Sunday I stepped on my cat's tail. In reaction, she bit my leg and I moved. Fair enough. Yesterday I noticed the bite was infected. Off to the ER I go (I'm diabetic.) I get treated and supplied with medication. I come home and get a call from county Animal Control. Seems my cat must be "quarenteened" for 10 days. I refuse to turn her in, and agree to keep her inside. She stays inside anyway. Now, on the 28th, these jerks want to come out and examine her and review papers. Jeez, I can go to the local needle exchange and pick up needles to shoot heroin anonymously, but they're coming to check my freaking cat? Whatever happened to HIPPA? They just report whatever the hell they want? I thought I was safe from this bullshit, moving to a small town in a rural county.

I doubt they really care about you...or your cat. They really do care about rabies, and will get fairly aggressive in preventing it.

About 9 or 10 years ago my sister and BIL's dog bit my hand and penetrated the skin, and I went to a doc-in-a-box to make sure it wasn't infected. The same thing happened then. They called the county, and the county wanted to quarantine the dog. My BIL agreed to keep him confined at home for whatever the period was, the county guy went along, and the whole thing was resolved in a few days. The doctor told me that he was required by law to inform the county in the case of an animal bite, to contain the risk of rabies.

I guess that a vet's record of rabies vaccination is not sufficient.

Cat Scratch Fever is no joke!

There are exceptions to HIPPA having to do with public health issues. It is usually covered in the fine print.

Wait till the cat sees the size of the thermometer

My current cat, a spastic 6 month old, half feral bundle of destruction that was foisted off on me by the local shelter as being "cute" and "cuddly"
has the habit of chomping my big toe.
No skin break yet, but if it happens, I will be disinfecting vigorously to avoid the bureaucracy you are now involved in.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
My current cat, a spastic 6 month old, half feral bundle of destruction that was foisted off on me by the local shelter as being "cute" and "cuddly"
has the habit of chomping my big toe.
No skin break yet, but if it happens, I will be disinfecting vigorously to avoid the bureaucracy you are now involved in.

My neighbor's cat had a thing about biting peoples big toes. A couple of years ago I was asked to feed the cat while they were away on vacation. The first day that damn cat bit my toe while I was filling the dish w/ food. The second day I poured hot sauce on my big toes before I went in to feed the cat. He got a pretty good dose of hot sauce that day and hasn't attempted to bite my toes since

Cat bites and diabetes is no joke. The offending agent is often Pasteurella multocida. Due to the long teeth of a cat....it acts like a needle. Causing a deep infection that is more difficult to treat.

Andrew

Our most recent rescue bit one of my fingers to the bone--or damn close. (Wasn't the cat's fault. He came from a bad environment and didn't understand boundaries yet.) Despite vigorous and thorough cleaning and attempts to disinfect, it became badly infected. So off the the urgent care and, later, at my Dr's insistence, an X-Ray to make sure he hadn't nicked the bone, which can lead to no end of complications.

Never heard anything from The Man.

A few years ago I had a moron working for me. He thought it was his job to rescue everything. He tried to rescue a kitten that was hiding in the bushes and clearly did not want to be rescued.

Kitten bit dumbass hard, into the bone. I observed the infection in his finger getting worse every day. Told him to get his ass to doctor or urgent care. Nope, he knew better.

Wound up in hospital with heavy-duty IV antibiotics, followed by confinement to home with visiting nurse administering more antibiotics.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
There are exceptions to HIPPA having to do with public health issues. It is usually covered in the fine print.

The print isn't all that fine. Lots of types of incident (or infection) are mandatory reportable events for providers. Animal bites are one example in most jurisdictions.

-Rob

quote:

The print isn't all that fine. Lots of types of incident (or infection) are mandatory reportable events for providers. Animal bites are one example in most jurisdictions.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I was being sarcastic. People seldom read any of these forms and are shocked when there are reports for child abuse etc. You know Privacy over public health.

Hell - we tried to get the police involved when a neighbors dog attacked my daughter and my dog. They wouldn't do shit.


And y'all are telling me they are showing up at your house wanting to take your animals without being asked....

Well, if it ever happens again, I picked up a stray or some other lie. I'm real tired of proving I'm responsible. I did get bitten by a stray 20 years ago, and was off work for a couple of weeks. (Worker's comp-it was a prison kitty.)

Yeah, I know damn well my BIL's dog was up to date on all his vaccinations. If I'd known what would happen, I'd have told the doctor that I poked myself with a fork or something.

"That cat done run off last night!"
End scene.

quote:

Originally posted by Ryanp225:
"That cat done run off last night!"
End scene.

Then they'll rush him off to the hospital and amputate his arm ...

When my oldest boy was quite young, barely able to haul himself upright, he teased the dog, which bit him. The dog was normally very good natured, but he managed to pick the wrong day, or wrong tease, or whatever.

My then-wife didn't do a thing. I was out cutting wood, and when I got home, found the injury, and took my son to the nearest hospital, an hour+ away.

When the hospital learned of the injury, they contacted child services and law enforcement, then wanted the dog put down and the brain tested. They opened a child abuse case. I refused to hand over the dog. Life went on.