No good deed goes unpunished!

[gemini2727]

"And the odds you'll become ill or die due to a scratch are roughly the same as winning the lottery."

And once in a while, someone wins the lottery, don't they?

Not to belabor the point, but rabies is nothing to play with. I agree that the OP will very likely not contract rabies from her scratches, but what a chance to take! The NYS Board of Health was clear to us that my daughter needed the vaccine after her feral cat scratch...

A Disney online community may not be the best place for advice on proper animal rescue, but it is also not a great place to get medical advice on something so serious, which is why I would recommend calling her doctor.

[manning]

Originally Posted by MomRN

Right now if you go into the ER with cat scratches you'll likely leave with the flu.

I think you handled the situation appropriately. You cleaned the wound and I'm sure you will watch for infection. No, you probably shouldn't mess with stray cats, but you probably already know that and the risks you take.

You a nurse? What's your advise about possible exposure of rabies doctor?

[hellow]

While I don't want to belittle the OP for her kind efforts (I can understand how a feral kitten could seem a little less difficult to catch and cage), I did get a shock when I read that someone in Oregon got the Plague from being bitten by a cat. The owner was trying to retrieve a mouse from the cat's mouth and got bitten in the process. I know the man was in the hospital for many weeks, had some amputations, and for a while they didn't think he would live.

It is truly amazing how a seemingly harmless animal can wreak such havoc on people.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/oregon-...ry?id=16806758

[coopersmom]

Originally Posted by gemini2727

"And the odds you'll become ill or die due to a scratch are roughly the same as winning the lottery."

And once in a while, someone wins the lottery, don't they?

Not to belabor the point, but rabies is nothing to play with. I agree that the OP will very likely not contract rabies from her scratches, but what a chance to take! The NYS Board of Health was clear to us that my daughter needed the vaccine after her feral cat scratch...

A Disney online community may not be the best place for advice on proper animal rescue, but it is also not a great place to get medical advice on something so serious, which is why I would recommend calling her doctor.

You are correct that a Disney forum is NOT the place to go for medical advice, and I would never dream of advising AGAINST seeing a doctor. I was just trying to inject some common sense and preclude any fear, because the reality is that getting rabies from a cat scratch is virtually impossible, in real-world medical terms, even if you were scratched by a cat that turned out to be rabid, which even a feral kitten is EXTREMELY unlikely to be.

There are less than 300 cases of rabies PER YEAR amongst cats in the entire United States, according to the CDC. And that's out of roughly 90 million cats. (Dog rabies is even rarer, at well less than 100 cases per year.)

And other illnesses, like cat scratch fever, while possible, are rarely serious. The vast majority of cases of cat scratch fever, which may sound like a scary disease, don't even require medical care (see: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002581/).

The thing you should be concerned about, if anything, is infection, and, obviously, if the scratch shows any signs of pus, severe or worsening redness or swelling, or becomes hot to the touch, then you should be worried and seek medical attention. Otherwise, keeping the wound clean and dry is a very reasonable course of action.

[gemini2727]

Originally Posted by coopersmom

You are correct that a Disney forum is NOT the place to go for medical advice, and I would never dream of advising AGAINST seeing a doctor. I was just trying to inject some common sense and preclude any fear, because the reality is that getting rabies from a cat scratch is virtually impossible, in real-world medical terms, even if you were scratched by a cat that turned out to be rabid, which even a feral kitten is EXTREMELY unlikely to be.

There are less than 300 cases of rabies PER YEAR amongst cats in the entire United States, according to the CDC. And that's out of roughly 90 million cats. (Dog rabies is even rarer, at well less than 100 cases per year.)

And other illnesses, like cat scratch fever, while possible, are rarely serious. The vast majority of cases of cat scratch fever, which may sound like a scary disease, don't even require medical care (see: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002581/).

The thing you should be concerned about, if anything, is infection, and, obviously, if the scratch shows any signs of pus, severe or worsening redness or swelling, or becomes hot to the touch, then you should be worried and seek medical attention. Otherwise, keeping the wound clean and dry is a very reasonable course of action.

To each his own. I have never regretted getting the vaccine for my daughter. I could not have lived with the worry, since we are talking about a fatal disease, no matter how small the risk. That being said, I'm done, best of luck to OP

[IheartMickey]

I went out on the porch tonight to try and get some pictures of the one I picked up but he wasn't cooperating. He disappeared once my flash went on. These are the healthy looking bigger cats in the colony. And no I didn't touch or feed them. I just talked to them.

http://youtu.be/CmnQZAW856o

[sunshinehighway]

Originally Posted by IheartMickey

I went out on the porch tonight to try and get some pictures of the one I picked up but he wasn't cooperating. He disappeared once my flash went on. These are the healthy looking bigger cats in the colony. And no I didn't touch or feed them. I just talked to them.

http://youtu.be/CmnQZAW856o

Did they talk back? Seriously you need to just leave them alone.

[Allison]

Why do you need a picture? Let them be.

[sissy_ib]

OP, I know you moved recently. Are stray cats something that you had not encountered before? I think you are looking at them and seeing pets. They are not.
You need to look at them as you would a raccoon or any other wild animal. These cats are wild and need to be left alone. As far as your scratch I hope nothing comes of it. Please don't put yourself in the position to be hurt by one of these animals again.

[IheartMickey]

Originally Posted by sissy_ib

OP, I know you moved recently. Are stray cats something that you had not encountered before? I think you are looking at them and seeing pets. They are not.
You need to look at them as you would a raccoon or any other wild animal. These cats are wild and need to be left alone. As far as your scratch I hope nothing comes of it. Please don't put yourself in the position to be hurt by one of these animals again.

No, I never encountered them in New York. You're right.. I am seeing a pet when I look at them.

[phorsenuf]

Originally Posted by gemini2727

<snip>"And the odds you'll become ill or die due to a scratch are roughly the same as winning the lottery."

I'm willing to bet that when my son contracted cat scratch fever and had to have a lymph node removed, he would have rather had won the lottery.

[IheartMickey]

Originally Posted by sissy_ib

OP, I know you moved recently. Are stray cats something that you had not encountered before? I think you are looking at them and seeing pets. They are not.
You need to look at them as you would a raccoon or any other wild animal. These cats are wild and need to be left alone. As far as your scratch I hope nothing comes of it. Please don't put yourself in the position to be hurt by one of these animals again.

I've been sitting here thinking more about this. I came from a really populated built up area, the only thing I ever came across were lost dogs with collars. I'd go up to them, check if they were friendly and then call their owner. I've done that 3 times.

I also volunteered for a animal rescue and they always gave me the intimidating dogs like dobermans or rottweilers because I have no fear of animals. I've always been like this though, I don't remember ever fearing any type of animal and when I see them I immediately put human feelings on them. I'm constantly trying to pet the ducks by our pond, and when I went to Ireland I pet a sheep and a giant swan that was laying in the grass. I yearn for some sort of connection. I guess I'm getting all psychological about it. I'll stop rambling now.

[IDoDis]

A friend of mine petted a stray cat and got scratched. She didn't think anything of it until a week later when she started going blind! Her vision started closing in on her and every day it got worse and worse until she could barely see. The docs didn't know what she had and did testing for things like MS on her which all came back negative. Then she remembered about the cat scratching her and called the doctor back. After more tests, she found out she had Cat Scratch Fever. After over a month, she started to slowly get her vision back. It was due to some kind of swelling which in turn blocked her vision.

[RadioNate]

Originally Posted by IheartMickey

No, I never encountered them in New York. You're right.. I am seeing a pet when I look at them.

These are not pets. They are stray feral cats. Huge difference.

And "petting" the ducks in the pond? In Florida?

I lived in FL. Sooner or later there will be a gator in that pond. Gators like stray cats too.

None of these animals are pets.

[ilovepcot]

I understand not wanting to see animals go hungry. Unfortunately, putting food out will eventually attract animals you don't want close to your residence. Some really do have potential to harm you or small children playing outside.