We've gotten ourselves entangled with an Advanced Cat, and I don't have the prerequisites. I've had basic cat, and Caring for Elderly Cats, but not Advanced Kittens Who Bite.
He hasn't left marks in several days, and he's never bitten or scratched hard enough for blood to reach the surface (as distinct from leaving red marks but without even minimal blood loss).
I do wash, with soap and hot water, when he breaks my skin (not often, I'm happy to say). What risks are we looking at?
Oh, yeah. Very much. To be discouraged. (I do think that Cally figured out with surprising smartness that my bare skin was far more vulnerable that her fur: she's very rarely scratched me to break the skin since then, but she doesn't seem to have ever figured out that my clothes are not all of the same high protective quality: she'll climb down or up me using her claws freely whether I'm wearing a t-shirt or a heavy jacket.
Cat bites, especially if they're puncture wounds, get infected far more readily that dog bites. see google (http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=%22cat+bites%22+%22Health+risk%22&meta=) I've known someone (a next-door neighbour) who got bitten by her cat, didn't take it very seriously (small wound, didn't bleed very much, disinfected and band-aided, apparently no problem), and went to the doctor three or four days later (suffering increasing pain) - to be told that if she'd put it off over the weekend she could have ended up having to lose her hand.
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I do wash, with soap and hot water, when he breaks my skin (not often, I'm happy to say). What risks are we looking at?
That aside, even a minimal friendly nip hurts.
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Oh, yeah. Very much. To be discouraged. (I do think that Cally figured out with surprising smartness that my bare skin was far more vulnerable that her fur: she's very rarely scratched me to break the skin since then, but she doesn't seem to have ever figured out that my clothes are not all of the same high protective quality: she'll climb down or up me using her claws freely whether I'm wearing a t-shirt or a heavy jacket.
Cat bites, especially if they're puncture wounds, get infected far more readily that dog bites. see google (http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=%22cat+bites%22+%22Health+risk%22&meta=) I've known someone (a next-door neighbour) who got bitten by her cat, didn't take it very seriously (small wound, didn't bleed very much, disinfected and band-aided, apparently no problem), and went to the doctor three or four days later (suffering increasing pain) - to be told that if she'd put it off over the weekend she could have ended up having to lose her hand.