Cat bites hurt.

[amethyst73]

We took Penelope to the vet for the first time ever yesterday - she had an infected wound that needed to be seen.  We had less trouble getting her into the carrier than we thought we would: I used the laser pointer to get her into the pantry, which is only a few square yards at best, and which has two doors into it.  Cat entered space; door into kitchen was closed.  I then entered through the laundry room door, leather gardening gloves on, with no very clear idea of what would happen next.  (It was very much like ladybird 's cute bunny icon: "1. Cuteness.  2. ???  3. Profit!" where I was very clearly in the analog of Step 2.)  After only a few minutes of having a somewhat terrified cat running around and trying to hide in the shelves, she discovered the carrier (cleverly placed in the room a few days ago) and zipped into it as a place to hide.  I closed the door, and that was that.

Convincing her to come back out of the carrier at the vet's was initially an issue.  We had to upturn the carrier to do so... but once she was out, boy she was OUT!  Completely panicked, she dashed wildly about the room seeking shelter.  The vet and Huz each grabbed a towel to try to grab her with.  I probably should have listened when the vet told me not to try to catch Penny, as she was afraid the cat would bite me.  I half-caught Penny under a bench, and in her panic she bit me on the right wrist, on the radius just at the base. 

At the time, it felt like no more than a bad bruise.  I scrubbed and scrubbed at it at the vet's behest.  She treated Penny in back once they finally captured her in a towel.  Her wound was (surprise!) infected, and she's on antibiotics.  Fortunately Clavamox doesn't seem to affect the taste of canned food particularly adversely.  She told me to keep a close eye on the bite and encouraged me to get it seen if I noticed it getting swollen and inflamed.

That was at about 11 AM.  By 5:30 PM, there was obvious swelling, and it was somewhat achey.  We called Huz's parents to let them know that we would be late (at best) for his dad's 70th birthday bash that evening.  After a quick early dinner, we piled ourselves, books, games, and snacks into the car, knowing that because the infection was important but not immediately life-threatening, it was likely we'd be there for quite some time.  I drove us - yeah, I know you're not supposed to drive yourself to the emergency room, but Huz was right there in the car with me, and the pain wasn't *that* bad. 

After various bits of sitting around between going through the various registration steps, I was given an injection of some presumably quite potent antibiotic, yellow in color, that was applied to my backside.  I think the last time I had an injection there was probably decades ago!  I also got a pill of sulfometh, and prescriptions for sulfometh and clindamycin which we filled at the nearby 24-hour Walgreens.  Total time in the ER: 1.5 hrs.  Oh, and they told me that I could take ibuprofen for the pain, which was tremendously helpful.

We went to Huz's dad's birthday party, attended by around 35 people.  Dinner was surprisingly late (not starting till 9 PM or so), but was tasty.  We really appreciated dinner #2 at that point.

As I write this, there's a great deal of redness around the original swelling.  I've called my on-call doctor, who assured me that I could wait to see a regular doctor Monday as opposed to having to go back to the ER.  Work should be interesting tomorrow; I have to use this hand, darnit, and while there are certain activities that don't hurt, I don't know if pipetting is one of them.  Guess I'll find out.

Comments

[ladybird97.livejournal.com]

Here's the icon! Hope it gives you a smile, since you could use one right about now. I also hope that the antibiotics do the trick, and that you feel better soon. *hug*

[amethyst73.livejournal.com]

Me too! At the moment it doesn't hurt so much as it itches. But the area is continuing to spread, which I find a little worrisome.

[digitalemur.livejournal.com]

Yowie, I've never gotten a cat bite that was so nasty. (I have a scar from a rabbit bite, long story, but no cat bites that deep.)

I hope it feels better soon. It's frustrating to get bitten by an animal you're trying to help.

[amethyst73.livejournal.com]

Mostly at this point it's itchy more than anything else. (The area is continuing to spread, which I find worrisome.) I've got a friend who's been bitten by her pet rats a couple of times; they were trying to fight and she interposed her hand.

[cerebralpaladin.livejournal.com]

Yeesh. I hope that the bite clears up quickly. That sounds awful.

[amethyst73.livejournal.com]

It's annoying. I can use my hand pretty freely; most activities don't seem to bother it too much. Writing, I found out earlier today, is one of those few activities.

Leaving for doctor's soon. Thanks for the good wishes!