Been posting a lot of cat stuff lately, I know... Since I quit talkbass last month I didn't post of a little incident I had trimming my now almost 22 year old cat's claws. He never liked having his claws trimmed, and we usually feed him cheese or something to distract him while doing it. He was seeming a bit more relaxed than usual, so I had a go at it without. Trying to do it quickly I went a tad too far on one and hurt him. I apologized, went for the next claw and must have done it again as he snapped on me like a snake would. I wasn't angry because I know it wasn't an evil intentional snap, seemed like a reflex, but he got me good. Hit the upper part of my middle finger and went kind of deep. I knew from the pain, which was great, and the throbbing. I was a little concerned because I couldn't get it to bleed a whole lot. Washed it as best I could, poured peroxide on it, put antibacterial gel on... and didn't think any more about it. Next day my finger started to swell, and since my wife and I were going on a trip the next day we thought it best to get a script for some antibiotics, which we did. On the way back from picking up the pills my wife said, "Holy crap Joe, look at your arm!" I had a red stripe, about 1/4 to 1/2" wide going up my wrist, twisting at my forearm, seperating a bit at my bicep, and going right into my armpit. I'm not too sure I'd have noticed it on my own, and if I did I'm not too sure I'd have been terribly concerned. I'm an idiot. Thankfully my wife isn't. I was rushed to emergency care, and given IV antibiotics. A day later the red line was gone. A week later my finger looked almost normal again. Did a bunch of research since and found out how close to the end I had actually come. Felt fine the whole time, but the infection was on it's way to my lymph nodes and heart. What really surprised me however was what I learned about cat bites. 80% of cat bites get infected! 80%!!! Because their teeth are sharp and pointed they go in, and come out with a very small wound which doesn't bleed much or clean itself out. All the bacteria they carry in their mouth (which is a lot) gets sort of injected into you. I'm a pretty healthy dude, and don't ever remember getting an infection, but in less than 20 hrs. this infection was doing it's best to try and kill me. So be warned. Cats are poisonous. At least mine is. He's a real cool dude otherwise.
I love my cat, but yeah, there are health risk related to the presence of animals we tend to forget. Toxoplasmosis can be quite nasty, cleaning a litter box require some vigilance.
They poop and pee in your house. They spray chemicals in your house. They lick their own rectums. They shed everywhere. They attract fleas, ticks, and other bugs. They are generally filthy creatures. Having one INSIDE seems ridiculous. That being said, I will certainly have to get my daughter one someday. But it will live among the trees outdoors. It will poop out there. It will pee out there. It will shed out there. It will spray out there. And it will eat mice...... out there.
It's worth getting a checkup on any deep puncture wound, you simply won't be able to clean it properly at home, at least not with ease.
My cats are awesome. And super clean. They mostly stay indoors. We let the older one out and he'll stay gone for most of the day before coming in at night. They use a litter box and neither of them spray. Theyre the sweetest things, the little one wakes me up nuzzling my face and purring.
I don't like cats. It's bad enough I have to live with myself, much less an animal that, when it sees you sleeping is wondering if you are dead, and which part of you to eat first if you are dead.
That's why I got a pooch. For some reason cats do not get get along with me. But pooches normally do.
They don't wait until you're asleep- they're plotting against you all the time. On topic, I'm glad you're alright, Joe.
That's certainly a "glass half empty" view of them... The "glass half full" version is that cats are, in fact, among the cleanest mammals one could possibly keep as pets - precisely because they do clean & groom themselves. Continually. Cats are actually considerably cleaner than a lot of people. My two (exclusively indoor) cats are probably the nicest all-around pets I've ever had. And I've had lots of pets! MM
Thanks for the heads up. As the owner of two (2) cats, I will file this information away for future reference - in hopes it will never be necessary to act upon it. (Kudos to your wife for having a clue.) On the topic of trimming claws, however, I can report that I've been regularly trimming the claws of Rufus & Chi-Chi since they were kittens. They're now approaching 10 years old, and there have been no unfortunate "incidents" yet. Not one. The keys are to: 1) do it regularly; 2) snip just a bit at a time, no more than the last 25% of the length of the claw - not even close to the "quick", and; 3) take your time to do it right - no rush jobs. I usually trim their claws at the same time as I brush their coats - and they love being brushed. So they've learned to positively associate claw-trimming time with brushing. I also usually give them treats after we're finished, so there's more positive reinforcement. Believe me, it makes a difference... MM
Not one cat scratch fever reference... I am disappointed. Cats are pretty great. Edit- I stand corrected.
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