Menu:
How to Stop Your Cat Scratching
Cats are furry and cute, but they can also be aggressively playful and occasionally downright bad-tempered. After all, a cat is an animal that always remains a little wild at heart, and however tame it seems, it may just decide to walk on the wild side once in a while. Cat scratches or bites can cause severe ailments in people who have poor resistance and not enough immunity. For some people with serious diseases like cancer, a cat bite or scratch can be extremely difficult to heal.
Initial symptoms: Need to take precautions
Got a bite from your cat? You don’t pay any attention to it at the beginning. But slowly you find something is wrong with your health. The spot where the cat had scratched slowly turns into a sore and grows infectious. Actually, almost a week may pass from the time of the original bite till the sore develops. And only then will you start thinking that something is seriously wrong.
- Cats generally scratch mostly on the hands, legs and other areas of the limbs. If you are cuddling your cat and squeeze a little too hard, you might get a bite on your nose and face too!
- Whenever an infection develops out of a scratch, the gland directly associated with that part of your body is affected. The glandular infection causes inflammation of the lymph nodes and that is painful too.
- Immediately see a doctor before the infection grows any further. Sometimes the exact cause of inflammation and swelling cannot be detected just by looking at the sore. Therefore, a doctor’s advice becomes important. You might have to go for blood tests to find out what harm the scratch has actually done.
Actual treatments: Prevention at the earliest
- Had you not excited the cat it probably wouldn’t have been aroused enough to scratch you. It is always better to play with cats keeping them at arm’s length and not to cause them any annoyance through teasing. Trust us, cats can react swiftly.
- But if the mishap has already occurred, go for the right treatment. You may need a course of antibiotics for a long term, at least for a couple of months or more. An animal poison has infected you and that can really be very dangerous. So it takes a long time to heal.
- Yes there are injections, but the process is painful. The inflamed area will be pierced with a needle and the infection driven out.
Finally, you have to be doubly careful if a street animal has scratched you. Don't tease them unnecessarily. If you don't create problems for them, they won't disturb you!