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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Should I Go To The ER After A Cat Bite?

Good evening! I am an 18 year old girl from Germany. I currently don t have access to services like this one there so I hope you can answer my question. Last week I was visiting my family in Ukraine, a country where rabies is still common. Wednesday last week I pet a half-stray cat (it is living in my grandmothers yard) and it bit me. The cat didn t seem ill or aggressive, it was probably just playing and the cut did not bleed. However, since then I couldn t get this out of my head and for some reason I have been convinced I had rabies now. My parents say the concern is stupid and did not take me to a doctor to get me checked out. My grandmother also said the cat is frequently visiting and that all cats and dogs on the farm-streets are vaccined against rabies every year. The cat was born last year in summer and I m not sure if it has been vaccined then. On top of this I have a history of being scared of different infections and I also have germophobic tendencies. Is it worth to embarrass myself if I go to an Emergency Clinic in my city tomorrow (tomorrow is a free day) and get checked out? Or is rabies highly unlikely and I m just overreacting? Please help me, I m getting quite the severe anxiety attacks for a few days now because of this and I can t calm down. Thank you a lot in advance and best regards, Kati
Wed, 12 Sep 2018
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General Surgeon 's  Response
Hi,

It is better to get anti rabies shot as prevention is always better than cure.You can take full course of anti rabies shot.

Hope I have answered your query.
Let me know if I can assist you further.

Regards,
Dr. Shinas Hussain,
General & Family Physician
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Should I Go To The ER After A Cat Bite?

Hi, It is better to get anti rabies shot as prevention is always better than cure.You can take full course of anti rabies shot. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further. Regards, Dr. Shinas Hussain, General & Family Physician