Hoping you can help a terrified individual...

Over a month ago I was out walking my roommate's dog in my apartment complex, it was late at night and as we passed a group of bushes the dog stopped to sniff, this cat jumped out and attacked him. Without thinking, I kicked it away but I was wearing sandals and came back bleeding on my foot. I went inside, rubbed the wounds with hand sanitizer, then washed out the wounds with soap and water for a few minutes, then rubbed them with sanitizer again and put antiseptic lotion on them. I became terrified of getting rabies. We went back to the attack spot the next day and the cat was there with two young kittens, which were hiding in the bushes and were most likely the reason for the attack.
The neighbors in the building say they have been watching over her for over 2 years since their neighbor left her there and she's never acted ill or rabid. But I am terrified. I went to the hospital and they said the rabies vaccines were expensive (the number they quoted was too much for me to afford) but they gave me a tetanus shot. I saw the cat every day for weeks, and I just saw her again the other day, she doesn't act sick at all. But I have freaked myself out by Googling rabies and the symptoms (I have a relatively uncomfortable sore throat and I am having an anxiety attack at the moment because I read that that is one of the symptoms) and I have been scared that the cat I have been seeing isn't the one that jumped out at us that night. Logic would dictate that it's the same one because her kittens were maybe a month old so she wouldn't have let another cat near them so it would almost certainly have to be the same cat. And since the people have been taking care of her for 2+ years if she had rabies she would have died. And her kittens would have been born with rabies and died as well. Plus the wounds aren't angled right for her to have bitten me, but I'm still terrified. I have awful, awful anxiety and I'm a really bad hypochondriac as well, I'm absolutely terrified that I have rabies and I'm going to die. I've had a few headaches since then and I have had this sore throat since yesterday. I would think that the first sign would be a fever though, but my fear is over-riding any time I try and tell myself something comforting. Please someone help me. :(

It is very unlikely you were bitten, and you cannot get rabies from the scratch.

Web MD is the devil.

There are literally hundreds of reasons for a sore throat. If anything, you are likely coming down with something related to your anxiety wrecking your immune system.

The tetanus shot was a good idea since the wound was likely dirty (despite your cleaning).

You are most likely fine and just need to relax.

How does the wound look? I would be most concerned with local infection. That is the prevailing reason for people to come to the office or ER after a cat scratch.

You need to get your 1.0 boyfriend on doing his job and making you feel better and calm :P

as you said that cat and her kittens would have been dead by now. Think of how many outdoor cats there are without rabies it really isn't all that common anymore.

By now you would be experiencing serious symptoms. And would know for sure that you had it.

Are you 100% positive it is the same cat? It sounds extremely unlikely that the cat had rabies but also keep in mind that rabies is virtually 100% fatal. If you have even the slightest suspicion.... it would be worth protecting yourself. I've only heard of a single case of a person surviving and as far as I know she never woke up from her coma.

You're fine. With this being a month ago, you would have already exhibited symptoms. You've had absolutely no symptoms of rabies. Headache and sore throat are the symptoms off pretty much everything out there, to be honest.

I had a similar rabies scare when I was bitten by a feral mama and her kittens trying to move them off the side of the highway and into a carrier where they wouldn't be squished.

First, take a deep breath.

If your dog had a rabies shot and the wounds are not deep enough to see a vet visit, your dog should be fine (though watch to make sure it doesn't start acting off).

As for you, you did the right thing by washing the wound. The biggest danger with cat scratches is Cat Scratch Fever, as rabies is unlikely (possible, but less than 98% chance) to transfer via a scratch and Feline Distemper is much different than Canine Distemper in that it cannot be transmitted to humans. Watch the wound, if it gets nasty put some antibiotic cream on it and if it doesn't get better, go back to the doctor.

If you freak yourself out and think you have rabies, your brain will begin imagining rabies symptoms. Instead of worrying about it, just remember. If the doctors had thought it was very likely that you had rabies, they would have strongly suggested that you get the shot and not just mentioned the price.

Don't get me wrong, he's tried everything he could to calm me down, but my anxiety overrides everything people say to help me. He doesn't know what to do to help me. I'm looking into a therapist about it because after 8 years of fighting an uphill battle with it, it's starting to win and breaking me down (probably why I'm so anxious over this rabies topic).
The wounds were red for a 1-3 days but then they turned into any other old wound. I'm assuming since it was my foot the redness was just because of it being punctured. It didn't hurt unless I touched it, and after a week it didn't even hurt then. To give you a better picture, here's my foot (lol) with the sandal I was wearing at the time:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...hoto0526_2.jpg
The lines on the side were definitely scratches, it's the ones on my toes that bother me. And the one on my ring toe is on the side of it actually. I kicked her near her shoulder and she was facing right (from my view), so it doesn't make sense that it would be a bite, but I know cats are flexible creatures and I worried over the fact that somehow the cat turned and bit me somehow (see how bad I am at calming myself??) My other reasoning was that she would've had to put a generous amount of my foot in her mouth within the pan of 2-3 seconds to bite me that way, but (like I said) anxiety is telling me that maybe somehow she did it anyway.

The part that's terrifying me the most is the thought that I might have been observing the wrong cat this entire time. (Which again, with young kittens and her being there every time I went there for a month it seems unlikely another cat was around or that it could've been any other cat.)

If the wounds healed fine and all you have is a sore throat a month later, I would think you are fine. With that said, you should see your Dr with any concerns (being a medical person, I have to say that - CYA).

As for the doctor, after I mentioned that I might not be 100% sure I found the cat that attacked me he said that if that was the case I should get the shots. But then again, he was very doctor-ish and let me leave saying, "If you want to get the shots, you have like a month to get them" (this was after I started sobbing and hyperventilating because I knew I couldn't afford the price he said). If he was seriously worried he would've kept strongly recommending I get the shots instead of letting me leave so casually, right?

Breathe!

Logically you know you do not have rabies. You know that you are prone to hypochondria and reading things online will cause you to "see" the symptoms in yourself. As someone else has pointed out headache and sore throat are the systems to everything including allergies (starting to get warmer near you?)

The BEST thing you can do for yourself is to sit down with a pen and paper and write down all the reasons you do NOT have rabies. People have helped you with a few reasons.

1. You went to the doctor and they had no concerns.
2. Chances of catching rabies from a cat scratch are very slim.
3. It happened a month ago without any advance symptoms

etc......

Write the whole list as many as you can think of. Every time you feel yourself starting to panic, try going into a room where it is quiet. Start reading the list from the start and slowly and calmly breathe while reading each point. If you finish and still do not feel better start from the top and read them out loud. Retraining yourself how to think about the situation will help you have fewer attacks and hopefully you won't have the panic attacks anymore.

Good luck, hope that helps.

Places like hospitals have to treat sick people even if they can't pay. If your doctor though that you were in any serious danger he/she would have told you to go there.

If this was a week after the attack I might be worried, but a month. Not at all it has been too long for it not to have shown itself in a 100% clear way.

Feral cats are VERY low risk when it comes to rabies...and even less a risk in managed colonies. Nearly all that are part of TNR programs are given rabies vaccine, and they don't generally compete or interact with the animals that are considered higher risk.

I'd give you a clean bill of health for local infections, at least, looking at your foot. As has been said, Cat Scratch Fever would be the biggest concern I'd have, especially with the claws like that. I'm betting that in the span of time it happened, it was a superficial cut at best and while it might have broken the skin, I doubt very much that she got her teeth in you. There's no comparison between being bitten by a cat and being scratched; I've had both and you can tell the difference, lol! If you've recovered as well as you have after a month, I'd say you're in the clear with nothing more to worry about. As to the anxiety, take some deep breaths and realize that you're okay. Anxiety conditions suck, I know. If you have someone in your area that works with or is qualified to do EMDR, it can make a world of difference. It stands for: Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing and it works. It sounds like sci-fi or a load of crap but basically the doctor has you focus on a moving light board of led's that is a single strip that goes back and forth at varying speeds. They'll have you recall the event that causes your anxiety while focusing on the light board and then speed up and slow it down as they progress in the therapy session. The light tricks your brain, through the movement of your eyes, to change the neuro pathways that is causing your anxiety. It's somewhat new but has worked wonders for a lot of people, both military, public service and civilians. Here's a link that explains it better than what I did but anyway, it's worth a shot if it's there's anyone available that does it where you live.

http://www.emdr-therapy.com/emdr.html

And stay away from WebMD! I think any person could find about a dozen illnesses based off the descriptions that site provides, lol! Hope that helps...hang in there and take care!

Rabies is transferred through saliva i believe so a scratch wouldnt give you rabies. Also if its been a month and your only symptom is a sore throat then i would say youre good. You probably got the sore throat from something you picked up going to the doctors office or hospital.
One of my highschool teachers had a rabid fox go after his daughter and grandkids so he grabbed it and strangled it. He went through the rabies series of shots and is perfectly fine today. He started the shots pretty soon afterwards i believe so if you did get rabies from the cat you would probably already be dead by now :P
...according to webmd of course ;)

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

Rabies is transferred through saliva i believe so a scratch wouldnt give you rabies. Also if its been a month and your only symptom is a sore throat then i would say youre good. You probably got the sore throat from something you picked up going to the doctors office or hospital.
One of my highschool teachers had a rabid fox go after his daughter and grandkids so he grabbed it and strangled it. He went through the rabies series of shots and is perfectly fine today. He started the shots pretty soon afterwards i believe so if you did get rabies from the cat you would probably already be dead by now :P
...according to webmd of course ;)

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Punch that part of the ticket on his man card! That guy is a BOSS!, lol! Glad he's okay after that and what a story to tell at the bar, lol!

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Originally Posted by youbeyouibei

Punch that part of the ticket on his man card! That guy is a BOSS!, lol! Glad he's okay after that and what a story to tell at the bar, lol!

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To make the story better his last name is Savage. WINNING lmao

Thank you everyone! Hearing all your responses and your advice to help my anxiety made me cry, actually. (In a good way!) I feel a lot better now, when I read everything I calmed down, and like magic, the sore throat is pretty much gone, as well as the feeling that it was swelling and becoming more painful and harder to breathe. Anxiety can really affect your health. But thank you so much everyone, it means the world to me that strangers take time out of their day to try and help another stranger. :)

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Originally Posted by xFenrir

Thank you everyone! Hearing all your responses and your advice to help my anxiety made me cry, actually. (In a good way!) I feel a lot better now, when I read everything I calmed down, and like magic, the sore throat is pretty much gone, as well as the feeling that it was swelling and becoming more painful and harder to breathe. Anxiety can really affect your health. But thank you so much everyone, it means the world to me that strangers take time out of their day to try and help another stranger. :)

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:gj: Great to hear...your anxiety is part of your health, it will never go away, but do what you need to do to keep it at bay...doctor, counseling, etc... Being pro-active will go a long way in conquering it.

Based on the information you have given, and the nature of the wounds on your foot, I feel pretty strongly that you got scratched, not bitten.

For reasons I would rather not go into here, I have studied the fighting style of cats extensively.

Cats tend to lead with their claws and paws early in a fight. They usually don't start to bite until they are in a position of advantage.

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Originally Posted by Slim

For reasons I would rather not go into here, I have studied the fighting style of cats extensively.

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Would love to hear it sometime Slim...I'm pretty fascinated by cat behavior myself, and find myself watching them when I can beyond what most would consider normal.

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Originally Posted by RobNJ

Would love to hear it sometime Slim...I'm pretty fascinated by cat behavior myself

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One of my former USAF combatives instructors was a bit unconventional....;)

I read that you're feeling better about the whole thing now, but I just wanted to add a little.

If the cat had rabies, and this happened over a month ago, you and the cat would be dead right now. Period. End of story. You do not have it and will not get it.

As for anything else that could have been transmitted, you would have had problems at the source: the wounds. Your foot looks totally healed. If you had been infected with anything, your wounds would have turned VERY red and painful, swollen all over the area, possibly with pus. There would have also been red lines traveling from the wounds up your body. Since none of that happened, and you are healed up, you're fine. There's nothing I can think of that you could get from a scratch OR bite that wouldn't have immediately showed within a day or two.

In case you're wondering, here's my qualifications for this info. I'm a veterinary technician, and I've (unfortunately) been scratched hundreds of times over the years. A quick scrub with soap and water and wipe with a disinfectant and I'm good to go. Assuming I'm not dripping blood everywhere, of course, but that's only happened once or twice. :D

I know how you feel, I also struggle with anxiety and it can be very much like a physical illness. I take medications to manage mine, but have also learned coping techniques over the years. I hope seeing a therapist helps you. :)

have some medical kush to calm you down. hope you're alright. my wife google's her symptoms all the time. scares me more, cause I know it ain't the reason. she googled about our 3 year old wetting the bed, she was crying and had issues at work all day, cause it is a sign of diabetes. He is 3....:cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r: happens. Sorry, I needed to get that off my chest.

Slim, somehow I hear a funny story coming on.

OP, derp, somehow I missed the part that said it happened a month ago. I'd say then that there's 0 chance you'd have rabies, but if you're feeling ill, going to the doctor can help out with allergies and seasonal bugs. :gj: If there were any concern about it, they would have urged you very strongly to get the shot that day.

When my sister's friend was bitten by a symptomatic bat, they had him on a series of injections that very night. He was an idiot and picked up a limp bat laying in playground mulch and struggling to fly barehanded. He'd just wanted to move it off the playground, but seriously... really dumb move. Rabid bats have junked up sonars and cannot fly well if at all, so messing with one flopping around on the ground is asking for it.

To those who said that it's impossible to get rabies from a cat scratch, you're technically mostly right. 97% of rabies cases come from dog bites worldwide and nearly all cases in the US come from bats, less than 1% from cat bites, and less than even half that from cat scratches. It's possible, but you'd really have to go out of your way to get rabies from a cat scratch.

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Originally Posted by Sita

I read that you're feeling better about the whole thing now, but I just wanted to add a little.

If the cat had rabies, and this happened over a month ago, you and the cat would be dead right now. Period. End of story. You do not have it and will not get it.

As for anything else that could have been transmitted, you would have had problems at the source: the wounds. Your foot looks totally healed. If you had been infected with anything, your wounds would have turned VERY red and painful, swollen all over the area, possibly with pus. There would have also been red lines traveling from the wounds up your body. Since none of that happened, and you are healed up, you're fine. There's nothing I can think of that you could get from a scratch OR bite that wouldn't have immediately showed within a day or two.

In case you're wondering, here's my qualifications for this info. I'm a veterinary technician, and I've (unfortunately) been scratched hundreds of times over the years. A quick scrub with soap and water and wipe with a disinfectant and I'm good to go. Assuming I'm not dripping blood everywhere, of course, but that's only happened once or twice. :D

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This was just what I needed. Someone qualified to say "I'm 100% sure you don't have it." It helps so much! My other question would be that a mother of kittens so young (about a month old) wouldn't go very far, especially if she was being fed where she was, so the chances of it being a different cat are pretty much nonexistent, right?

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Originally Posted by xFenrir

This was just what I needed. Someone qualified to say "I'm 100% sure you don't have it." It helps so much! My other question would be that a mother of kittens so young (about a month old) wouldn't go very far, especially if she was being fed where she was, so the chances of it being a different cat are pretty much nonexistent, right?

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Cats usually stick around where they are being fed, and since she's been there consistently for 2 years, I'd agree it's probably the same one. Protecting her kittens is probably what prompted the attack, like you had thought. It's HIGHLY unlikely it was a different one that actually scratched you, since it's seems like that area is her territory, and she would try to keep other cats away from such young kittens, but it's not impossible that it was a different one. One that could've been passing through and happened to be hiding in the bushes and got scared when your dog started sniffing.

It doesn't really matter at this point (since so much time has passed) which cat got you, so I wouldn't worry about it. :)

Mama cats with little kittens don't tend to travel much without a very pressing reason. If the neighbors have been feeding and watching out for her for years she is very established. The attack you described sounds like a defensive mama to me. Sound like your in good shape at this point.

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Originally Posted by Slim

For reasons I would rather not go into here, I have studied the fighting style of cats extensively.

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Originally Posted by Slim

One of my former USAF combatives instructors was a bit unconventional....;)

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Slim's a cat ninja ;)

Going online and researching symptoms is just going to make things worse :( I had a scare last year, freaked myself out to the point I was having regular panic attacks, because my symptoms matched up to those of Cervical Cancer. On top of the Doctors sending me to the hospital for ultrasounds and all sorts of blood tests, I was a wreck. It turned out to be...? Only my IUD screwing up my system! I'm currently waiting for it to be removed. I know how you feel having anxiety, I've been on medication for years, it sucks.

I don't know a lot about rabies, other than if you had it you'd have some seriiiiious symptoms and that cat wouldn't be around any more for sure.

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Originally Posted by CherryPython

Slim's a cat ninja ;)

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:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Back in the day, maybe. Now I have the reflexes of a highly trained 3-Toed Sloth :oops:

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Originally Posted by Slim

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Back in the day, maybe. Now I have the reflexes of a highly trained 3-Toed Sloth :oops:

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Trolollololol xD :rofl:

Oh man boy do you not want rabie shots. They are wicked expensive, hurt like a mother, and you have to keep going back once a week for a couple months.

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Originally Posted by youbeyouibei

If you have someone in your area that works with or is qualified to do EMDR, it can make a world of difference. It stands for: Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing and it works. It sounds like sci-fi or a load of crap but basically the doctor has you focus on a moving light board of led's that is a single strip that goes back and forth at varying speeds. They'll have you recall the event that causes your anxiety while focusing on the light board and then speed up and slow it down as they progress in the therapy session. The light tricks your brain, through the movement of your eyes, to change the neuro pathways that is causing your anxiety.

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Sorry, a little late to the thread, but EMDR seems completely and totally crazy - and it can really help anxiety disorders. It is usually expensive (boo) and the "eye" part is now a holdover from old times, most practitioners use little buzzers you hold to produce the mind/body disconnect required to change the brain's response. Totally and completely sounds unreal, but it is the US military approved treatment for PTSD and it is finally gaining ground outside for "normal" people to try.

As for the worry about rabies... I worked for an SSI/RSDI lawyer for a while and spent a lot of time telling people to just ask their clinics if you can't afford something. You'd be surprised: almost all will work out a payment plan and many have programs to help. You never know until you ask. Another great resource is 411.org, United Way's free service that'll help you find free clinics and assistance. Just some thoughts - and maybe you can get some more anxiety treatment too, if it is free. Good luck! Stay well!

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Originally Posted by Cameron Lamb Exotics

Oh man boy do you not want rabie shots. They are wicked expensive, hurt like a mother, and you have to keep going back once a week for a couple months.

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No you don't. You get the shots all within the span of about a month.

Whelp, freaked myself out all over again. We took in a kitten last night that the cat below us had (she's around 8 weeks old, if not older) and while feeding her, she poked me with a tooth. No blood or anything, and I'm not even totally sure she even broke the skin, but I washed it off and disinfected it anyway. But now the anxiety is creeping back again, and I'm starting to feel like every little thing is a sign something's wrong. (my hand/s feel tingly occasionally, sometimes it feels hard to breathe or that there's a pain in my chest, if my face gets flushed I think it's a fever, etc.)

This is crazy. The kitten is shy (she won't really play with us unless we get her in the mood and she hides a lot) but not acting sick, and she's eating. I mean the chances of a kitten having rabies is like nothing right? Because if she were born with it she would've died or shown symptoms by now? and the chances of her having rabies another way is pretty much impossible right?

Ugh, I know this all sounds so stupid but this is seriously bothering me. :(

You should probably stay away from cats.... :D

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Originally Posted by jinx667

You should probably stay away from cats.... :D

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I know... My boyfriend brought this one in and I thought that maybe it would be good for me, like shock therapy. I didn't think this would happen. :(

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Originally Posted by xFenrir

Whelp, freaked myself out all over again. We took in a kitten last night that the cat below us had (she's around 8 weeks old, if not older) and while feeding her, she poked me with a tooth. No blood or anything, and I'm not even totally sure she even broke the skin, but I washed it off and disinfected it anyway. But now the anxiety is creeping back again, and I'm starting to feel like every little thing is a sign something's wrong. (my hand/s feel tingly occasionally, sometimes it feels hard to breathe or that there's a pain in my chest, if my face gets flushed I think it's a fever, etc.)

This is crazy. The kitten is shy (she won't really play with us unless we get her in the mood and she hides a lot) but not acting sick, and she's eating. I mean the chances of a kitten having rabies is like nothing right? Because if she were born with it she would've died or shown symptoms by now? and the chances of her having rabies another way is pretty much impossible right?

Ugh, I know this all sounds so stupid but this is seriously bothering me. :(

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I think your suffering from anxiety now lol... Maybe a panic attack :p
When my puppy was little her claws/teeth were like razor blades lol. Me and my brother used to play rough with her outside. You should have seen some of the scratches she landed on us lol. And then we proceed to roll around in the dirt to be sure plenty of that made it into the wounds. Im still alive 10 years later...
The moral of the story: get yourself a puppy!!!

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

I think your suffering from anxiety now lol... Maybe a panic attack :p
When my puppy was little her claws/teeth were like razor blades lol. Me and my brother used to play rough with her outside. You should have seen some of the scratches she landed on us lol. And then we proceed to roll around in the dirt to be sure plenty of that made it into the wounds. Im still alive 10 years later...
The moral of the story: get yourself a puppy!!!

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The only reason I'm freaked out at all is because she's a "stray". :(

If a cat a had rabies, you would know.

If the kitten had rabies, it would be dying or dead.

Do some deep breathing exercises. Try some meditation. Then tell yourself you are 100 times more likely to be hit by lightening than contract rabies from a healthy stray kitten.

Hon, I've taken in hundreds of stray cats through the years. And I'm not exaggerating. The worst thing I got? Fleas. I've been bitten, scratched, vomited on, pooed on, peed on, had kittens born on my lap, and not one single illness to show for it. :(

Worst injury I ever got from a cat was a bite. One of my own darlings was under the couch with his tail poking out. I never saw it until it was too late. He let my ankle know on no uncertain terms that standing on his tail was unacceptable. I ended up needing stitches and a round of antibiotics to combat the massive infection that was pretty much instantaneous, but today you can barely see the scar.

I've seen rabid kittens, it's not pleasant. Because they are so small and their immune system is not developed yet, the succumb quickly. They are limp and lifeless and usually die within days of being infected.

You are fine darling. And you can trust me because I was going to be a nurse once. Until having kids interfered.

Gale