Read About Cat Scratch

Everybody with a cat gets a cat scratch every once in a while. If you are scratched, immediately wash the area with soap and water. ImageIf it's a bad scratch or you are especially vulnerable to infection, see a doctor right away. Don't take chances on a bacterial infection, they can spread fast and take a long time to heal.

The important thing to know is that animal bites and scratches can cause disease, even if they are domesticated pets. They don't have to be wild, they can be tame as a kitten.

Protect yourself from cat a scratch by playing carefully with your kitties. When cats are young, they may not yet know how to retract their claws when playing. Play is the way they learn how to fight and defend themselves, so some use of their claws is natural to expect during playtime. Once they've figured out that they hurt you, some cats learn to retract their claws and will not do it again, on purpose anyway. Remember though, domestic house cats are small, fuzzy, soft creatures. Unless your cat is skilled enough to dial 911, their claws and teeth are their only defense in an emergency.

Image House cats ramble and roam over some very dirty areas. For example, your garden (where there's real dirt) and their cat litter box. The main thing to remember is to clean it out as soon as possible. Even if you're absolutely positive that your kitty has just received a manicure and pedicure and been sanitized from her whiskers to the tip of her tail, you should never let a cat scratch fester or you are putting yourself at risk for infection.

A cat bite or cat scratch can spread bacteria to other parts of the body, even if it's a minor one. Getting scratched by a kitty who's been recently digging in the dirt may put you in danger of infection, so it's best to treat any scratch seriously.

If a cat bite or scratch is bleeding, there are several things you should do immediately. Apply pressure to the wound until it stops. If you're treating another person, wear a pair of latex gloves to keep from exposing yourself to their blood. Wash out the wound well, allowing the water to run over it for at least 5 minutes. Dry the wound and call the doctor. Antibiotics, a tetanus shot, or a rabies vaccination may be in order.

Cat scratch disease is a bacterial infection that can be transmitted from a cat to a human even when the scratch doesn't look at all infected. Kittens are the most suspect. For some reason, adult cats do not generally seem to carry the bacteria that can cause this disease. All people who are diagnosed with this infection have recently been scratched by a cat or kitten.

Not only a cat scratch, but human bites and scratches can spread infection too.