Sounds awful.

Bad luck won't continue forever. Maybe you're past the worst and the future will be happier.

In the meantime, do go to urgent care and follow the advice or meds given to you. Cat scratches can lead to worse things and if you don't get treated, those worse things (heaven forbid) won't be blamable on having had more bad luck. Best wishes.

PS - 4900 miles in 5 years is quite an accomplishment, one few can match.

Go to urgent care and get antibiotics and possibly a tetanus shot. The scratch could be damaging to your health.

Go to urgent care and let the Health Care professional assess and determine if you need antibiotics or other treatment.

It won’t hurt to go to UC.

It’s been 10 days. Has it gotten worse? Any better.?

After the deep scratch (?) did you wash the wound with soap and water?

Did you apply anything like bacitracin ointment to it? Did you soak in tub or shower?

Have you had a tetanus shot within the past 8 to 10 years?

It is still swollen after 10 days? Sore to touch?

If swollen, sore to touch and not getting better, I‘d go to UC.

Photo?

BTW, do you trim you cat’s nails? Good thing to do. You can get a pet comfortable with your touching its nails, conditioning them. And always go easy with the trimmers, just trim off a small amount with good sharp pet nail clippers.

Even with adopted strays and shelter animals, I could aways trim my pets’ nails. One tuxedo cat would even let me trim his rear nails while he was eating ;)

I hope your wound heals soon.

The wound is scabbed. I used antibacterial ointment on it and bandaged it. Now Im not using anything but putting organic coconut oil on the red skin, not touching the scab. It doesn't hurt to touch the red area.

Re: cats. Two of mine are declawed which is the way they were when I rescued them. I'd never do it. The neurotic mess is Willie which is another reason this is a bad month. He has been hiding in the basement although is healthy eating/drinking well but acting strange so haven't trimmed his claws yet.

I'm good with Tetanus shot. I just don't want to take antibiotics.

You do not want cat scratch fever and best to rule it out. Especially if you have any red streaks that are spreading.

Also, I hope they are not concerned, provide reassurance and maybe another topical treatment and send you home to take care of your back!

Okay, I suspect you're fine. It has scabbed over. Maybe the bit ofpink and swelling is from a scabbed area that is a bit tight.

Aquaphor ointment is very helpful for healing (clean) wound like that.

I now know what kitty got you —the beautiful boy at that like to hang out on the beams in the cellar? He is so adorable and handsome.

Take care and keep us posted.

So sorry for all of this! Most frustrating.

Two suggestions for you.

Is there an immediate medical care place, not an ER, where they can look at your wound? We have a number in our area, and usually you can make an appointment on line so you don't have to wait so long once you get there.

Or...draw a circle with a marker around the edge of the red part. If it doesn't go beyond the circle, you're most likely ok. If it does go beyond the circle then get to the ER. That is assuming the circle around the wound isn't very big.

DH had a cat bite in the back of his hand...bites are worse than claws... hands are worse than legs.... He was in abject pain and his hand was very swollen. He ended up getting antibiotic injection, heavy duty antibiotics, went to an infectious specialist, spent 2 weeks with a port where he had to go daily to the hospital for antibiotic infusions and continued with other antibiotics for a total of 6 weeks. If it wasn't for all that, he could've lost his hand.

But what they did after the injection and heavy duty antibiotics was to draw a line in marker where the red ended. If it went beyond that, he was told to get to the ER immediately.

I agree with Annie. We have a great walk-in clinic we gave been for 30 years.

Many Urgent Crevoffices have popped up lately.

You don’t want to sit with an infection.

Speedy recovery.

Lily, how is that cat scratch? Better, I hope? what did you end up doing?

Thanks for asking, Petalique. Despite the naggings of my family and my grandson, who got in on the advice, I did not go to Urgent Care. Although the leg is not pretty, there is a large scab that is shrinking and is a tiny bit swollen, it doesn't hurt anymore and is not red. I appreciated the advice given here on bandages and outlining the edge. I have an Urgent Care four miles away and Patient First closer than that. If it had suddenly gotten worse, I would have headed over there. The back is slowly getting back to normal, although I get PTSD every day when I pass the spot where I fell.

Glad to hear you're on the mend!

Take care, I hope you are feeling better

Annie's story about her husband's battle with a cat bite hit home. I have never been bitten but know a few people who have, including my own daughter. One of her indoor only cats escaped, and she ran out to pick him up, and he went nuts and bit her on the hand. Thankfully after it became swollen she sought medical attention. A worse case was when I found a feral kitten at the back of my yard and called my friend who worked for a rescue group. Of all the cats I have rescued, none were feral, so I needed her help. She set a trap with food and caught her and took her home to foster. When she went up for adoption, she was returned twice and on the third adoption, the man reached under the bed to get her when she was hiding and suffered a catastrophic cat bite. It got infected and he was hospitalized for a month. The cat loved one person only and ended up staying with her till she (the cat) died. I felt bad about the whole thing since I had initiated it and put it in motion. As I said two of my three cats are declawed, and the only one who bites is Poppy. Not mean but when I pet her, she licks my hand and then bites. It's a light touch, never breaking the skin but it makes me aware of how freaky she is. She came from a domestic violent home, her records say.