Don't let a cat get your hand

This week has been the best of times and the worst of times for my mother. I just returned from taking her to the emergency room for a third doctor's visit dealing with a cat bite. On Tuesday, she received a glowing report from her cardiologist on her congestive heart disease. So far, she hasn't been in a frame of mind to celebrate.

It all started shortly before she was supposed to go to her semi-annual check-up with the cardiologist. Her much beloved cat, Rowdy, was playing with her cane as he frequently does. When she reached down to pick it up, he continued to play and accidentally grabbed her hand with his teeth. He left a couple of wounds, which she washed and treated immediately with neosporin.

I came to pick her up, and we went on to the appointment, which included an echo-cardiogram. By the time that test was finished, she looked at her hand, and a significant hematoma had formed. The hand also started hurting. After other tests were completed and the doctor gave her the wonderful report that her heart has improved significantly, we headed off to her other doctor's office for the cat bite.

The wound was dressed. She received a tetanus shot, and the doctor prescribed a strong antibiotic cream and instructed her to keep moist heat on the hand and change the dressing a few times each day. By the next day, her hand had swollen even more. When it was still swollen yesterday morning (like a Pillsbury doughboy's), we went immediately back to the doctor. He prescribed some antiobiotics and told her to keep it elevated.

Yesterday afternoon, she seemed to be on the mend, even though the hand was still swollen and still giving her excruciating pain. This morning I received a call at 5 a.m. to come and pick her up and take her to the ER. A red streak was moving up her arm, and the swelling had not gone down.

So, we went to the Emergency Room, where they agreed it was a good decision. She received an I-V antibiotic and another different prescription for antibiotics to take twice daily. One of the nurses also had to cut her heirloom ring from her finger. The ring can be fixed, by the way. Mother is now home, and I have to go back to town when the pharmacy is open for the new antibiotic. She is to report back to the ER tomorrow for observation and possibly more IV's.

I've heard stories about cat bites before, but I've never seen the real consequences until now. My advice, after this experience, is not to waste any time going to the doctor when you receive a cat bite of any kind. It's a frustrating situation at best, and we still don't know how long it's going to take her to get past this so that she can revel in the news that her heart is in better shape than it's been for years.