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Shannon · 04-12-2004, 04:09 PM

Leave it to me to get bitten by the stray cat that prowls our backyard maybe once a week or so. It's a male and had become friendly ever since my (pathetic) soft streak for animals in trouble led me to feed it some stale cat food during San Antonio's snow "storm" in February.

So, imagine my surprise when as I'm petting it, it rears around and BITES ME square on the arm -- I heard a "pop" as he bit, similar to the sound of an apple being bitten into, and sure enough seconds later a couple fat cells sealed the wound. So, I got a full force, full depth bite with its jaws and in addition to the PAIN (I've only been truly bitten, as in drawing blood, by hamsters I had as a child, I'm now worried about what to do as far as rabies or anything else that I should be concerned with. The cat appears in good health and (in the St. Procrastinators Decision #1852) I keep meaning to capture him and take him in a pet carrier to one of the local no-kill shelters (Animal Defense League).

Anyway, so I'm bitten. What next? Is rabies really that prevalent or would getting testing be overly cautious? That, and would it be detectable immediately after the bite or after some sort of incubation period? If the critter is behaving normally and is of normal weight for its species, is that a sign it's rabies free? What other sorts of things might I need to pay attention for? <sigh> Figures... first half day home from vacation and I get bitten by a darn stray cat, one that "knows" me, on top of it all. (I've been petting my cats a lot, and maybe it smelled them on me and reacted in full offensive mode).

I had no idea true cat bites could be so painful. I am lucky he bit where he did (inner forearm of right arm, but missing the blood vessels and ligaments, as near as I can tell.) I have ice on the wound right now after having doused it with running water for 5 minutes or so. OW.

Mostly, though, I'm interested in anything folks know about rabies. I'm already doing a Google search for info.

04-12-2004, 04:09 PM	#1
Shannon Founder, WildTexas.com Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 1,420	Stray Cat Bite Concerns Leave it to me to get bitten by the stray cat that prowls our backyard maybe once a week or so. It's a male and had become friendly ever since my (pathetic) soft streak for animals in trouble led me to feed it some stale cat food during San Antonio's snow "storm" in February. So, imagine my surprise when as I'm petting it, it rears around and BITES ME square on the arm -- I heard a "pop" as he bit, similar to the sound of an apple being bitten into, and sure enough seconds later a couple fat cells sealed the wound. So, I got a full force, full depth bite with its jaws and in addition to the PAIN (I've only been truly bitten, as in drawing blood, by hamsters I had as a child, I'm now worried about what to do as far as rabies or anything else that I should be concerned with. The cat appears in good health and (in the St. Procrastinators Decision #1852) I keep meaning to capture him and take him in a pet carrier to one of the local no-kill shelters (Animal Defense League). Anyway, so I'm bitten. What next? Is rabies really that prevalent or would getting testing be overly cautious? That, and would it be detectable immediately after the bite or after some sort of incubation period? If the critter is behaving normally and is of normal weight for its species, is that a sign it's rabies free? What other sorts of things might I need to pay attention for? <sigh> Figures... first half day home from vacation and I get bitten by a darn stray cat, one that "knows" me, on top of it all. (I've been petting my cats a lot, and maybe it smelled them on me and reacted in full offensive mode). I had no idea true cat bites could be so painful. I am lucky he bit where he did (inner forearm of right arm, but missing the blood vessels and ligaments, as near as I can tell.) I have ice on the wound right now after having doused it with running water for 5 minutes or so. OW. Mostly, though, I'm interested in anything folks know about rabies. I'm already doing a Google search for info. __________________ - Shannon Moore Your Host @ WildTexas.com Last edited by Shannon : 04-12-2004 at 04:17 PM.