Could I have been bitten by a rabid cat?

Last week when I was in my yard a cat attacked me and started biting and scratching my hand. I freaked out and took a piece of wood and started hiting him and after about a minute he got weak and I threw him over the fence and he took off (limping because of the hits he took).

Both my hands were full of blood and I had some pretty deep cuts and bites (including a bite that pulled a bit of my flesh from one of my fingers). It's been a week since then and my wounds have closed, although a liquid still flows from them ocasionally.

After hearing the guys talking about flesh eating bacterias and the like on bombcast I started worrying if I took some disease from the cat. It's obvious I didn't get mrsa, but I am worried I might have gotten rabies. As far as I know rabies doesn't mean the animal will be that agressive out of the blue necesarily, but still...

The incubation period for rabies on humans is 3 to 8 weeks from what i read. Do you think I should get checked?

What the.

Yes.

You should absolutely get it checked.

Rabies is actually one of the most lethal diseases known to man - with a mortality rate disputed between 99% and 100% depending on the source. It also, as you mentioned, leaves you feeling perfectly fine for weeks to months before you realise you're sick.

The only way to have a high certainty of surviving rabies at all is to stop it before it starts manifesting symptoms. There is a reason we're so trained by all types of media to get your crap checked when bitten by random animals.

Also, the cat could have had a range of other things wrong with it - so I repeat.

Get. It. Checked.

don't fuck around- even if it's not rabies, it could be infection (especially if the wound is weepy). cat scratch fever is a real thing as well. go see a physician asap, and apply an antibacterial ointment until then.

In general, cat bites aren't good news. Get it checked out regardless to rabies.

Or it could be a were-cat. Seriously though get it checked just to be safe.

Or it could be a were-cat. Seriously though get it checked just to be safe.

ASAP.

I hope that cat is okay :(

Look at his avatar dude. He is already one!

Didn't think of that :=)) I do have a cat as an avatar. It's a space cat though

Really weird that a cat would attack you, I would get it looked at.

@alekss said:

That liquid is serum (blood plasma). Clear and transparent almost like water. Seroma is usually a good sign of an infection. Did you use any antibiotic cream when you were bandaging yourself? If you start having a fever get checked out.

Is that allergies? Also get checked out, no joke.

What? This isn't a poll? I don't get it.

Well, I do KNOW that you should get it checked out. Does that count?

Seriously, you're not talking about illness, you're talking about death, and probably not a very pleasant death at that. Don't screw around with something like this, and don't wait any longer. Go today.

Wikipedia says:

The period between infection and the first flu-like symptoms is typically 2 to 12 weeks, but incubation periods as short as four days and longer than six years have been documented, depending on the location and severity of the inoculating wound and the amount of virus introduced. Soon after, the symptoms expand to slight or partial paralysis, anxiety, insomnia, confusion, agitation, abnormal behavior, paranoia, terror, and hallucinations, progressing to delirium.^[2][9] Rabies has been called hydrophobia because victims, locally paralyzed and unable to swallow, have been known to become agitated at the sight of water.^[10]

Death almost invariably results 2 to 10 days after first symptoms. Once symptoms have presented, survival is rare, even with the administration of proper and intensive care.

Probably worth getting checked out just because of the risk of infection. Does it cost you any money to get it checked up on by the way?

This is kind of an understatement. Ordinary cat bites contain a a bacteria that frequently makes a nasty infection. As is "hand swells up like a purple balloon". My sister is a vet and I used to date a doctor and their advice both was, "just go to the doctor as soon as you are bitten, it'll save you a lot of trouble".

Also, since cat bites tend to be deep punctures, tetanus (also fatal) is a concern depending on the state of your vaccinations.

I have had rabies vaccinations, and they really were nothing like the big deal TV makes it out to be. Muscle soreness for a few days, and that was it. Just a series of ordinary shots.

GO NOW. TODAY. The vaccine only works if it's used early enough, and rabies is 99% fatal. GET IT DONE NOW.

^This^

You're Hizang, aren't you? Come on, you can tell us...

My first reaction to this is wondering why you waited regardless of what diseases that cat may have had.

Hopefully u got it checked by now.

If the cat was wearing a space suit, you're fucked. Space rabies is the second worst kind of rabies.

I know Hizang, and no, Im not him... my threads aren't quite as fucked as his

I have that avatar for a long time. It was pretty funny today when I realized that I was attacked by a cat and I have a cat as my avatar.

I call that avatar cat Major Tom and I imagine him being the character in David Bowie's Space Odissey

A stray animal that you don't know attacks you? DUH. Get checked out.

Fuck cats.

I like cats (when they don't attack me).

My dog keeps wanna bone them though...

I'll probably check it tommorow, or on monday.

Don't listen to these liars telling you to go to the doctors since everyone knows that medicine is the governments attempts to control the population. You need to get the cats poison out of you.

First, make a second wound in your left arm- since your blood flows down hill- then fill your mouth with rubbing alcohol to sterilize and suck the venom out. Spit it into a jar, add eye of newt and a lock of Robert Pattinson's pubes. Throw a match inside to summon the cats evil ancestors. Exorcise them and the curse will be banished forever. Repeat if necessary.

Yup, that seems legit. Should I also kill a chicken and do some vodoo? I can eat it after too.

Seriously, you probably should have killed that cat, before it infects any other number of animals or people with rabies.

Go to a hospital. Like, now. Instead of responding to me.
Rabies is incurable once its onset.

No, seriously, you need to go now. If you got attacked a week ago, you cannot let another hour go by without treatment. A draining wound is very bad by itself, but a possibly rabid animal bite is about as bad as a gun shot wound. I'm starting to think you playing with us, but on the off chance you are merely delusional...dude you already in trouble...you need medical care immediately.

WHY ARE YOU HERE GO TO A HOSPITAL ASAP OR YOU'LL PROBABLY DIE.

You're becoming a werecat as we speak.

Im not playing with you and Im not delusional. Rabies takes at least 3 weeks to develop (only if you are bitten in the neck area does it go faster), and as I said I will go tommorow or on monday (probably tommorow). The fucked thing is that if I wouldn't have listened to the last bombcast and hear them talking about flesh eating bacterias I wouldn't have even considered going.

Honestly I don't understand why you got so pissed at my reply.

Yeah man, you're gonna die. Get it checked.

I dont get what the fuck is your problem

@psylah: thanks

@alekss: My problem is, you're essentially letting yourself die, which I'm not a fan of.

My other problem is, you talked shit about somebody I like, when you have this situation as proof of your character.

Go to the hospital.

I didnt talk shit about Hizang, when I said his threads were fucked I didn't mean it in a bad way, but obviously you will see what you want.

@alekss:

And that cat's name was Kenshiro.

@alekss: People are not getting pissed at you, they are being serious, because this is a serious thing. Like, dying horribly kind of serious. Not something you put off till tomorrow or Monday, something you get to the urgent care center for right now.

Hey internet I'm covered in the seeping wounds of a random animal attack, could you tell me common sense things while I get defensive?

i think he just wanted to tell a cool story about his quick problem solving skills in the heat of battle and I for one think throwing the cat over the fence was a touchdown

Again, @alekss, I cannot stress this enough. You need to go ASAP. Today would be good. Yesterday would have been better. Yes rabies can take a while to develop, but the post-exposure vaccine needs to be administered as soon as possible if its going to work. The longer you wait, the more likely the vaccine will not work, and you will be dead dead dead, and dead in a really unpleasant way.

They won't even bother to test you. If you go and say I was bitten by a wild cat and the cat escaped, they will immediately start you on the vaccination course.