Re: OT Feral Cat Bite - bartonella

[Guest guest]

Knot weed,

" Cat scratch disease " can be very serious. You really have to keep an

eye on the bite area for a couple weeks after the bite, even if it

seems to have healed (even if you're on ab's) and watch for any

persistent fevers or swollen glands. It can resolve on it's own or go

deeper into other systems. It's the same organism as the tick

bartonella. Red streaking is also associated with tick-mediated bart.

As with tick born diseases, people with compromised immune systems

are more susceptible as are some people with seemingly healthy

immune systems. Many people get bitten by infected ticks (or cats)

and never get ill.

I knew a very healthy veterinarian who spent a couple years unable to

perform surgery and needing prolonged antibiotic and physical therapy

from a cat bite. She recovered.

Take care,

Aviva

On Mar 16, 2010, at 3:59 PM, knot_weed wrote:

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> > People can get a bartonella infection from a cat( " cat scratch

> > disease " ) through a bite or scratch. Watch for fever, inflamation,

> > redness or red streaks at/near the bite wound.

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> isn't this another type of Bartonella than the one you can get from

> a tick byte? In my country we are told the 'cat scratch disease'

> will almost always heal spontaneously (maybe just bad advice like

> with lyme disease?).

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