Animal Bites: First Aid

 

 

We have selected the following expert medical opinion based on its clarity, reliability and accuracy. Credits: Sourced from the Mayo Clinic, Minnesota. Please refer to your own medical practitioner for a final perspective, assessment or evaluation.

 

Overview

Animal bites are common. Most are caused by dogs and cats. Cat bites can look minor, but they can be serious because a fang puncture can leave bacteria deep in the wound.

These guidelines can help you care for a minor animal bite, such as one that only breaks the skin:

• Wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water.
• Apply an antibiotic cream and cover the bite with a clean bandage.

 

Seek prompt attention if:

• The wound is a deep puncture or you're not sure how serious it is.
• The skin is badly torn and bleeding significantly ? first apply pressure with a bandage or clean cloth to stop the bleeding.
• You notice increasing swelling, redness, pain or oozing, which are warning signs of infection.
• You have questions about your risk of rabies or about rabies prevention. If the bite was caused by a cat or a dog, try to confirm that its rabies vaccination is up to date. If the bite was caused by a wild animal, seek advice from your doctor about which animals are most likely to carry rabies.
   

  Bats often carry rabies. And people have been infected without obvious signs of a bite. This is why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people in contact with bats ? or even those who are sleeping and awaken to find a bat in the bedroom ? seek medical advice about rabies shots, even if they don't think they've been bitten.

• If you haven't had a tetanus shot in the past five years and the wound is deep or dirty. You may need a booster shot.

 

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Are you a healthcare practitioner who enjoys patient education, interaction and communication?

If so, we invite you to criticise, contribute to or help improve our content. We find that many practicing doctors who regularly communicate with patients develop novel and often highly effective ways to convey complex medical information in a simplified, accurate and compassionate manner.

MedSquirrel is a shared knowledge, collective intelligence digital platform developed to share medical expertise between doctors and patients. We support collaboration, as opposed to competition, between all members of the healthcare profession and are striving towards the provision of peer reviewed, accurate and simplified medical information to patients. Please share your unique communication style, experience and insights with a wider audience of patients, as well as your colleagues, by contributing to our digital platform.

Your contribution will be credited to you and your name, practice and field of interest will be made visible to the world. (Contact us via the orange feed-back button on the right).