This Smarts
Tuesday, 11.04.08 @ 12:19AM 
Princess always waits until the very last minute to complete school assignments. Usually, that's her problem, but it occasionally affects me. She has to have a 5x7 portrait of herself by Tuesday. I offered to take one, and she elected to have her picture made with her beloved cat Biscuit. We went outside where the light was better. We should have used a leash, but like everything else, it is nowhere to be found -probably in a box in the basement, just like everything we own.
The picture looks good, although you can tell Biscuit is a little distracted by something. That would be another male cat. It was less than a minute after this was shot that he let loose, screaming and scratching to get at the other cat. Princess was scratched but wouldn't let her cat go. My motherly instincts took over and I grabbed Biscuit away from her. As I ran for the front door, he sunk all four fangs deep in my left arm. At the same time, he shredded my left arm with his front claws and my right arm with his rear claws.
The few seconds it took to get in the door seemed like forever with Princess yelling "Gimme the cat! Give him to me!" As soon as I got inside, I threw Biscuit down and headed to the nearest bathroom. That also seemed to take forever, as Princess cried and tried to grab me out of concern, and Gothgrrl got in the way to see what was happening. I tried to drip on my shirt instead of the floor, but the carpet still got plenty. 
As I rinsed the blood off into the sink, I could see the puncture wounds. The blood continued to gush, so I yelled for the girls to bring me a clean dish towel. I wrapped it around me and the bleeding stopped in a few minutes. The bite area was already swollen and sore. Six hours later, it's still a little sore when I hold my arm still, but if I straighten the arm even a little, it really hurts. No signs of septicemia, and the swelling is limited to the original bite area, so I'm not too worried. I can still make it to the polls in the morning!
If, by some chance, I have to go to the emergency room and have my arm amputated, I will take pictures for you.
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Reader Comments (20)
Keep an eye out for cat scratch fever. Oh, well, now you're infected with the tune, at least. Sorry.
,,,,that way you can type your entries faster thus entertaining us more *wink*
This main difference this morning is that you can see where the bruising is. The pain and the swelling are about the same.
There usually is a generic brand on the shelf next to the official neosporin, get the generic. Apply sparringly and monitor, if your swelling doesn't go down in a couple of days, then you will need to see an MD to confirm all is well.
Also if you feel feverish at all, don't hesitate to pop some tylenol. I hope you feel well soon, the paranoia of injuries when you don't have insurance is something I don't wish on the most evil of people. Let alone someone as nice as you :-)
Thanks for taking photos for us.
Oh the things we do for our kids. Our cats and our blog. And yes, in that order!
i have a 3 month kitty named and she loves to play bite. the bites on my arm are nowhere near as bad as yours..fortunately she doesn't use her claws anymore.
hope you recover quickly.
Sorry you got in the middle of a cat fight. I think you should try to keep your arms. Blogging with nubs is probably fairly difficult.
Take care!