Are dog scratches dangerous?

[kapohokine]

KathyH, with all due...

It can be an infection. But that does not mean MRSA (drug resistant staph). Nobody has said staph, let alone MRSA. Seriously. If every kid (or every adult for that matter) with an infection went to the ER thinking IMMEDIATELY about MRSA, as you've suggested, we'd have a medical crisis in this town that would be unbelieveble. Please.

[Beachboy]

wow, the imput here on this thread is incredible! Look everybody, infections is something I grew up with here in the islands. I mean that no excuse for ignorance. But I usually don't panic in these situations. The reason why I am concerned is because of my ignorance on dog scratches. Yesterday I went down memory lane as Ted Nugent's old song(Cat scratch fever) was going through my head. Cat scratch fever I thought to myself. I wondered to myself if there is a dog scratch fever? That was the reason I created this thread.

As early as 1974 I got my first Staph infection in Hana Maui. I still remember it to this day like it was yesterday. My first bout of it, was also my worst bout of it! I got it from scrapping my shin against Lava there. I awoke the following morning with redness around wound. It was tender too just to touch that area. I knew I was in trouble. But I was young and foolish. If any of you have been to Hana Maui, out by the 'seven sacred pools', you know whats growing all around there in cow patties! I was in so much pain I decided to eat a hand full of"Shrooms", then another hand full!
Instead of getting blissful relief I was treated a spiking fever that shot up to 104 degrees. I came to find out that the main alkaline in magic mushrooms worked like fertilizer for a Staph Infection!!!! I ended up have a pretty good puka on my shin that had a green tint...which turned out to be dry gengrene. One of the reasons I remember this ordeal was the saddistic nurse at the Lahaina clinic that scrubbed my wound daily with a wire brush & surgical soap to boot! Of course these days Staph Infection are treated differently then back then. Of course I know because I almost lost my left leg the last year I worked on the beach in Waikiki. Mayor Mufi opening up the sewer line into the Ala Wai caused this to my leg. I was treated with such a high dose of antibiotics that it made me "blow chunks" every morning after taking these meds.
But not having a dog scratch before, and tripping on Ted Nugents song made me worry, and that's why I turned to my Punaweb family for advice! You folks are all great!

Handle every situation like a dog,If you can't eat it or hump it,piss on it and walk away...

[PunaLover]

well do you got it taken care of?

KEEP PUNA RURAL

[Carey]

If the scratch was from the claws, then you have not only the germs on your skin, but also anything in the soil. If from the teeth, then germs on your skin plus those in the mouth....& you know what they lick.... (cats can Bartonella - cat scratch fever & can transmit from bite, scratch or licking an open wound - haven't ever heard of dog scratch fever, but image if something is in the dirt in the claws it can get into you) Best to clean the wound (10 - 30 seconds is what I vaguely remember from long ago & far away) ASAP, keep clean & dry

[missydog1]

well, kapohokine, I mentioned MRSA because I have several recent experiences with the way doctors here are treating staph infections, at Hilo Urgent Care, Bay Clinic, my doctor ...

the latter two, unless and until they get a culture, have told me that they are seeing so much resistant staph here that they aren't even bothering to try anything related to a 'cillin, including Augmentin, which they were using only a year ago.

While it's not so bad they have to go straight to vancomycin, it's not good either. I'm not being alarmist. My one son has had three bouts with MRSA in the last two years, all from negligible scratches.

It sounds like Beachboy is very familiar with how staph feels, from the follow-up post, but from the first post I couldn't tell.

Right now I do think it's better to get these thinks checked, if, as I said, the swollen area expands from the original site.

Other advice I've gotten is to increase the circulation by hot compress and elevating the limb ... gets the white blood cells to the site and carrying the bad stuff away.

I also hit the echinacea and goldenseal.