Dog Bite/Cat Bite/Animal Bite
Animal Bite
Both wild animals and pets can often attack when frightened or startled. Many animal bites treated by doctors each year are caused by family pets. Although children are a common victim of these attacks, adults can be bitten as well. Your chances of being bitten increase if your job requires you to work with strange animals. For example, animal trainers, shelter workers and wildlife management officers all run an increased risk of being bitten.
The severity of an animal bite will depend largely on the size and ferocity of the animal that made it. Larger animals have strong jaws that are capable of tearing through soft tissue and causing extensive damage to the skin, tendons and muscles. Smaller animals like cats and rodents can be dangerous as well, however, as their small teeth can leave deep wounds that are prone to infection.
Aside from the obvious concern of blood loss and tissue damage, animal bites pose unique risks. One major concern is rabies, a neurological disease that causes erratic and often dangerous behavior in animals. If you're bitten by an animal suspected of having rabies, you will need to undergo a rigorous treatment of injected drugs to stave off the development of the virus. Tetanus is another disease often associated with this type of injury. If you are not up-to-date on your tetanus vaccine, you will be given another injection as a safety precaution against the disease.
Infection is the greatest risk posed by animal bites. Dog bites are less prone to infection than cat and rodent bites. This is because dogs tend to tear open the flesh rather than puncture it. Small, deep puncture wounds can become infected easily and may not receive immediate care because they appear minor.
Any time you sustain a bite, it's important to look out for signs of infection and blood poisoning. These symptoms include swelling, discoloration, the weeping of pus and fluid from the wound, and the presence of dark lines radiating out from the wound. If any of these symptoms are present, it's vital to receive antibiotic treatment immediately and have the wound flushed before the infection spreads.