Scratched by feral cat on foot, should I be concerned?

I was trapping in my grandmothers neighborhood yesterday for feral and strays. She lives on neighborhood over from me with the few acres of woods in between, so cats tend to bounce around between my area and her area.

I trapped a gray and white cat aprx. 6 months old. I got her to the clinic just fine and set her down. As I was walking past to go in the door to sign us in, she managed to reach her paw threw the trap and rip my foot open. I'd say it was in a malicious way and not just a friendly grab.

Several people saw it happen and I ran to the car and grabbed some Wet Ones antibacterial wipes and began squeezing them over the wound and cleaning it out.

It wouldn't stop bleeding so I went inside for some help and showed the staff. They told me to head into the bathroom and wash the scratches with soap and water. I sat back down and had a papertowel over it and it took a bit of time to stop bleeding.

There is one particular area where she dug her nail under my skin. You guys probably know what I mean by that, where you get the circular cut and it bruises around it. She hooked me with one of her claws basically.


I'm about to go get a shower now. I kept it cleaned out all day by washing it but couldn't find my anti bacterial stuff.

Should I be worried? Or is it just about as dangerous as being scratched by my outside cat Buddy? I was thinking of going to the hospital, but the staff there said I shouldn't be too worried and just keep it clean. I was just wondering if anyone else had any advice. Its not looking that bad other then where she hooked me.

I know statistics say feral cats are about as healthy as house cats (very true), but myself and my mom were just kind of wondering if I should go to the doctors to make sure she didn't scratch me with a dirty paw and give me worms or something crazy like that.


Thank you! :D

I would keep a close eye on it. If it looks like it is getting red around it or there is a red line growing from it then get thy butt to the docs. But keep a CLOSE eye on it! Scratches from cats aren't something to fool with. Feral or not. You can pick up some nasty crap, not worms, from them at times if they are carriers. On the other hand, if I ran to the doctors every time I got a scratch, bite from one of my ferals I would be living there. Keep it clean and apply antibacterial salve.

My mom is always yelling about something called cat scratch fever. Anything I need to worry about?

Last time she got attacked by that evil calico cat I had named Remmie she went and got a tetanus shot. I don't know when I had one of those last o-O

My foot is a little itchy, but overall the only spot that looks bad after washing it out in the shower is where she got her nail under. Its not purple anymore but it's red around it and more swollen then the rest.


Man that kitty was super mean. I've never had one scratch me before! Evilll kittyyyy :evil:

This site gives you signs and symtoms/ what to watch for. It doesn't have to be a feral kitty. Any cat can do it.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/cat_scratch.html

If you can't remember the last time you've had a tentanus it's probalby time for another. They are good for 10 years now.

Thanks again. Being I'm 16, and they are good for 10 years, I probably did have one within that time frame. I just have a bad memory.

Well, I'm going to try to find my antibiotic cream. I'm having bad luck with animals lately. So it's best I treat this seriously. I'm allergic to something at the shelters I go to/work with, and it's possibly dogs or a cleaner at this point. So I've been breaking out in rashes every-time I'm at the shelter.

August has not been a good month to me so far :o

I'll keep an eye on the scratches... hopefully she didn't give me anything but I'm unfamiliar with the cats in my grandmothers neighborhood so I'd rather be more cautious then usual.

I got a bad bite from a feral a while back and had to have a tetanis shot... I couldn't recall when the last one was either. I just try to keep all nasty scratches cleaned with peroxide a few times a day and I also use Gold Bond itch cream on them when they get to that unbearable itchy stage.

Feral or non-feral, I would go to a clinic and get some antibiotics to be on the safe side. My daughter works in a shelter and even though she is upto date with her tetanus shots, when she was working in cat rehab, a couple of times she had bad reactions to bites and scratches.