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Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,913
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: DH was bitten by a dog yesterday..

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@sunsetbeach 

 

Animal lover here, as is my wife. I have been bitten by both, a dog and a cat, in fact, several felines over decades now. The dog bite I got a tetanus shot and went on my way with life.

 

The cat bite, our own Indoor Only Male feline. We were putting on his gel type Flea and tick meds, it takes 2 of us with a couple of our cats. Anyways he managed to bite my hand and it hurt like he!!. I washed it off good an cleaned it with an antiseptic and chalked it off as 1 more bite.

 

By the next morning my hand was red/warm and swollen. Couldn't get in to see my GP, so my sis called her son-in-law, who is a doctor in the same group. I got in to see him and he sent me directly to the ER where they started an IV antibiotic and I was admitted to the hospital. By then i didn't even recognize my left hand.

 

I had Cellulitis and spent 6+ days in the hospital and they called in a Disease Specialist to work with the team of doctors. Was months before I could do much with my left hand. Not a pleasant experience.

 

Our vet checked our our cat and said that many had certain types of bacteria in his mouth and it was not that

uncommon. Needless to say we have a different approach now when placing on his protection.

 

I hope all goes well with DH and he has no problems.

 

 

 

hckynut(john)

 

 

hckynut(john)
Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,257
Registered: ‎05-05-2010

Re: DH was bitten by a dog yesterday..

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I enjoy walking outside whenever possible and that is one of my worst fears.  There are a couple of houses that I walk by and the dogs charge the fence and startle the heck out of me.  I've often wondered what would happen if they could get around the fence somehow, so I be sure to have pepper spray and carry a walking stick (thinking of people, too!).  However, neither probably would have helped your husband. 

 

An acquaintance of mine had a dog that bit someone on her property and her homeowner's insurance went up dramatically.  When she tried to call around for a better price, she found that most companies wouldn't even take her on as a new customer.  I wonder if the same would apply if a dog attacks somewhere that is NOT on the owner's property?

Honored Contributor
Posts: 69,382
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: DH was bitten by a dog yesterday..

When I went to the ER with a cat bite, I was told there's a 100% chance it would get infected without treatment.

 

@sunsetbeach.  In the case of the two dogs your dh encountered, animal control should require they be muzzled on walks

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment
Super Contributor
Posts: 453
Registered: ‎03-25-2010

Re: DH was bitten by a dog yesterday..

I was going up my stairs one day with my bouncing ouppy.  She grabbed my wrist as if to pull me up but ended up causing a one inch tear.  I didnt think much of it other than to clean it and put a bandaid on it.  About 2 weeks later it still hadnt healed so I went into one of those "minute clinics" at the pharmacy.  I started antibiotics but unfortunately had been prescribed something which had an ingredient in it which I was allergic to.  Well, that seemed to kick start the infection in my arm and within 2 hours I was laying on the bathroom floor covered in my own waste.  I could not get up.  Luckily my daughter stopped by, called 911 and I was taken by ambulance to the hospital.  My heart stopped during the ride.  They later said I would not be alive if my daughter had not stopped by.  Needless to say, I was in the hospital, part time in ICU, for 2+ weeks.  I was diagnosed with sepsis.  My arms looked like pincushions from all the iv's and blood draws.  I came home with 6 weeks of medicine.

 

I learned 3 things.  Never discount any bite or scratch from an animal.  Always look at all the ingredients in any medication (yes, even though I had told that clinic what I was allergic to).  Finally, my puppy is now trained.

 

Please dont disregard any bite or scratch, no matter how small.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,706
Registered: ‎01-02-2015

Re: DH was bitten by a dog yesterday..

Thanks everybody .. cautionary tales for us all ...

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,630
Registered: ‎08-19-2014

Re: DH was bitten by a dog yesterday..

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 OMG!! That's terrible!! My worst fear is to bitten by a dog.People must control their animals when out in public. Some dogs are very high strung & should never be near strangers.It's up to their owners to protect them as well as the public.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,930
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: DH was bitten by a dog yesterday..

So sorry that happened to your husband. Hope he's ok.

Did the police find the woman & dog? You never know when one might bite.

One of ours bit DH when he was cleaning out the dogs ears when he had an infection. The Vet showed him what to do.

DH was not planning on going to the doctor. I told him he had to go because it will get infected. He went to the Minor Care Clinic. They cleaned it out gave him a tetanus shot plus antibiotics.

They did not believe it was our dog at first. They wanted to call the police. DH told them it's my dog & the police are not taking him. The dog could not help it. He had an ear infection. 

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,487
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: DH was bitten by a dog yesterday..

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I always walk with a pepper spray wristlet. I would not necessarily spray an animal intentionally but I would spray it near them so they would get a whiff.

 

Hope you DH feels better.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 35,597
Registered: ‎05-22-2016

Re: DH was bitten by a dog yesterday..

[ Edited ]

My friend's own dog bit her hand and she had to go to get stitches and a tetanus shot. Then the ER made a report of the incident and that's when we learned that the dog had to get placed into quarantine until it was verified the dog was not rabid (that's the law here)....it was not but then the dog bit her again so I took the dog myself to the humane society and told them the dog was a biting dog. They had records to confirm that.....it was not long for the world after that unfortunately.

 

ETA- evidently my friend lied to me about how many times that dog had bitten her. She was afraid that the dog had to go if she told the officials..Woman Sad

Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,510
Registered: ‎05-23-2010

Re: DH was bitten by a dog yesterday..

My friend and neighbor was a pregnant veterinarian. She was bitten on the finger by a cat and was badly hurt and needed an infection control specialist to treat a horrific  infection from the bite. She was very worried about treatments because of her pregnancy. Things did turn out all right, but she, a veterinarian, was terrified by the experience. She had been bitten by pets before this, goes with the territory, but this infection was deadly.