It was around mid to late afternoon, and the daughter and I were having a messy lunch (I was eating with my hands) when the hissing started.
Normally, I'd reach for my spray bottle containing Lysol diluted with water to use on them. They absolutely hate it when they get sprayed on, especially with Lysol. The chemical sticks on their fur and when they lick it off, it makes them sick. However, since my hands were dirty and the spray bottle was left downstairs, I had nothing to spray them with, and even if I did, I couldn't.
Then there was the problem of the younger cat, Bukbok, being right smack in the middle of the potential crossfire. Poor thing barely understood what was happening and was frozen on the spot.
Seeing that Bukbok was in danger, I tried shooing Prancer with my right foot.
The first time my foot flew in from of him, he barely budged. His focus was still on his anger and on Blitzen who was just as angry as he was (arched back, ruffled fur, dilated eyes, exposed teeth).
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L: My injured foot around an hour after Prancer's bite. Notice the beginning of
the swelling. R: The culprit, looking all innocent.
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It took about three seconds before I managed to untangle him from my foot. The result was not much of a messy crisscross of bloody cuts from his claws but more of two deep puncture wounds from his fangs.
And dang, did it effing hurt!
After the searing pain from the bite died down, I immediately went downstairs to wash both my hands and feet, especially my injured right foot. Thirty minutes since Prancer bit me, the puncture wounds were still bleeding. I applied antiseptic to the wound but the blood just kept on washing it away. After a few more minutes of applying pressure on the wound, the bleeding finally stopped and the antiseptic stuck. But then, I developed a bigger problem.
My foot began to swell.
For the rest of the day and for several days to come, I was painfully hobbling from one place to another. I couldn't even wear shoes. The swelling reached up to my ankle.
Now I understand how painful it is when cats get wounds from fighting with each other and develop nasty abscesses. The bacteria in the saliva from Prancer's mouth immediately worked into my system and gave me an infection. No amount of antiseptics and antibiotics could make the swelling die down.
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This biting encounter reminded me of a time when I was still living with my former in-laws. They used to have a white dog which has been neglected and physically abused because "he's not cute anymore." The poor thing was just tied to a wooden post on the house's patio where he would just sit all by his lonesome. Then whenever the man of the house returned from work, the dog would be greeted with a whopping on the head of the newspaper he would always have in his hand.
I tried to befriend the dog, and he responded positively. However, he returned to beast mode whenever he was being fed.
One time, I went to the patio to give him additional food to eat. I didn't know that he still had some leftovers in his dirty food bowl. He cornered me, and gave me a good biting on my hand. The bite literally tore the flesh on my right hand, leaving a gaping wound on my palm. (Good thing I'm left-handed.) It's also a good thing that with extensive cleaning and antiseptic-washing, the wound healed on its own, and I didn't need any stitching. In fact, the wound didn't even become infected. I don't even have scars to remind me of that encounter.
However, this new bite was different because it became quite infected.
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Friends became concerned about me when I showed them my swelling foot with the angry bite marks on Facebook, (Of course, I had to share, hehe.) They recommended that I have the wound treated and that I get myself vaccinated with anti-tetanus and anti-rabies shots.
I was very confident that at most, I only needed anti-tetanus -- not the anti-rabies vaccine. Why?
- Prancer, as well as the other members of the Cat Lair, are all strictly indoor cats. They don't even get fleas.
- Prancer bit me because just like a raging bull, his anger made his mind foggy to the point that he could no longer tell the difference between Blitzen and my swinging foot -- and my swinging foot was much closer to him.
- As per anti-rabies protocol, an animal that has bitten an individual has to be observed for one week from the time the said animal bit the person. If the animal dies within the observation period, then chances of it being rabid are very high. Meanwhile, throughout the entire observation week, Prancer remained as healthy as ever. He probably didn't even remember that he freaking chewed on my foot. Darn cat was still asking for cuddles and head rubs.
- I couldn't afford the anti-rabies vaccine. As easy as that.
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To appease everyone's concern, I asked my daughter to help me in going to one of the government hospitals here in Pasig for that anti-tetanus vaccine. Things seemed okay until we got to the hospital pharmacy -- I was being charged 1.3k!
I just balked. With my daughter in tow, we turned our heels and left the hospital.
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A doctor-high school batch mate of mine quickly got in touch with me after he found out (from my Facebook post again) that I still didn't get the shots I needed. He insisted that I return to the hospital and still get, at least, the anti-tetanus shot. So fine, I did.
By the time I returned to the hospital, the swelling on my foot has generally subsided and the wounds were healing already. I showed my foot to the intern who still recommended (on paper) that I still get anti-rabies shots on top of the anti-tetanus toxoid. However, she winked at me and whispered that I didn't have to follow everything she wrote.
And thus, I finally left the hospital with a right arm that felt like it was bludgeoned with a baseball bat -- the side effect of the anti-tetanus shot. Moreover, I was almost P500 poorer.
Oh well. It did put friends' minds at ease.
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And so, we're all back to normal in the Cat Lair. Prancer and Blitzen still have their daily spats, but mostly they're just shouting matches. During times when the aggression takes a turn for the worse, I now know better than to intervene. I just show the two young males The Lysol Spray Bottle.
One look at The Bottle and they run away with their tails between them.
(#)
Disclaimer: What I did after my cat bit me was right -- up to the part where I avoided getting anti-rabies shots. What I did was pretty risky, notwithstanding the fact that Prancer is an indoor cat. If you get bitten by your pet, the immediate line of defense is to race to the hospital and get yourself both the anti-rabies and anti-tetanus shots. Also restrain the concerned animal and observe it for a week. If it dies, then you are sooo in trouble.
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