When I was living in an apartment I came home to find a cat sitting on my doorstep one morning. I felt bad for it thinking it had got out of its apartment and thought this was home. I picked it up to take it to the office, as we lived on a very busy street and I didn't want it to get run over. Well I didn't have enough time to put it down after it started growling before it sunk its teeth into my thumb and raked its back claws down my arm. The apartment office had to call animal control as it had no tags, and we had to keep it cornered until they got there. Needless to say it jumped off the balcony and ran off 30 seconds before they arrived. Luckily the maintenance man recognised the cat from one of the apartments he'd been working in, so animal control waited for the owner to get home.
In the meantime I was on my way to the ER, where they gave me every shot under the sun. My hand swelled up to twice the size, and I couldn't work for a week as I was waitressing at the time. Two nights later I was sitting at home and noticed a red line running up my arm from the bite. I called my bf (now dh), and he told me to get my butt to the hospital ASAP as it could be blood poisoning. Another antibiotic shot later, and after two weeks of medication the swelling finally went down. So my advice after all of that, and an $800 hospital bill as I don't have insurance, is never ever handle strange cats. Luckily the evil feline didn't have rabies, but I wish i'd sued its owner, as the cat was 'illegal' anyway.
In the meantime I was on my way to the ER, where they gave me every shot under the sun. My hand swelled up to twice the size, and I couldn't work for a week as I was waitressing at the time. Two nights later I was sitting at home and noticed a red line running up my arm from the bite. I called my bf (now dh), and he told me to get my butt to the hospital ASAP as it could be blood poisoning. Another antibiotic shot later, and after two weeks of medication the swelling finally went down. So my advice after all of that, and an $800 hospital bill as I don't have insurance, is never ever handle strange cats. Luckily the evil feline didn't have rabies, but I wish i'd sued its owner, as the cat was 'illegal' anyway.