{"id":3833,"date":"2026-06-24T15:24:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T05:24:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?p=3833"},"modified":"2026-06-29T15:26:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T05:26:51","slug":"scaredy-cat-you-probably-should-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?p=3833","title":{"rendered":"Scaredy cat? You probably should be!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For those of us that work with cats, we know that things can sometimes not go to plan and a scratch or bite can happen. In fact, this is probably one of the top enquiries we get from veterinary business owners, and one of the most common injuries that occurs in our sector. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked what species Australian veterinary sector workers had been bitten by in the preceding 12 months, the most common species was cat. In fact, 23% of vet students, 33 per cent of vets, and 44 per cent of vet nurses\/technicians reported experiencing a cat bite in the preceding 12 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat bites can be an extremely serious injury <\/strong>and are often trivialised by the worker and medical staff treating them, as the puncture wounds are initially very small and innocuous looking, due to the needle-like shape and size of cats’ canine teeth. Cat bites commonly occur on the hand and wrist <\/sup>and often involve joints and tendon sheaths. Complications such as tenosynovitis, arthritis, abscesses and septicaemia occur in 18% of cat bite patients. Ninety percent of cats have Pasteurella<\/em> spp. in their mouths, therefore, cat bites can commonly become infected, and 30% of bites to the hand lead to hospitalisation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat bites have been identified as one of the most common causes of work days lost to veterinarians and veterinary nurses in Australia. Cat bites need immediate medical treatment. As most cat bites occur to the hand or wrist, delicate structures are often impacted and infection is common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have made a Managing cat bites<\/em> handout aimed to assist both the injured person and the medical team treating them to ensure that misunderstanding does not exist on the best approach to treatment. We all know someone (it might even be us) who has been hospitalised due to a cat bite. It may lead to surgery and then weeks or months of rehab before you can return to work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat bite risk can be greatly reduced by adopting cat handling methods that reduce fear in the cat and focus on understanding their behaviour and body language in order to read how they are feeling and modify your approach accordingly. It also means not just \u2018pushing through\u2019 with a cat that is getting upset, due to time or client constraints, but rather putting cat comfort and your safety first. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some ways to reduce the risk of a cat bite include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n