scannon Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 (edited) No, I'm not talking about those burns from Caterham exhaust systems although I have two of those and a Cobra bite as well. I'm talking about feline cat bites. Saturday morning around 10 AM I hear a cat fight happening. Since Squeaks, my more timid cat is the only one out at the time I run out on the deck to find her face to face with the neighbor's stubby tailed Himalayan cat. This cat has always been very friendly and affectionate and often visits my shop if I leave a door open. I tried to shoo her off the deck but she whirls around and bites me at the base of my right thumb, hard and doesn't let go. Then she starts clawing me with her paws. I shake her off to great pain and lots of blood and she chases my cat into the house as I had left the door open. More furballs between the cats and I finally herd her out the front door and begin cleaning up the blood and cat piss on the kitchen floor. After letting the wounds bleed out as much as possible I applied Neosporin and band-aids and swear to never do this again. Later that evening the pain is getting worse and neither aspirin nor tequila had much effect. I got to sleep at midnight and woke up at 2 AM shaking badly. I couldn't get back to sleep so at 4 AM I got up and turned on the lights and saw a red stripe forming up my arm. I also felt feverish so I decided to head for an ER. At the ER I was taken in quickly and the doc said I needed IV antibiotics. I said OK lets do it, I have to be at the British Motoring Conclave at 8:30. He laughed and said you are going nowhere, I'm admitting you to the hospital. I finally got out of there about noon today with my arm in a brace to immobilize the thumb, an Rx for a weeks worth of oral antibiotics and instructions to keep it elevated and in the brace for a week. The red inflammation ran from my thumb to the armpit covering most of the underside of the arm. It and the base of the thumb were also swollen and very tender. The fever was 101F. I've learned my lesson, the next time I break up a cat fight I will take a bucket of water and douse the combatants. While in the hospital I finally got the report on the MRIs on my shoulders. Not good news, both have massive tearing and ligament detachment. Worse news is that the right one is non-repairable. Its the one I had fixed a few years ago. His suggested cure is a shoulder replacement down the road. Not sure what this means for Seven ownership as I need both shoulders to lever myself out of the car. Edited September 21, 2011 by scannon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wemtd Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 BTDT, any decent cat bite needs antibiotics and drainage before you become septic! Sorry to hear about the MR reports, maybe a second (or 3rd) opinion are in order? good luck p. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Gee Skip, you really are having a bad run of luck. Good luck working things through with the doctors and keep your spirits up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pi7ot Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 I hate to say this but has the aggressive cat up to date rabies records? Getting cat scratch fever/blood poisoning from that thing suggests that it is near feral. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHKflyer52 Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 I hate to say this but has the aggressive cat up to date rabies records? Getting cat scratch fever/blood poisoning from that thing suggests that it is near feral. m My thoughts also. Hope your feeling better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scannon Posted September 21, 2011 Author Share Posted September 21, 2011 I hate to say this but has the aggressive cat up to date rabies records? Getting cat scratch fever/blood poisoning from that thing suggests that it is near feral. m I had a chat with the owners of the cat last evening. The cat has had its shots on a regular basis. The cat was in my driveway as I was walking over to talk to her owners and approached me. We both stopped about 10 feet apart and looked at each other. I put out a hand in the cat approved "back of the hand first protocol" and she walked over, sniffed my fingers and rubbed her head against my hand. I petted her a bit and she accompanied me across the street to her home. It appears all is forgiven between us. I discussed the rabies scenario with the doctors and they told me rabies averages 2 cases a year in humans in the USA and very rarely are those are from domestic animals. This little cat is absolutely fearless. The owner told me he was doing the timing on his 5.0 Mustang and looked up to see the cat sitting on the fuel injection plenum of the running engine eyeballing the serpentine belt as it was spinning by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 I amazed the cat is not dead :leaving: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scannon Posted September 21, 2011 Author Share Posted September 21, 2011 I amazed the cat is not dead :leaving: I don't consider it the cat's fault although I'll admit to some very murderous feelings while it was attached to my hand. Both cats were in battle mode having had several furballs before I came on the scene. When I reached out to shoo the cat away it perceived me as a threat and acted accordingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancylad Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Holy smokes Skip.. take care and get well soon my friend. Enough of this talk of no sevening..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMW RACER Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 YOU MUST KEEP THE SEVEN!! Use it as a carrot to dangle in front of your nose to get well soon!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MightyMike Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Get well soon Skip. The lesson I learned from you is to shoo off cats with my left hand. That way my right hand is free to use my pistol or nearest blunt instrument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S1Steve Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 (edited) Skip , Get well soon....... Cat, The other white meat....... Mighty Mike, You are funny...... Edited September 21, 2011 by S1Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimrankin Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Which is a generic term for the infection you can develop from the massive aray of different microbes that even house bound cats have lerking on their claws and teeth. Number one killer of feral cats is being bitten or scratched by another cat when they fight over territory/food/etc. I was told that a house cat bite is about as prone to getting infected as a bite from any animal in the wild would be. After watching a cat scratch around in it's litter box and then "clean" it's paws with it's tongue I can see why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scannon Posted September 22, 2011 Author Share Posted September 22, 2011 Being around cats all my life I've had cat scratch fever several times, it was nothing like what I just went through. I've had many cat bites as well but none of them came close to this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimrankin Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 That's why "cat scratch fever" isn't any one infection, just to name the source, for whatever the cat was carrying when it infected you. You obviously got something really nasty, probably from the bite, and if it were not for wide band antibiotics you would probably be as dead as the 18th century. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
11Budlite Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 Geez Skip, I hope you get better soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxologist Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 Sorry to hear of the latest setback Skip. don't consider selling anything yet. The first course of action is rehabing 1 shoulder before the other can be repaired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notakit Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 I have faith in modern medicine and you WILL get better Skip! As for the source of infection; If I can build myself a Lotus 7 from scratch I can certainly build you a catapult! Just say the word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scannon Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 Thanks for all the good wishes guys, I appreciate it. I saw the shoulder doc yesterday and both shoulders are quite the mess. The plan is to fix the left shoulder after I get back from LOG31 and then live with the right one as is unless it gets worse at which time it require joint replacement. I have good range of motion on the right side, just not a lot of strength in the shoulder. Is anyone else going to LOG31 in Las Vegas in October? Is so we should have a get together while there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancylad Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Ok! so now we need you boffins out there to design a seat that pushes you up to a semi standing position... right Skip!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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