Infection from Cat Bites

Among two million animal bites, 19% are inflicted by cats. Cat bites can lead to serious infectious diseases; the most common one being bacterial infections. The bacteria comes into the body of an individual through cat's saliva.

According to the recent research, 80% of all people with cat bites get infected. Due to this infection people suffer from sore throat, fever, headache, swelling of lymph nodes and other diseases. If blood comes out from the area where the cat bites, then the risks of infections are less. The bleeding diminishes some of the infectious saliva out of the wound. Generally, the wound caused by a cat bite is known as a puncture.

Bites of a cat can lead to various serious infections. Some of them are discussed below:

Pasteurellosis Infection

Pasteurellosis are bacteria that remain in the mouth of a cat. When a cat bites a person or another animal, these bacteria enter through the wounds and start to infect. It takes 2 to 12 hours for symptoms like pain, reddening and swelling in the area where the cat bites. Within a short period of time, these inflict throughout the body. If the cat bites on the hand, then the infection develops in the tissues of the hand and it can infect tendons or even bones.

Streptococcal Infection

This is a kind of bacterial infection that happens due to a cat bite. This causes chronic illness, kidney diseases, painful swelling and also reddening in the area. Gradually, like pasteurellosis, in this bacterial infection too, the pain and swelling progresses through the whole body.

Staphylococcal Infection

This bacterial infection caused due to cat bite leads to diseases like skin infection, blood poisoning and pneumonia.

The following first-aid measures will be helpful in controlling the infection from cat bites. These include: wash the wound with soap and water; apply an antibiotic ointment on the area and then cover the wound with a sterile bandage.