Originally Posted by
SamtheSquirrel2018
Hi vxandraxv and thank you for finding TSB! Sorry about Mateo! I am assuming that you witnessed or somehow know for certain that this little guy was bitten by a cat. Cat bites can be very damaging and frequently lead to an infection. Many Rehabbers will start a Cat bitten Squirrel on appropriate antibiotics immediately upon intake and I do the same and feel this is quite warranted! Cats have relatively long sharp teeth and these can penetrate deep within a bitten animal and even puncture through or into bone and even enter the brain or may enter into the chest or abdomen and injuring organs! These same teeth can damage nerves, blood bones, muscles, tendons and anything they get to! Often a cat bitten animal or human can get "seeded" with bacteria in the superficial skin or relatively deep within the body.
One of the many bacteria found in a cat's mouth is called Pasteurella multocida. Most wound infections, if they are going to develop, are not usually evident in the first 24 hours and are much more likely to be evident in the first 48-72 hours but Pasteurella is an exception and signs of an infection (redness, swelling, purulent drainage, fever, decreased appetite and activity level among some) may be quite evident by 24 hours an often before that! Just to illustrate a point, IF an infected cat bite is cultured and the only bacterium that is causing an infection is found to be Pasteurella multocida, the Amoxicillin will usually be quite adequate. There is too much resistance to the first generation cephalosporins so I would NOT recommend the cephalexin or either alone or combined with the amoxicillin! Again, however, there are more risks than infection by Pasteurella including anaerobes from the cat's mouth. The ideal antibiotic for Cat bites is a combination medication called generically, Amoxicillin plus Clavulanate. A Human medicine brand name for this is Augmentin and an example of a Veterinary brand is Clavamox. I would suggest checking to see if you have any Amoxicillin plus Clavulanate available and check with friends and family. This is a very commonly prescribed medication and is often found available when we recommendations to our member to try to locate a particular antibiotic. If you have this (and it will only take a single tablet!) we can send a Private Message to you with the dosing. We will need the strength of the Amoxicillin plus Clavulanate. There will be two numbers, one will be the Amoxicillin component and the second will be the Clavulanate component. NOTE: you mentioned that you are familiar with combining medications but don't waste time looking for Clavulanate to combine with the amoxicillin and it is NOT available by itself!
If you have Meloxicam or liquid Ibuprofen available or you can get the Ibuprofen over-the-counter (meloxicam is available only with a prescription), w can dose this as well to help with pain
One last thing and that is regard to using any "goop" over a puncture wound and my humble advice would be to forgo use of any of these for a puncture wound as if there is any draining to occur, it would be best to not hinder that and the ointments and other "goops" will also seal of the puncture which will enhance the likelihood of an anaerobic bacterium being able to grow as they grow best away from oxygen!
I am at work now so one of the Admins or others "checked-out" in the mixing and dosing instructions will assist you. Again, if you want to start the Amoxicillin now and then seek Amoxicillin plus clavulanate; this may be the best urgent strategy!
I'll will get back with your thread when I am able!
Regards,
SamtheSquirrel
Currently NLT but could change, 468g grey with cat bite wound on neck
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