Tuesday, June 17, 2025

Dog and Cat Bites in Doomsday

Disclaimer.  I am not a licensed health practitioner.  This is just another post on knowledge and understanding you might wish to acquire in advance of a disaster in case no higher care is available.  As long as our society is functioning, you should leave anything more substantial than applying a Band-Aid to the professionals.  No medication, including those available over the counter, should be taken without consulting a physician.  Information shared here is for educational and entertainment purposes only.  It is not medical advice nor a substitute for licensed medical care. 


Dog and cat bites happen all the time now; they could well become more common in a future day when children spend more time with pets and less time at school or on electronic devices.   Knowing how to treat bites and being prepared to do so is a basic skill no one should lack.

As always, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  Children should be taught from a very young age to stay away from an animal that is eating, as well as one that is playing too roughly.  And of course, all should stay away from an animal that is angry or aggressive.

BITES IN GENERAL

All animal bites should be cleaned thoroughly with clean, soapy tap water or sterile water or saline.  Use a blunt tip syringe or bulb syringe to irrigate underlying tissues.  Taking 8-10 minutes to do this would not be excessive.  Your best bet is to wash away all bacteria and any remaining tooth fragments to prevent infection.  Jagged edges of skin may need to be trimmed away for better healing.

Lacerations, where the skin is torn, are managed differently than punctures.  In general, lacerations may be closed.  And in general, punctures are not closed until five days after the injury, when there is no sign of infection.  

Animal bites to the hands do not get closed by any means.  All are considered grossly contaminated, even after immediate and thorough cleaning, and are extremely prone to infection.  That bacteria must not get trapped in the wound by closing it.  If the bite is on the arm or hand, all jewelry gets removed, even if it's far away from the bite. Of course, the same would go for anklets and toe rings if the bite happened to be on the leg.  Bites to the face and neck may be closed if the bite occurred less than 12 hours ago.

If no infection has set in five days after the bite occurred, then the wound may be closed.


DOG BITES

Dog bites account for about 85% of domestic animal bite wounds.  Of these, about 20% will be serious enough to warrant professional medical attention.  Dog bites involve the hands about two-thirds of the time and the face the remaining one-third.  Children ages 5 to 9 years are most at risk.  Statistics show that the biting dog is known to the child 70% of the time, and half the time the children say the attack was unprovoked.

The bacteria most commonly found in dog bites are Streptococcus viridans, Bacteroides, and Staphylococcus aureus, but Pasteurella multocida is also sometimes found.  

Prophylactic treatment for dog bites most often prescribed by physicians is Augmentin, 250-500 mg, three times per day, for three to five days.  This prophylactic treatment is begun immediately after the dog bite, before any signs of infection are observed.  It is to prevent an infection from developing.  Alternative prophylactic antibiotic regimens include:
  • penicillin, 500 mg, four times per day, for three to five days;
  • amoxicillin, 500 mg, three times per day, for three to five days;
  • doxycycline, 50-100 mg, twice per day, for three to five days (but not for children under the age of nine, or pregnant or nursing women);
  • erythromycin, 250-500 mg, three to four times per day, for three to five days;
  • do not use cephalexin.
For an established infection, the same antibiotics are prescribed, but for seven to ten days.

CAT BITES (AND SCRATCHES)

Everything about cat bites also applies to cat scratches, though most scratches are superficial and do not cause any trouble.  If the scratch is deeper, treat it like a bite.  Cat bites account for about 15% of domestic animal bites and most are on the handsMost victims are adult women, it's usually the hands that are affected, and based on statistics, most of the time the cat was provoked.

Physicians always take a cat bite seriously.  Most cats carry the Pasteurella multocida bacteria, and every cat bite should be considered infected.   Cat bites on the back of the hand are particularly troubling because the infection can quickly spread to underlying tendons. 

Prophylactic treatment for cat bites is highly recommended.  It is not being wasteful or careless with resources.  You have the same choices as for dog bites.  Just as for dogs, prophylactic treatment is administered for 3-5 days.  If any sign of infection is present, antibiotics are administered for 7-10 days.

Links to related posts:
Acquiring Antibiotics
Lacerations
Puncture Wounds
Suturing
Rabies--Can Anything Be Done?  

For further reading:
https://www.aafp.org/afp/2014/0815/p239.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2094772/
https://www.aafp.org/afp/2001/0415/p1567.html
https://www.nps.org.au/australian-prescriber/articles/management-of-bite-injuries

 2 july 2019

6 comments:

  1. Jennifer, I want to thank you for all the work you put into sharing information with us. I am not one to comment on blogs often, but I read yours daily and have learned SO much from it. I just felt that it is time to give you a big thanks!

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    1. Thank you so much. It's comments like yours that keep me going.

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  2. animal bites - including bites from former domestic pets gone feral - could be an almost daily hazard in an urban TEOTWAWKI area of the country ...

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    1. I think the feral former house pets will become the most dangerous of all, especially for young children.

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  3. A few years ago I had a dog bite, from a puppy, that was both a puncture and a laceration. I went to a walkin clinic and the doctor said that it would take 2-3 stitches. But since it was a dog bite, she wouldn't stitch it. She said to soak it in Epsom Salts in hot tap water, as hot as I could stand, 4X a day for two weeks. And apply a prescription antibiotic cream 4X daily. Next time I'll know to get a prescription tablet as well. Thankyou for all your work. SJ in Vancouver BC Canada

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  4. ditto on the domestic pets going feral >> one of the more distasteful post-SHTF chores will be clearing home of any pets before they can go feral - for the smaller dogs it'll be a mercy kill ....

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