Caturday: My Cat Bit Me! How Serious Is It?
This was a question I had not thought about much, if at all, through decades of rescuing cats. I would get scratches, sure. And occasionally a light leave-me -alone bite, but never a deep, frightened one, like the one I got this week from Tissou, a rescued cat with a spina deformity that must have been the source of some sharp pain when I picked her up (though she likes to cuddle, her limping indicates that she probably does have pain from movement). It was an instinctive reaction on her part, and her sharp teeth hit near a nerve, sending an electric shock through my body, casing me to instantly drop her. Realizing what had happened, I held up by hand. There were four distinct puncture wounds and a longer wound, like a gash, perhaps a couple of teeth together...just a guess.
It did not bleed much. Good, I thought
It is just a cat bite. Good, I thought. Those happen all the time You never hear a lot on the news about them. So, yeah, good.
But it hurt. Normal, I tbought.
The hand swelled up and was hard to use. Normal, too, I thought. After all, it had received a trauma.
As a couple of hours passed, the pain did not, the selling did not, and redness joined the other symptoms. Probably normal, I thought, but a question began to form: how serious is it? How serious could it be?
So, I turned to my AI companion for some initial data-base searching (which I prefer these days to googling) for an initial response to that question and got the following unquieting response'
The 3 Levels of Cat Bites
1. Surface-Level Scrapes or Shallow Bites
These barely break the skin or leave only a tiny dot or scratch.
What to do:
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Wash immediately with warm water and antibacterial soap.
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Apply antibiotic ointment and a clean bandage.
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Monitor for signs of redness or swelling.
Usually safe to manage at home if you're healthy and the wound doesn't worsen within 24–48 hours.
2. Puncture Wounds
These are the most common cat bite injuries. A cat’s teeth are like hypodermic needles: they can inject bacteria deep under the skin even if the wound looks minor on the surface.
Red flags:
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The area swells quickly or becomes red, warm, or painful.
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You notice pus, streaking redness, or difficulty moving the area.
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Fever or chills set in within a day or two.
What to do:
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Wash thoroughly, but don’t try to squeeze the wound.
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Cover with a sterile bandage.
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Call your doctor promptly. You may need antibiotics to prevent or treat infection.
3. Deep Bites or High-Risk Locations
These include:
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Bites to the hand, face, joints, or near tendons.
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Deep punctures that bleed excessively.
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Bites on immunocompromised individuals (people with diabetes, cancer, HIV, or taking immune-suppressing medications).
What to do:
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Clean the wound, but don’t delay care.
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Go to urgent care or the ER, especially for hand bites—these can lead to serious infections like cellulitis or tendon sheath infections.
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Bring your tetanus shot history if it’s been more than 5 years since your last one.
When to See a Doctor or Go to the ER
You should seek immediate medical attention if:
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The bite is on your hand, face, or over a joint.
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There’s rapid swelling, spreading redness, or pus.
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You develop a fever, chills, or flu-like symptoms.
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You haven’t had a tetanus shot in the last 5 years.
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You have a medical condition that affects your immune system.
Even if the bite looks "small," cat bites become infected in up to 50% of cases. Better safe than sorry.
A Quick Note on Rabies
If the cat who bit you is a stray or not up to date on rabies vaccination, contact your doctor or local health department immediately. Rabies is rare but fatal.
Preventing Future Bites
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Don’t try to pet or comfort a cat in the middle of a fight or panic.
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Learn to recognize signs of overstimulation or stress.
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Never punish a bite—redirect the behavior with play, training, or by giving your cat space.
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If bites are frequent, consult a vet or behaviorist to identify causes and prevent escalation.
Final Thoughts
Cat bites may be small, but the consequences can be big if ignored. Clean the wound thoroughly, watch for signs of infection, and don’t hesitate to seek medical help—especially for puncture wounds or hand bites.
Your cat might not have meant harm, but your immune system doesn’t care about intent. Stay safe, treat promptly, and—when it’s all over—give your whiskered culprit a second chance (after your hand heals!).
I can barely move my hand as I post this. Our little, gentle, sweet Tissou took one big bite out of my hand that sent what seemed like an electric shock shooting up my arm and numbed it instantly
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Well, goodness, I thought. Maybe not so good. I called the nurse helpline and got the "you really need to go to the ER" advice I had not hoped for from her. Fortunately, since driving with a useless primary hand (my right hand) was not a good option, my neighbor was home, and off we went. It was a little more complicated than that, but off we did go.
Yep, serious, said the doc. Tetanus shot. Antiobiotic pill on the spot (amoxicillin with clavulanate, a prescription for the same, and written instructions that, it turned out, I would need.
Over the next day, some pus started to appear. When I used the Mexican home remedy of a warm compress, more appeared. I called the ER, per their written instructions, and was told to come back in right away.
No abscess, said the doctor, but pus is not good, and MRSA needs to be guarded against. Another antibiotic pill, doxycycline, and a prescription for more, plus some mupirocin cream. More written instructions, too.
Here is the information on these medications from my AI partner:
Amoxicillin/clavulanate: Broad-spectrum antibiotic, but MRSA is often resistant to it.
Doxycycline: Can be effective against MRSA, especially for skin and soft tissue infections.
Mupirocin ointment: Used topically to treat skin infections and MRSA colonization.
Now, MRSA is a more resistant infection. For lack of space today, if it intrigues you, I will let you consult your own AI companion or, as they say, just google it. For now, I need to rest my fingers and let all the medication take effect.
Learn more about cats. See our many Caturday posts.
Be entertained. See all our posts about cats.
Be inspired. See posts by and about Sula, parish cat, and her books.
Have a chuckle. Read posts by and about Jeremy Feig's award-winning book (book of the year finalist, Kops-Fetherling Lagacy Award for Humor), How My Cat Made Me a Better Man.
Watch for Luna Norwood's forthcoming book, Raising Happy Cat Families.
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