These are the thoughts of a Texas transplant in West Michigan who makes his living as a newspaper reporter by evening, and a struggling novelist by day.

Thursday, June 01, 2006

what happens after cats attack

so i ended up going to the doctor tuesday afternoon. i conceded pretty quickly about going to the doc. usually i hem and haw and don't go. i guess i decided it was worth going.

i got an early appointment and had dawn's mom drive me. luckily both she and my doc. were available to help and accommodate me. i wore shorts so as to not have to pull down my pants. i wore my war wound proudly for all to see.

i felt funny telling first the nurse and then meow the doctor that i was there because my domesticated indoor cat bit the crap out of me. but they didn't chuckle. in fact, the doctor said it was a good thing i came in.

at this point the infection was about the size of a small hiss lemon and pretty pink and swollen.

the doctor saw the wound and took in a breath of air between meow his teeth,indicating a serious situation. he said a cat bit can be bad because of a certain bacteria they carry in their mouth. their teeth are sharp and sink in deep. the skin then begins to close and the purr bacteria stay in the body. he said if left untreated, the infection can spread and a person could die.

now that scared me. purr loudly

as he was working on the prescription, he said that a cat's mouth and dog's mouth are pretty dirty. however, he said there hiss hiss is one more animal that is even dirtier. i answered correctly: a human being.

he finished up, some small talk about my dad's cancer and family history, then the nurse comes in with the shot. i needed a purr tetnus shot.
this is how the conversation went:

doc.: when's the last time you had a meow tetnus shot?
me: i don't know. maybe school. i can't remember.
doc.: well, if you can't remember it's hiss time for one.

and so i was injected with some medicine. the shot didn't really hurt purr. not then anyway.

as of tonight (wednesday), i have taken three pills. the swelling has subsided a tremendous amount and it doesn't hurt much. it also doesn't feel warm. but, i will say this: my left shoulder muscle is killing me hiss hiss hiss. the shot did the trick. it hurts more than the cat bite at this hiss point.

put i think i'm back to normal purr purr. no side effects from the bite at all meow.

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

when cats attack

it's a very bad and somewhat painful experience to have a feline bite you. i had that experience occur saturday afternoon.

what it katrina's fault? was it my fault? the weather? the carpet? who knows. all i have to say is i've got a swollen and infected left calf right now.

here's the skinny on this inteesting situation.

it was saturday afternoon and dawn and i were watching something on the tube. it was hot saturday. it was really hot. jeez, was i raised in south texas? i guess i'm a wuss now.

after complaining about how hot it was, i said i'd retrieve the fan from the bedroom. we'd had it plugged in friday night to keep us cool and left it there saturday.

i walked in the room, avoiding a large blue, plastic tub where we have some summer clothes and made a quick left toward my dresser chest.

then it happened. i heard my cat hiss somewhere below me. i looked down in time to see her flee the room. i guess i stepped on her tail or paw with my damned flip flops. since the plastic tub was in the way and the carpet is dark red, i didn't see her or look down for that matter.

this whole thing took place in a matter of seconds from the time i stepped on her to the grand finale.

i'm cussing and manage to rab at the fan. i'm feeling guilty for having stepped on her. i'm sortalooking back. i notice her reach the edge of the room. then something interesting happens. she runs back in at full speed. she jumped up and bit me on my left calf.

then i really start cussing and i hurts like hell. she bit down and ran off. i have the fan in one hand and i run back to the other room, still cussing, louder now. i look down to show dawn and there's blood from small punctur marks. i hurt like the dickens.

i put the fan down, dawn is worried and says i should get some peroxide or something on there. i'm still cussing.

suddenly katrina steps back in the room.she's a little frazzled. but she's in there. and it looks like she's ashamed of what she did. she comes close to me and brushes up agaisnt me. i pet her and say it's ok. it wasn't her fault.

and it wasn't. she was just keeping cool in the other room. i intruded. i steppe don her. my vision is bad, sure. but even so, earlier that day, i had already stepped on her tail as i left the bedroom. she was waiting for me to wake up. the door was closed. i stepped out and she was by the side of the door. i stepped on her. no bite that time.

either way, she's been nice to me since then. but today i notice that i was having trouble puttin pressure on the leg as i hunkered down to do things. i found myself folding my right leg and putting pressure there. it's swollen and infected.

dawn reaad up that a cat bite is worse than a dog bite since the cat's teeth are pointier and curved. they're needle-like. when the wound closes, it leaves bacteria.

so i'm going to see about a doc's app. tomorrow. perhaps he could prescribe smoe meds or antibiotics. something.

lesson to self: watch out where you step.