After being bitten by a cat, it is important to see a doctor. It is common for wounds to become infected, warns a study. The feline’s sharp fangs are responsible for this.
Inflamed skin, swollen joints… A simple cat bite on the hand can lead to an operation. When a feline bites, alert a study in the Journal of Hand Surgery, the injury is never as harmless as it looks. “Cat bites do look really benign, but we know, and this study shows, that’s not the case. They can be very serious, ”insists Dr. Brian Carlsen, lead author of the study.
When a cat bites on a hand, it can inject bacteria deep into joints and tissues, a place where infections can form. This is why hand bites are so dangerous. According to the results of the study, nearly 3 in 10 bitten patients had to go to the hospital. Of these, two-thirds were operated on to clean the wound.
It is not the injuries themselves that are dangerous, nor even the bacteria present in the mouth of the domestic feline. It is its fangs, much sharper than those of dogs, that threaten our health. “Dogs’ fangs are blunt, so they penetrate less deeply, and they leave a larger wound. Cats’ fangs are sharp, and they can penetrate very deep, and inject bacteria into joints and tendon tissue, ”explains Dr. Carlsen. And the bacteria that grow there, often immune to the immune system, are difficult to eradicate with the help of antibiotics. This is what justifies the many surgeries to directly disinfect the joint. Injuries to the joints (wrists, fingers) are also the most at risk of infection, recalls the study. Soft tissue bites are less dangerous but still need to be treated.
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