What should I do if my cat bites me and it bleeds? Should I get a rabies vaccine if my cat bites me and it bleeds?

Cats like to play with their owners, but sometimes they can be very irritable. For example, some cats don't like to take a bath or have their nails trimmed. If the owner forces the cat to take a bath or have their nails trimmed, the cat may accidentally bite the owner when resisting. So, what should you do if your cat bites you and makes you bleed?

What to do if your cat bites you and causes bleeding

Whether you are bitten by a cat or a dog, the wound should be treated immediately, whether it bleeds or not.

First, clean the wound with soapy water, and then disinfect it with alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, iodine, etc. If it is just a minor scrape, you do not need to see a doctor immediately; if there is bleeding, but the wound is not large or deep, you can observe it for a while after it stops bleeding on its own; but if the bleeding is severe, tie the proximal end with a tourniquet (or a wider bandage), press the wound with gauze to stop bleeding, and then go to the nearest hospital for treatment. For wounds with high exposure levels (bites and scratches of severe degree), you should treat the wound yourself and go to the hospital as soon as possible to get a vaccine or even serum. The earlier the injection, the better the prevention effect.

If the owner wants to get rabies vaccine or serum, please go to a human hospital, not a pet hospital. First, the rabies vaccine in a pet hospital is for animals; second, pet hospitals are not qualified to practice medicine for humans.

If a cat bite causes bleeding, should I get a rabies vaccine?

It still needs to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis.

If your cat is vaccinated against rabies regularly every year and is a domestic cat that does not go out often, the chance of it carrying rabies is very low. If your cat is a wild cat and may come into contact with wild animals that carry rabies (such as bats, raccoons, etc.), the chance of it carrying rabies is higher. However, domestic pet cats generally do not contract rabies.

Therefore, if the wound is not very serious, and the cat has been vaccinated against rabies in a formal place in strict accordance with the immunization procedure, the owner can not get vaccinated. If the cat is normal within 7 days, the owner can also breathe a sigh of relief. But if you want to seek peace of mind, there is no harm in getting vaccinated. After all, some people are more afraid of rabies and even have "rabies paranoia". So if you want to seek peace of mind, you can also get a rabies vaccine.

What vaccines should I get if I'm bitten by a cat?

In addition to rabies, tetanus and cat scratch fever are also diseases that may be contracted after being bitten or scratched by a cat, but the probability is low, and owners with normal immune systems usually will not be infected. However, tetanus bacteria exist in the soil, and if cats often go out to play, they may also carry bacteria. Again, if you want to seek peace of mind, it is ok to get a tetanus vaccine by the way.