Suggest Treatment For Swollen Wound In Hand After Being Bitten By A Cat

Posted on Fri, 24 Jul 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 24 Jul 2015 Answered on

Thu, 13 Aug 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : HI. My cat bit me on the hand yesterday. It really hurt all last night, but is better today. However, it does look swollen and red right around the puncture. Yesterday I could not bend my finger, but it is better today. I cleaned it with hydrogen peroxide right after, and put Neosporin on it. Is there anything I should watch for? Is redness and swelling normal? Thanks!
XXXX

Answered by Dr. Prof. Kunal Saha (3 hours later)

Brief Answer:
You should get rabies immunization without delay.

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking on HealthcareMagic.
The swelling and redness around the bite site indicates localized inflammation which could indicate the possibility of some bacterial infection and application of Neosporin should help. But what is more concerning is that cats have the possibility of being infected by a disease called rabies which is 100% lethal in humans. Hence, I am sure that you would like to get rabies immunization without delay. The thing to watch out for is whether the cat is behaving normally. However, if in the next 10 days nothing untoward happens to the cat, you can assume the cat not to be rabid and can skip the remaining doses of anti-rabies vaccine after that.
Regards

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar