Sunday, August 23, 2009

Scratched & Bitten

I don't blog as much as I should about him because -- in the end -- I do blog very little about my "children" (and I do see him as my "child" and I'm weird in that I see my plants as my "babies" too :-). Perhaps I shouldn't even call myself a "mommy-blogger." I'm just a mother who happens to blog...

Anyway... longtime readers will know that I, ok, we have a cat and that I'm a big cat lover. I had to take Blues to get shots today (something that was, like, 3-4 years overdue, I'm ashamed to admit & I was breaking the law too, yikes) and something pretty unfortunate happened. I took him to a pet store because the reason why I hadn't gotten him vaccinated before was that we really couldn't/can't afford vet visits (he was a pampered guy in his first 3 years of life, going to the vet regularly and all, but then, again, he was my first "child" and we could afford it back then when we were both graduate student with only a tiny mortgage payment).

So, I went to the pet store and had to wait in line for over an hour. With various dogs and cats, but mainly dogs. Blues has never ever interacted with dogs, my friends, so he was very stressed out in his carrier. He hissed several times and began to get more worked up as we neared the vaccination table. So, no wonder he was absolutely freaked out when we tried to hold him to be vaccinated and then he scratched an bit me. The first time was ok, but the second was pretty serious. The veterinarian had me apply peroxide to the wounds, two of which promptly started to swell (two puncture wounds in my right arm where he bit). I got home and washed it well and applied an antibiotic spray. The problem is that now my arm is hurting quite a bit and it continues swollen. I went to a birthday party after the event and some people suggested that the bite probably hurt the muscle, which is swollen and achy. There 's no sign of infection (redness) and the wounds are fully closed. I'll call the doctor's office/nurse tomorrow just in case...

I don't even know why I'm blogging this... perhaps to commiserate a bit and get some sympathy because it's a normal human reaction to pain. The real problem looming in the background of my life right now is a bit too overwhelming and too hard and complicated to explain. Not fully unbloggable, but... well... almost so (the facts were, indeed, blogged here last week).

Last Friday the boys and I went to orientation at their new cyberschool and we enjoyed it. I'm starting a new blog about this, but I haven't posted much there (see my profile for link). Class starts tomorrow at Kelvin's old school, but cyberschool doesn't start until the 8th. As soon as the books come in we'll begin some work, though. I can't wait!

I guess that in the end I'm writing about this literal scratching and biting because I feel scratched and bitten inside too. And I hope all these wounds heal soon.

Edited to Add: I went to the doctor, got a tetanus shot and will have to take antibiotics for ten days. I'm going to take lots of yogurt and acidophilus supplement alongside that (because antibiotics also kills the good bacteria in the body)!

3 comments:

pithydithy said...

Oh, hon, I'm sorry to hear this! I was bitten on the hand by our neighbor's cat many years ago and those bites were REALLY painful and my hand was really swollen. I guess that cat bites just work that way, what with those deep punctures. I'm happy you saw the doctor, and I hope it's starting to feel better. I hesitate to even ask this, but is there any concern about rabies? I mean, your cat was overdue for the vaccination, right?

Lilian said...

Thanks for your concern, my friend, and for sharing your own negative experience. My arm doesn't hurt as much anymore and I'm sure the swelling will go away after the antibiotic kicks in.

As for rabies, I'm pretty sure he doesn't have rabies. He does go outside once in a while, but comes back soon and was never bitten by any other animal. And at least now that he got the vaccine, that won't be a concern anymore for the next people he scratches or bites. Do you think I should be treated? My doctor didn't really ask about that although I did tell her that he was vaccinated after he bit me. Hmmm... maybe I should be worried. Sigh.

Sarah Sometimes said...

Sounds awful--poor kitty, poor you! Glad you got it treated....