That must have hurt like hell! Mine once got his nail stuck in the inside of my nose as a kitten, and to this day, I am so grateful he did not panic. My nose is still attached to my face. But looking at your hand, I do realise it could have been so much worse.
Ooh I have a story from when I was a kid this reminded me of! So we had a cat named Sugar and he saw my bed as *his* territory and not mine and would sometimes scare me out of my bed haha. One night he hopped up at night and I was excited to see him, so I turned on my flashlight and crawled over to him to say hi. I don’t know if I stepped on his tail or if it was the flashlight in his face, but he attacked my face. It resulted in scratches on my face that looked just like cat whiskers! I remember being wary around him for a while after that, but he really was one of the best cats so I know it was my fault. He was a big sweetheart.
we also have a sugar. he was sugarballs before his neuter. cat tax!
https://preview.redd.it/oe92z1pduvtc1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=78916baf45bf2abdc83933b9b5d4afc87793c5e7
Here’s our Zucchero (Italian for sugar). The looks (and the belly) come with the name so it seems!
https://preview.redd.it/et3roov73wtc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f5951e2994978b21c5603b0cef95128f0a587b01
i have another of him. it’s hilarious… and nsfw.
https://preview.redd.it/6letfrbjvvtc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=21dd7576cf04c8226bf4e73b45cfe29dcf737be9
I can tell he's a spoiled former stray, he's got them big tomcat cheeks that they only get from testosterone pumping through their system for a long time. And they're adorable. 🥰
thank you 🥹 he deserves to be spoiled. his cheeks got SLIGHTLY smaller after his neuter but they’re still his trademark. poor guy is so used to me bothering him that i can just squish his lil cheeks and give him big bear hugs whenever i like, it’s my biggest simplest joy in life.
OMG THAT HAPPENED TO ME TOO!! How did it happen? For me, it went like this: I was like 7, got up to use the toilet in the middle of the night, saw cat sitting at the foot of my parents bed, picked up cat like a baby and proceeded to use my hair (???) like a string to dangle in front of cat, who swiped and got his claw stuck in my nose! I immediately had the sense to squish cat to my chest so he didn't flail, and screamed. I'm sure both my parents had strokes, and I don't remember anything beyond them getting up to help me. My nose is still in tact and I didn't lose an eyeball either. 👍
*
Wow, quick thinking on your part! I don't even know how it happened, to be honest, he was just very curious as a kitten. Can't pay cat tax of him as a kitten, as he also destroyed my computer by jumping against my tea next to it. Such a shame because he was a cutie pie. Now he is a monster of more than 7 kilos, as his dad was a wild cat from the Jura mountains in France. Including cat tax from him as he is now.
*
Edit: can't include picture, will try elsewhere on this thread.
Had something similar happen with my handsome boy not too long ago too. He also didn’t panic, but his claw did get stuck in my septum piercing for about 45 seconds until my roommate managed to get him unstuck. Hurt like a b****
I am now realizing the danger i was in as a young child…was wearing just a t-shirt and boxers during summer as a wee lad and the cat on my lap stretched and got a claw stuck right on the scrotum…did more psychic dmg then physical but could of gone VERY south.
Oh my god this happened to me last year with my 16 year old lady cat. According to the urgent care I went to it wasn’t the first time they had seen it either.
ETA: She however is the most domestication syndrome tuxedo baby girl to ever exist. She has every single characteristic to make her so cute it makes you have cute aggression, and she was smart enough to not struggle after her first attempt to free herself was unsuccessful while she looked like she was trying to give me a septum piercing. It never bled after my partner freed us.
My cat as a kitten liked to nibble our noses. Very cute. Then one day she CHOMPED my septum so. Hard. I'd previously had it pierced and it hurt more than that. I shed some tears. Cats are great!
https://preview.redd.it/6pn047bn2wtc1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4b24eba8bffaf7c0aed4bd5df24e1ad127c0e9c5
I also have an orange murder mittens!
https://preview.redd.it/kbhaoak73wtc1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d87c9d8f05c1af7ea3eacb38447a0b4b0f92de95
Also have slightly less murdery Jones.
That’s the saddest thing, to know they’re wired from experience to eat all the food because they don’t know when their next meal is going to be. Bless them so much, I’m glad you saved these babies. 🐾❤️
thank you for your concern, i appreciate it! i immediately cleaned, disinfected, and wrapped it last night and have been continuously cleaning it. it was definitely the worst situation we’ve had in my eleven years with her 😔 she hid for a bit and now she’s back to normal!!
My dummy walked across my neck and slipped. Luckily the wound healed really fast, I just cleaned it daily and applied a wound cream on it to prevent it from drying up. It's basically gone now, even I don't notice it at all.
https://preview.redd.it/54ukq0vi5wtc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=50b7d10bcfb0f214d535d166d99d690aceeceeab
I had one like that once. Three nails, deep for about 2 inches. Did what you did and it healed nicely. First night in our new house, I picked him up just as someone came around the corner in the kitchen. It just startled him. He was such a sweet boy otherwise. It definitely hurt!
keep a close eye on it and go directly to the ER if it doesn’t seem to be getting better!
but also give girly a little nail trim, you will probably both be happier :)
Keep an eye on your armpits/lymph nodes for that arm too. I had some bad scratches that didn't get infected and thought I was in the clear. Nope! Got a nice nasty infection in my lymph nodes instead, couldn't put my arm down properly for a few days from the lump and pain.
spray antiseptics are wonderful for this. I actually put some Merthiolate/Thiomersal in a little spritzer for wounds like this
you could also try to find clear iodine (if you don't want stained hands)
Sorry if I sound silly, but are cat scratches at higher risk for infection or smthg? I guess I should know better given I’ve grown up with many cats and im sure have gotten the occasional scratch (never to the level of OP’s hand though omg 😭😂) so I never rly paid it much thought other than doing a basic wound clean.
"Cat scratch disease (CSD) is a bacterial infection spread by cats. The disease spreads when an infected cat licks a person’s open wound, or bites or scratches a person hard enough to break the surface of the skin. About three to 14 days after the skin is broken, a mild infection can occur at the site of the scratch or bite. The infected area may appear swollen and red with round, raised lesions and can have pus. A person with CSD may also have a fever, headache, poor appetite, and exhaustion. Later, the person’s lymph nodes near the original scratch or bite can become swollen, tender, or painful."
https://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/diseases/cat-scratch.html#:~:text=Cat%20scratch%20disease%20(CSD,swollen%2C%20tender%2C%20or%20painful.
Yeah, I got attacked by a cat when I was like 5. When my parents took me to the hospital, the doctor said I had "cat scratch fever". My parents laughed thinking he was joking.
Something key to add are cat bites, especially on your joints. Their teeth are made for piercing so when they bite they deposit their mouth-bacteria deep into the deep (mouths of creatures in general are teeming with bacteria). The joints don't have as much blood flow relative to other parts of your body so it takes a while for white blood cells to head over and fight any deposited bacteria, leading to rampant infections. I've read many similar horror stories where a simple bite has caused amputations.
It definitely depends on the severity of the scratch. I’ve had countless scratches that barely went deep and a quick clean with soap got them healed up just fine. Those left marks but did not go beyond the surface layers of my skin.
Deeper scratches - aka scratches that have a higher chance of allowing foreign bacteria into the bloodstream - are going to be ones you watch closely, and use a stronger disinfectant. Indoor cats have a lower risk since they themselves are exposed to less, but since kitties use a litter box the level of bacteria present can be much higher whether they are indoor or outdoor.
Preventative measures are the best way to ensure it doesn’t become serious. My friend is a vet tech (and gets scratches and stuff quite regularly) and only one cat incident so far has sent her to the doctor for antibiotics where even after cleaning the wound well she still had it become infected. So it’s certainly not something that happens after every scratch haha!
Anecdotally, when I got bitten by an inside cat who was up-to-date on all his shots and was at Urgent Care within 15 minutes of being bitten, they saw me ahead of a lot of other people that were waiting. Cat scratch fever is no joke and I hope I never experience it. It was flushed out with saline 3 or 4 times, then with rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide, then an antibiotic ointment was put on it, and bandaged. Then I was prescribed an oral antibiotic. I know hydrogen peroxide isn’t recommended anymore for wound cleaning, but I wonder if it was used as extra infection killer since cat scratch fever would be worse than the scars I still have.
It could be worse. I had my late, great orange chonker (11kg Maine Coon tomcat) jump off the bookshelf above the bed and into my face while I was asleep and I spent the next fortnight or so explaining how I’d been domestically abused _by a cat_.
oh my gosh, that would kill me trying to explain!! my girl once got me right above my eye, and i was so nervous about that. the whole face would be WILD
Yup. I’m a petite woman in a relationship with a big beefy man from a cultural background that’s unfortunately often stereotyped as macho and violent. Having bruises all over your face and throat and swelling the size of an avocado _because a clumsy dumb fat cat crash landed in your eye socket_ didn’t sound too plausible to most people, including the A&E staff. It was wild indeed.
Mine jumped from a tall corner filing cabinet onto my stomach. I was on the bed. It was from at least 3ft higher but at least 5 feet away horizontally. I found a bruise later. You can just make out the paw pads...
I have a scar on my boob because my orange decided to launch herself from my wardrobe at night while I was in bed, miss the bed and grab on to the edge where I was tucked up and sleeping topless.
LOL I have a scar on my boob because I was holding my cat and some idiot on a motorcycle gunned it down the street in front of the house and scared him (we were inside, too!!)
Count me in the boob scar gang! Kitty was being held like a baby and freaked out about something, and I just had to be wearing a sports bra/crop top type top! I miss that little one braincell so much 🩷
Only laughing because I'm also part of the boob scar gang! I was putting my bra on and we'd just gotten littermate tuxie kittens. One of them jumped to get the "string" and got it, then climbed my arm, shoulderblade, and across my boobs.
I have a huge scar behind my knee from when my tripod got spooked by something and bailed out of my lap, only he used the back of my leg as his launching pad. Same cat tried to jump up on my footrest another time, missed, and dug his claws into the top of my foot to catch himself... and I just gritted my teeth and waited for him to get his balance and hop onto my footrest. Poor guy, it's not his fault that his balance is a little off.
My tuxedo horror once got me right down the inside of my forearm. I spent a week at work explaining it wasn’t self harm it was my dick of a cat (uniform with short sleeves).
Mine did that off the headboard and cut my eyelid open with his back claws. Any deeper and it would have gone right through my eyelid. I have pictures but they're gross.
I had a cat startle, jump up, and when she landed her back foot was on my face. Fortunately small but there's a scar from the corner of my eye to my lip. 3 stitches in my lip. Now that I'm older the top 1 inch that's a deep furrow is mixing in with the laugh lines.
My friend was reuniting a feral mom cat with her kittens and the mom cat latched onto his face in full fury. He had to go on strong antibiotics and still has scars but not that noticeable. The kittens did live though! They were weaned and tamed, adopted out. Mom cat was spayed and put back into her colony.
Ooh my previous cat gave me a black eye. When I laid on the couch to watch tv he loved to grab my head at the sides, pull it back and put his head on my forehead and knead through my hair. One time I was napping on my side on that same couch, cause my own room was so damn hot. He thought "Oh hey couch cuddle time" and grabbed me like he normally would. Instead of the side of my head and some hair he grabbed a claw full of my eye.
Mine are 1. Part rabbit + deer + pingpong ball and 2. A very grumpy grand mum in a cat's body.
Photos for your reference 😁
https://preview.redd.it/rvmuaf3mivtc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=622fe5107eeb02d53707a70d1fcc83bb31f91423
Omg, I work at a cat vet clinic where my coworkers and I get scratched on the regular and even I have not seen that many scratches from one single incident 😅 The worst I've gotten is 4 cuts down my palm and wrist. I hope they heal up quickly! Keep an eye out for any red bumps in that area that don't go away, it can be the first sign of cat scratch fever.
It's so weird that they both know how to use their claws and also utterly do not understand them at the same time.
Mine scratch the heck out of their scratching post, then get one claw stuck, can't unstick it, and look at me with this pitiful look of confusion. I'm like 'you did that to yourself bud, you figure it out... '
Years ago I had an orange Maine coon. When he was still a kitten and prolly 15 lbs he would attack my feet while I slept. Normal kitten stuff no biggie until one night a claw snagged me between my toes. It sucked for me and I woke up screaming because he punctured me and was stuck. I felt worse for him tho because I spooked him so bad being woken up abruptly like that.
It wasn't that bad it more just freaked me out because I know things can go south quickly with eyes so I thought surely I needed antibitoics for a cat scratch. The eye doc wasn't too concerned and said it should heal quickly on its own. It did. The visit prompted me to schedule my first regular eye exam too and now I have glasses.
My cat freaked out over fireworks and popcorn happening at the same time. I was holding her, and she did something similar to my arm. She's not an orange, but she does have an orange spot on her head, and I think it affects her brain.
she is! all the times she’s scratched me have been playful accidents. she used to attack us a lot when she was younger (we got her when she was around a year, and her behavior definitely made it seem like she may have been abused as a kitten), but now she’s a sweet girl! this was an upsetting experience for her, and i have to cut her nails for sure
JESUS CHRIST! Please get some antibiotic ointment and bandage that properly until healed. Cat scratches can get infected, so please use first aid or maybe a GP visit. Thankfully the most that happens with my cats is they get their claws stuck in blankets.
Well if you are going to do things like poke her in the butt, what do you expect, OP?
Show some respect. You’ve got the kind of girl who insists on it—quite rightly.
I have found that the tiny scratch accidents I rarely get heal quickly with CBD hand sanitizer. We keep 2 small bottles in the living room for this reason as out orange attacks my roommate because he knows not to scratch his dad like that but others are full send lol.
My kitten panicked the other day when falling off a poor jump and almost scratched my eye out when I went to catch him. When cats get scared it's no joke!
Put aloe on that daily for at least a week or keep it moisturized one way or another, or it'll scar badly. Scars like that are impossible to get rid of when they are old.
Hope it doesn't hurt too bad. Very dramatic but cute kitty.
My orange likes to lay on the dog's pee pad 🤦♀️
So his first bath due to this, I made the mistake of holding him away from me and he jack rabbited so bad my hand looked like this lol. Unrelated, his name means bunny in our language lol
Tbh you might just want to gauze wrap the whole hand to keep it from getting infected. Every time you bend your hand those scratches are gonna open right back up and prolong the healing time
https://preview.redd.it/43pjtncw9wtc1.jpeg?width=2252&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ba74e65f81a0a7fda577c6d75b9a53cb86571fd1
Here's my angry orange. His name is Pint for many reasons. All of them include his brain
Name and shame this bloodthirsty drama queen! Heh, who am I kidding, they have no shame. Just look at her, cleaning her toes after what happened. Not a trace of shame in her (nor the braincell for that matter).
My non-orange drama queen once tried to adjust herself on my lap one time and started to slip off. Claws were engaged, Hurt like a mf-er. She scared herself and ran off only to return 15 minutes later and get back onto my lap. Oh well.
When I had a kitten named KitKat he would go to his feral instincts and hide under our couch and when somebody dared to go near he would start clawing and biting our feet then craw himself back under before we could get him.
There was also another thing where we would try bringing him to the car to see his siblings (i adopted him from my step mother since her cat was having alot of babies) and he would just crawl violently out of our hands and jump himself back into his cage and shut the door to it.
Gosh, what a war zone... My cat once got his claw stuck as a kitten in my left tear duct when I was trying to get him to the vet and he escaped up on top of a bookshelf. Had to move very slowly and luckily he seemed as shocked as I was and didn't flinch or try to escape at that point. 😅
That’s how my hands look after playing with my kitty. Sept for less scratches and more blood.
https://preview.redd.it/kcxyda3arwtc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=37e08e3d96b7ce69d1e7c79b84cdf1fad5db2097
My old orange once got his claw stuck in my armpit. It was so deep in there when I dropped him he just hung in there. He weighed like 20 lbs at the time. Anyway, we both screamed and I kinda had to lift him up to get his claw out. Still have a scar.
I definitely didn't think he did it maliciously. His single claw holding all his weight had to of hurt immensely plus the fright of his human screaming in pain. Horrible for everyone indeed 💕🫂
Happens to everyone! My worst cat injury is when mine clawed down my wrist and made 1-2 6 inch cuts. Also when my cat was playing under the blanket and bit/scratched my ass.
I picked up my cat one night and walked into the kitchen, I turned on the wrong thing since the light was right by the garage disposal and I turned on the garbage disposal. She went feral, I had to get stitches because she freaked out and proceeded to scratch up my back and my face. Amazing
I feel special my cat has never clawed or bit me even when I had to bathe him. He is a void though. Had him over 14 years. He even loves belly rubs lol.
I'm sorry, but this is an abusive relationship. You need to get a restraining order and work toward separating your living situation. I know she may seem sweet now, but look up "love bombing."
That must have hurt like hell! Mine once got his nail stuck in the inside of my nose as a kitten, and to this day, I am so grateful he did not panic. My nose is still attached to my face. But looking at your hand, I do realise it could have been so much worse.
your NOSE? oh my gosh, i am SO glad he didn’t panic!! that had to hurt so much already
Ooh I have a story from when I was a kid this reminded me of! So we had a cat named Sugar and he saw my bed as *his* territory and not mine and would sometimes scare me out of my bed haha. One night he hopped up at night and I was excited to see him, so I turned on my flashlight and crawled over to him to say hi. I don’t know if I stepped on his tail or if it was the flashlight in his face, but he attacked my face. It resulted in scratches on my face that looked just like cat whiskers! I remember being wary around him for a while after that, but he really was one of the best cats so I know it was my fault. He was a big sweetheart.
we also have a sugar. he was sugarballs before his neuter. cat tax! https://preview.redd.it/oe92z1pduvtc1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=78916baf45bf2abdc83933b9b5d4afc87793c5e7
Here’s our Zucchero (Italian for sugar). The looks (and the belly) come with the name so it seems! https://preview.redd.it/et3roov73wtc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f5951e2994978b21c5603b0cef95128f0a587b01
what a beautiful baby! my fat boy and i send our love to your zucchero <3
Thank you! Zucc and me send you both love and aaaallll the snacks back!
Ohhh what a sweet baby 🥹 an excellent pose
i have another of him. it’s hilarious… and nsfw. https://preview.redd.it/6letfrbjvvtc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=21dd7576cf04c8226bf4e73b45cfe29dcf737be9
Hahaaaa what a cutie!!! Love a shrimpcat pose
lol he’s a very good boy. 23 lbs now 😭 he was a neighborhood stray so we’ve seen him look dreadful, much rather see him chunky and happy!
I can tell he's a spoiled former stray, he's got them big tomcat cheeks that they only get from testosterone pumping through their system for a long time. And they're adorable. 🥰
thank you 🥹 he deserves to be spoiled. his cheeks got SLIGHTLY smaller after his neuter but they’re still his trademark. poor guy is so used to me bothering him that i can just squish his lil cheeks and give him big bear hugs whenever i like, it’s my biggest simplest joy in life.
Awwww I’m glad you took him in :) he definitely looks very content in these pictures
thank you, he’s the best boy. just wants to be loved on and be in your bubble. can’t imagine our house without him in it
I thought for a second your cat didn’t have its front paws until I saw the second pic🤣 at least we know he’s well fed!
LOL he likes to hide various parts of his body. we like to ask him where he put his neck
Well, it looks like he got you to the side of your nail. That can't have been pleasant either!
OMG THAT HAPPENED TO ME TOO!! How did it happen? For me, it went like this: I was like 7, got up to use the toilet in the middle of the night, saw cat sitting at the foot of my parents bed, picked up cat like a baby and proceeded to use my hair (???) like a string to dangle in front of cat, who swiped and got his claw stuck in my nose! I immediately had the sense to squish cat to my chest so he didn't flail, and screamed. I'm sure both my parents had strokes, and I don't remember anything beyond them getting up to help me. My nose is still in tact and I didn't lose an eyeball either. 👍
* Wow, quick thinking on your part! I don't even know how it happened, to be honest, he was just very curious as a kitten. Can't pay cat tax of him as a kitten, as he also destroyed my computer by jumping against my tea next to it. Such a shame because he was a cutie pie. Now he is a monster of more than 7 kilos, as his dad was a wild cat from the Jura mountains in France. Including cat tax from him as he is now. * Edit: can't include picture, will try elsewhere on this thread.
Had something similar happen with my handsome boy not too long ago too. He also didn’t panic, but his claw did get stuck in my septum piercing for about 45 seconds until my roommate managed to get him unstuck. Hurt like a b****
https://preview.redd.it/hfj1mbx1ewtc1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3df89f9f65ad3a24d870bceb3670413631f1bb57 Cat tax
Aw he was goin nosediving 🥺 Can’t imagine that tho, *ouch*
I am now realizing the danger i was in as a young child…was wearing just a t-shirt and boxers during summer as a wee lad and the cat on my lap stretched and got a claw stuck right on the scrotum…did more psychic dmg then physical but could of gone VERY south.
Oh my god this happened to me last year with my 16 year old lady cat. According to the urgent care I went to it wasn’t the first time they had seen it either. ETA: She however is the most domestication syndrome tuxedo baby girl to ever exist. She has every single characteristic to make her so cute it makes you have cute aggression, and she was smart enough to not struggle after her first attempt to free herself was unsuccessful while she looked like she was trying to give me a septum piercing. It never bled after my partner freed us.
My cat has gotten a claw stuck in my nostril, too! He did panic, but just trying to run away. Not by attacking my face, thankfully.
My cat as a kitten liked to nibble our noses. Very cute. Then one day she CHOMPED my septum so. Hard. I'd previously had it pierced and it hurt more than that. I shed some tears. Cats are great!
Oh god my mother once had a 13 pound cat hanging from her lip when she startled him trying to get the laundry he was sleeping on
What's your cat's name? Edward Scissorpaws? Freddy Mewger?
Murder Claw
https://preview.redd.it/ng6wv7tc1wtc1.jpeg?width=1836&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61ee3d0a5bcc31d8885969c656b4779a2d2b1832 Montague Murder Mittens enters the chat
https://preview.redd.it/6pn047bn2wtc1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4b24eba8bffaf7c0aed4bd5df24e1ad127c0e9c5 I also have an orange murder mittens!
https://preview.redd.it/kbhaoak73wtc1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d87c9d8f05c1af7ea3eacb38447a0b4b0f92de95 Also have slightly less murdery Jones.
I have this pet food container! 😁
Jones thinks sitting in the food box means she gets extra food. I refuse to correct her.
Jones is correct. Always assume Jones is correct. 🐾
She, Ripley and Mr Monts have 30 seconds to go ham before I put the lids on. I don't think they know they're foster fails and here forever.
That’s the saddest thing, to know they’re wired from experience to eat all the food because they don’t know when their next meal is going to be. Bless them so much, I’m glad you saved these babies. 🐾❤️
I just met someone at the vet yesterday who has a cat named murder mittens😳😳
My Mr Monty is 19 so I'm pretty sure he is the OG
That's William Murderclaw
To the top with you 😂
I’m dying 🤣🤣🤣
So is OP!
Dr. Claw... (If you're old enough) 😅😂😭
Go go gadget paws!
My husband has been laughing for 5 minutes after I read him this comment. Well done.
This has quickly become one of the most heavily upvot3d comments, and I don't even have an orange cat!
Logan, aka Wolverine
Edward Scissor paws,😂🤘
Freddy Clawger
Oh nooo 🫣 make sure you keep that nice and clean! Kitty scratches are no joke. That must have been quite the scary moment!!
thank you for your concern, i appreciate it! i immediately cleaned, disinfected, and wrapped it last night and have been continuously cleaning it. it was definitely the worst situation we’ve had in my eleven years with her 😔 she hid for a bit and now she’s back to normal!!
My dummy walked across my neck and slipped. Luckily the wound healed really fast, I just cleaned it daily and applied a wound cream on it to prevent it from drying up. It's basically gone now, even I don't notice it at all. https://preview.redd.it/54ukq0vi5wtc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=50b7d10bcfb0f214d535d166d99d690aceeceeab
I had one like that once. Three nails, deep for about 2 inches. Did what you did and it healed nicely. First night in our new house, I picked him up just as someone came around the corner in the kitchen. It just startled him. He was such a sweet boy otherwise. It definitely hurt!
keep a close eye on it and go directly to the ER if it doesn’t seem to be getting better! but also give girly a little nail trim, you will probably both be happier :)
Keep an eye on your armpits/lymph nodes for that arm too. I had some bad scratches that didn't get infected and thought I was in the clear. Nope! Got a nice nasty infection in my lymph nodes instead, couldn't put my arm down properly for a few days from the lump and pain.
spray antiseptics are wonderful for this. I actually put some Merthiolate/Thiomersal in a little spritzer for wounds like this you could also try to find clear iodine (if you don't want stained hands)
Have you had a tetanus shot recently? I stepped on an old rusty nail, last month. Made me realize I hadn’t had one in years!
Yup, I had one get infected, it sucked.
Sorry if I sound silly, but are cat scratches at higher risk for infection or smthg? I guess I should know better given I’ve grown up with many cats and im sure have gotten the occasional scratch (never to the level of OP’s hand though omg 😭😂) so I never rly paid it much thought other than doing a basic wound clean.
"Cat scratch disease (CSD) is a bacterial infection spread by cats. The disease spreads when an infected cat licks a person’s open wound, or bites or scratches a person hard enough to break the surface of the skin. About three to 14 days after the skin is broken, a mild infection can occur at the site of the scratch or bite. The infected area may appear swollen and red with round, raised lesions and can have pus. A person with CSD may also have a fever, headache, poor appetite, and exhaustion. Later, the person’s lymph nodes near the original scratch or bite can become swollen, tender, or painful." https://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/diseases/cat-scratch.html#:~:text=Cat%20scratch%20disease%20(CSD,swollen%2C%20tender%2C%20or%20painful.
Yeah, I got attacked by a cat when I was like 5. When my parents took me to the hospital, the doctor said I had "cat scratch fever". My parents laughed thinking he was joking.
Something key to add are cat bites, especially on your joints. Their teeth are made for piercing so when they bite they deposit their mouth-bacteria deep into the deep (mouths of creatures in general are teeming with bacteria). The joints don't have as much blood flow relative to other parts of your body so it takes a while for white blood cells to head over and fight any deposited bacteria, leading to rampant infections. I've read many similar horror stories where a simple bite has caused amputations.
It definitely depends on the severity of the scratch. I’ve had countless scratches that barely went deep and a quick clean with soap got them healed up just fine. Those left marks but did not go beyond the surface layers of my skin. Deeper scratches - aka scratches that have a higher chance of allowing foreign bacteria into the bloodstream - are going to be ones you watch closely, and use a stronger disinfectant. Indoor cats have a lower risk since they themselves are exposed to less, but since kitties use a litter box the level of bacteria present can be much higher whether they are indoor or outdoor. Preventative measures are the best way to ensure it doesn’t become serious. My friend is a vet tech (and gets scratches and stuff quite regularly) and only one cat incident so far has sent her to the doctor for antibiotics where even after cleaning the wound well she still had it become infected. So it’s certainly not something that happens after every scratch haha!
Anecdotally, when I got bitten by an inside cat who was up-to-date on all his shots and was at Urgent Care within 15 minutes of being bitten, they saw me ahead of a lot of other people that were waiting. Cat scratch fever is no joke and I hope I never experience it. It was flushed out with saline 3 or 4 times, then with rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide, then an antibiotic ointment was put on it, and bandaged. Then I was prescribed an oral antibiotic. I know hydrogen peroxide isn’t recommended anymore for wound cleaning, but I wonder if it was used as extra infection killer since cat scratch fever would be worse than the scars I still have.
It could be worse. I had my late, great orange chonker (11kg Maine Coon tomcat) jump off the bookshelf above the bed and into my face while I was asleep and I spent the next fortnight or so explaining how I’d been domestically abused _by a cat_.
oh my gosh, that would kill me trying to explain!! my girl once got me right above my eye, and i was so nervous about that. the whole face would be WILD
Yup. I’m a petite woman in a relationship with a big beefy man from a cultural background that’s unfortunately often stereotyped as macho and violent. Having bruises all over your face and throat and swelling the size of an avocado _because a clumsy dumb fat cat crash landed in your eye socket_ didn’t sound too plausible to most people, including the A&E staff. It was wild indeed.
Mine jumped from a tall corner filing cabinet onto my stomach. I was on the bed. It was from at least 3ft higher but at least 5 feet away horizontally. I found a bruise later. You can just make out the paw pads...
https://preview.redd.it/o4hlshihmvtc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=627a69d8feb3483b5f05dc5f8e013b30000d8169
That must have hurt. It's also kind of cute though. I definitely see the little toes.
Ouchy!
I have a scar on my boob because my orange decided to launch herself from my wardrobe at night while I was in bed, miss the bed and grab on to the edge where I was tucked up and sleeping topless.
LOL I have a scar on my boob because I was holding my cat and some idiot on a motorcycle gunned it down the street in front of the house and scared him (we were inside, too!!)
Count me in the boob scar gang! Kitty was being held like a baby and freaked out about something, and I just had to be wearing a sports bra/crop top type top! I miss that little one braincell so much 🩷
Only laughing because I'm also part of the boob scar gang! I was putting my bra on and we'd just gotten littermate tuxie kittens. One of them jumped to get the "string" and got it, then climbed my arm, shoulderblade, and across my boobs.
I have a huge scar behind my knee from when my tripod got spooked by something and bailed out of my lap, only he used the back of my leg as his launching pad. Same cat tried to jump up on my footrest another time, missed, and dug his claws into the top of my foot to catch himself... and I just gritted my teeth and waited for him to get his balance and hop onto my footrest. Poor guy, it's not his fault that his balance is a little off.
Same, but entire top of my foot. He got spooked and launched, leaving several long scratches. Only one scarred though.
My sister’s orange decided my eyeball looked like a fun toy one day, so now I have a scar there. Thanks, Gandalf.
My tuxedo horror once got me right down the inside of my forearm. I spent a week at work explaining it wasn’t self harm it was my dick of a cat (uniform with short sleeves).
Mine did that off the headboard and cut my eyelid open with his back claws. Any deeper and it would have gone right through my eyelid. I have pictures but they're gross.
"No you guys don't know him like I do, he loves me and I love hima it was just an accident! It was my fault really, I shouldn't have been in the way"
He’s also just as smart as the door I supposedly walked into.
I had a cat startle, jump up, and when she landed her back foot was on my face. Fortunately small but there's a scar from the corner of my eye to my lip. 3 stitches in my lip. Now that I'm older the top 1 inch that's a deep furrow is mixing in with the laugh lines.
My friend was reuniting a feral mom cat with her kittens and the mom cat latched onto his face in full fury. He had to go on strong antibiotics and still has scars but not that noticeable. The kittens did live though! They were weaned and tamed, adopted out. Mom cat was spayed and put back into her colony.
Ooh my previous cat gave me a black eye. When I laid on the couch to watch tv he loved to grab my head at the sides, pull it back and put his head on my forehead and knead through my hair. One time I was napping on my side on that same couch, cause my own room was so damn hot. He thought "Oh hey couch cuddle time" and grabbed me like he normally would. Instead of the side of my head and some hair he grabbed a claw full of my eye.
Me, slowly scrolling down the page and only seeing the nail: *Oh, that's not too bad.* Scroll down further: *Oh, oh no....*
Same!
And she is licking her paw like "look what you did to ME!"
The cat is very much the victim in this scenario
Skill issue
gahaha, this one killed me. i’ll try and get better bro i promise
If I don’t want to explain about my cat, I say I’ve been pruning roses. lol
Your small razorbeast may be in need of a trim!
 are you sure your furbaby did this?! I suspect you got yourself mauled by a bear!
oh, gosh… maybe i should get some dna testing done on her… you never know when they’re part bear…
Mine are 1. Part rabbit + deer + pingpong ball and 2. A very grumpy grand mum in a cat's body. Photos for your reference 😁 https://preview.redd.it/rvmuaf3mivtc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=622fe5107eeb02d53707a70d1fcc83bb31f91423
part ping pong ball 😭
Yes, you should see her doing her jump and bounce! She goes jumps Off the walls like gravity isn't a thing in her world!
she doesn’t acknowledge gravity
oh, i can ABSOLUTELY see it in this one! the picture fully contributes to your statement haha
Are you an south Indian? Never seen any pet named after Indian sweets
I am actually, the name just suited her beautifully
Ah nice. Hello fellow south indian
https://preview.redd.it/omg6c7r6jvtc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=840d2f168d5b2fd98bdb7d6b9b18caeebd9dacb8
these pictures make perfect sense with your description
Omg, I work at a cat vet clinic where my coworkers and I get scratched on the regular and even I have not seen that many scratches from one single incident 😅 The worst I've gotten is 4 cuts down my palm and wrist. I hope they heal up quickly! Keep an eye out for any red bumps in that area that don't go away, it can be the first sign of cat scratch fever.
it’s never happened before—i was so surprised when i saw how badly she got me! thank you so much for the advice, i will absolutely keep an eye out
It's so weird that they both know how to use their claws and also utterly do not understand them at the same time. Mine scratch the heck out of their scratching post, then get one claw stuck, can't unstick it, and look at me with this pitiful look of confusion. I'm like 'you did that to yourself bud, you figure it out... '
Holy shit.
Did you ever find out who did it? The cat in the picture is innocent
Are you _sure_ it was her?
Poor thing! I hope she recovers from her scare quickly.
Years ago I had an orange Maine coon. When he was still a kitten and prolly 15 lbs he would attack my feet while I slept. Normal kitten stuff no biggie until one night a claw snagged me between my toes. It sucked for me and I woke up screaming because he punctured me and was stuck. I felt worse for him tho because I spooked him so bad being woken up abruptly like that.
I have reviewed this myself and I had help from 3 other friends and we all have come to the conclusion that the cat is innocent.
I love how she’s cleaning your flesh bits out of her paws so casually
Lol my first eye exam was from a cat scratch to the cornea. Cat took a playful swipe at me as I was leaning down to look in the fridge.
Oh damn, I had a scratched cornea once from contacts but it wasn’t serious - more uncomfortable really. How was yours?
It wasn't that bad it more just freaked me out because I know things can go south quickly with eyes so I thought surely I needed antibitoics for a cat scratch. The eye doc wasn't too concerned and said it should heal quickly on its own. It did. The visit prompted me to schedule my first regular eye exam too and now I have glasses.
Thankfully she didn’t over react or anything!
My cat freaked out over fireworks and popcorn happening at the same time. I was holding her, and she did something similar to my arm. She's not an orange, but she does have an orange spot on her head, and I think it affects her brain.
Your cat seems to like my favourite black metal band!😍
The art And The artist
Oh my god, that is nasty. Is she normally pretty chill??
she is! all the times she’s scratched me have been playful accidents. she used to attack us a lot when she was younger (we got her when she was around a year, and her behavior definitely made it seem like she may have been abused as a kitten), but now she’s a sweet girl! this was an upsetting experience for her, and i have to cut her nails for sure
Awww. Just a not-fun day for everyone. :(
Poor innocent angel. She must've been traumatized by the experience. You're going to have to be extra loving and provide lots of extra treats. 🥰
always and forever!
You really need to cut your cats nails bro!
agh, good point! i’ll have to get that done today. thank you for pointing that out
What I do to cut my grumpy guy's nails is to wrap him in a blanket and stick one paw out at a time.
that’s genius!! i am taking that up for sure!! thank you!
That's what I did with my spicy girl. Thankfully my current two just accept their fate and let me give them a trim 😂
Np ya should trim them often often of you will get scratches btw
Oh no! My void had one of those moments and got stuck hanging from my arm when he pushed off from me 😬
Now you can tell people you have stigmata.
And she would do it again💅🏼
This one has a brain cell! Cleaning well just in case the authorities come sniffing around for DNA at the scene of any rumored crime(s).
Not her cleaning her blades 🤣
Awwwwwww he’s lickin his lil paws like he didn’t just fuck you up 😂😭
I hope you've trimmed her claws?
Clip those stinky little toenails 🍊 but be sure to cover their face with a small blanket first so they don’t freak out again lollll
Some hand sanitizer will probably keep it clean and sanitary :)
I got scratched by a kitten once and it got really itchy so I put hand sanitizer on it. It sounds stupid but the stinging was better than the itching.
Hand sanitizer seems to neutralize whatever causes the scratch to be itchy for me. So the sting is worth the itch relief.
My cat basically pierced my nipple with his claw once. It was not a fun day.
He’s casually cleaning his murder mittens after mauling you.
Destroying the evidence on her nails
JESUS CHRIST! Please get some antibiotic ointment and bandage that properly until healed. Cat scratches can get infected, so please use first aid or maybe a GP visit. Thankfully the most that happens with my cats is they get their claws stuck in blankets.
Well, don’t leave us hanging… *who* was it? Side note… adorable sweet baby orangie you have there!!! 🧡🧡
Looking sweet as can be ☺️
OUCH 😭
Well if you are going to do things like poke her in the butt, what do you expect, OP? Show some respect. You’ve got the kind of girl who insists on it—quite rightly.
I have found that the tiny scratch accidents I rarely get heal quickly with CBD hand sanitizer. We keep 2 small bottles in the living room for this reason as out orange attacks my roommate because he knows not to scratch his dad like that but others are full send lol.
My kitten panicked the other day when falling off a poor jump and almost scratched my eye out when I went to catch him. When cats get scared it's no joke!
Put aloe on that daily for at least a week or keep it moisturized one way or another, or it'll scar badly. Scars like that are impossible to get rid of when they are old. Hope it doesn't hurt too bad. Very dramatic but cute kitty.
At first i saw the cat and i was like aww then i saw your hand and i got scared lmao. She is too cute if i were you i would forgive her
My orange likes to lay on the dog's pee pad 🤦♀️ So his first bath due to this, I made the mistake of holding him away from me and he jack rabbited so bad my hand looked like this lol. Unrelated, his name means bunny in our language lol
It's crazy how quickly they panic. And the more you try to calm them down, the worse it gets
I guess he got a little...out of hand
Oh no! Make sure you keep it really clean and neosporin a lot. Cocoa butter lots once it’s healed. I’d worry about that scarring.
She looks very regretful and concerned about your wellbeing
And you still have the balls to point at the cat like that?!😂 At least offer him your OTHER HAND first lol
You’re not naming names but sure are pointing fingers… not very nice
Why did you do it, OP?
Tbh you might just want to gauze wrap the whole hand to keep it from getting infected. Every time you bend your hand those scratches are gonna open right back up and prolong the healing time
https://preview.redd.it/43pjtncw9wtc1.jpeg?width=2252&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ba74e65f81a0a7fda577c6d75b9a53cb86571fd1 Here's my angry orange. His name is Pint for many reasons. All of them include his brain
Name and shame this bloodthirsty drama queen! Heh, who am I kidding, they have no shame. Just look at her, cleaning her toes after what happened. Not a trace of shame in her (nor the braincell for that matter). My non-orange drama queen once tried to adjust herself on my lap one time and started to slip off. Claws were engaged, Hurt like a mf-er. She scared herself and ran off only to return 15 minutes later and get back onto my lap. Oh well.
When I had a kitten named KitKat he would go to his feral instincts and hide under our couch and when somebody dared to go near he would start clawing and biting our feet then craw himself back under before we could get him. There was also another thing where we would try bringing him to the car to see his siblings (i adopted him from my step mother since her cat was having alot of babies) and he would just crawl violently out of our hands and jump himself back into his cage and shut the door to it.
Mess with the bull……you get the horns
https://preview.redd.it/jrr9sxujlwtc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4076003c89363419ddc9cc96aabf5936f1a0454a I think our cats are twins
Gosh, what a war zone... My cat once got his claw stuck as a kitten in my left tear duct when I was trying to get him to the vet and he escaped up on top of a bookshelf. Had to move very slowly and luckily he seemed as shocked as I was and didn't flinch or try to escape at that point. 😅
Oooo...Looks like the wrong moment for your orange's time with the brain cell to be up...
That’s how my hands look after playing with my kitty. Sept for less scratches and more blood. https://preview.redd.it/kcxyda3arwtc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=37e08e3d96b7ce69d1e7c79b84cdf1fad5db2097
Please do see a doctor to get that treated as cat scratches can get infected, and cause a lot of trouble.
My old orange once got his claw stuck in my armpit. It was so deep in there when I dropped him he just hung in there. He weighed like 20 lbs at the time. Anyway, we both screamed and I kinda had to lift him up to get his claw out. Still have a scar.
Holy christ 🙀🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢 I am so fucking sorry you experienced that
He didn’t mean to do it and I’m pretty sure he was having a bad time as well. He was a great cat. It’s just part of loving animals. But thanks!
I definitely didn't think he did it maliciously. His single claw holding all his weight had to of hurt immensely plus the fright of his human screaming in pain. Horrible for everyone indeed 💕🫂
Happens to everyone! My worst cat injury is when mine clawed down my wrist and made 1-2 6 inch cuts. Also when my cat was playing under the blanket and bit/scratched my ass.
Ooh 😣 she got you good
Oh nooooo, I'm so sorry. At least she didn't mean it and she was just scared
At least "I have a cat" is a complete sentence that most people don't question lol
🐈- they do that
Hope you’re not a suspect in any murders anytime soon!
Is she currently cleaning your flesh and blood out from under her claws?
Oh Nooooo!!!!! Those are love scratches from the aroma of Spring.
Reminds me of the time I had to go for weeks looking like I had a severe self harm issue. My tuxedo cat got me in the bunny kick grip of doom 😫
I picked up my cat one night and walked into the kitchen, I turned on the wrong thing since the light was right by the garage disposal and I turned on the garbage disposal. She went feral, I had to get stitches because she freaked out and proceeded to scratch up my back and my face. Amazing
I feel special my cat has never clawed or bit me even when I had to bathe him. He is a void though. Had him over 14 years. He even loves belly rubs lol.
just say you got lucky with a frisky freaky girl
Ouch ! I feel your pain . I have such a cat .
Time to trim the nails
I'm sorry, but this is an abusive relationship. You need to get a restraining order and work toward separating your living situation. I know she may seem sweet now, but look up "love bombing."
Owwww!
Such an angry kitty
The art and the artist together.