and while the series takes a while, it is really not that bad. I was bit by a dog (in the leg) and had to receive 3 big ones in my, uh, bottom on the first day, then 5 in my arms over the next 28 (on days 1, 3, 7, 14, 28). The horrible set of shots in the stomach is no longer given. Yea!

For me, the choice was clear -- I was bit by a wild dog in brazil, where rabies is endemic. Going through the Brazillian socialized medical system... well that's another story! But please understand that there is no "wait and see." As someone else mentioned, once you show any symptoms, it's too late.

I'm definitely not sharing this to scare you, your situation is ENTIRELY different, and given the same set of circumstances, I probably would have made the same decision that you did. But just wanted to reassure you that if you do end up having to/deciding to go through with them, it's definitely something you can handle. And hey, after all of the vaccinations we had to get before our trip to SA, and now the rabies shots, I'm feeling pretty invincible! Bring on the bats, rats and cats!

[spunky]

any chance you could contact local news stations and get them to ask whomever got the kitten to contact you?

[kevsmom]

I work for a local County Health Department, and I would tell you YES - YOU SHOULD SEE A DOCTOR, AS WELL AS REPORT THE BITE TO YOUR LOCAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT.

Not to scare you (too much ) This is not something to fool around with. The Health Department will probably recommend that the kitten be quarantined or that you receive post exposure Rabies vaccine. This would need to be done as soon as possible. It can not wait.

I don't mean to sound like I know it all or that I'm trying to be bossy or scare you, I'm just trying to give you the same advice that I have heard at work for the last 21 years.

I work for a local County Health Department, and I would tell you YES - YOU SHOULD SEE A DOCTOR, AS WELL AS REPORT THE BITE TO YOUR LOCAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT.

Not to scare you (too much ) This is not something to fool around with. The Health Department will probably recommend that the kitten be quarantined or that you receive post exposure Rabies vaccine. This would need to be done as soon as possible. It can not wait.

I don't mean to sound like I know it all or that I'm trying to be bossy or scare you, I'm just trying to give you the same advice that I have heard at work for the last 21 years.

Cindy

[TinkerbellSwt]

Just as an FYI, my cat died of rabies. She had no visible signs of being bitten ever by any other animal. She had the docile form of the disease, so she had no foaming at the mouth or anything like that.. the only reason we knew something was wrong is when she tried to jump off a chair and her back legs fell to the ground with a thud. She was paralyzed from the waist down. After that she went down hill quickly.. we brought her to the vet and she was quaranteened (sp?) there.. they were feeding her baby food from a tongue depresser. As was mentioned earlier.. only a brain sample can tell for sure.

When the test results came back positive..they had to put her to sleep.. the health dept contacted us immediately and directed us to the nearest ER for rabies shots. I spent my 21st birthday in the hospital getting my first of a series of rabies shots. We then had to quarantine our other cats for 6months. No human or animal contact at all. We had to build two huge wooden cages with a chicken wire sort of sides... we had two cats.. with a place in the middle to put another piece of wood so we could clean the cage and feed and water them without any contact to them.

I am happy to say neither cat had rabies, they both did well.. one did die of cancer a few years later and the other died at a ripe old age of 17.

I would get to the doc and let them determine if anything else needs to be done. I am also an animal lover and would have done the same thing.