Although cat is loving animal, there will still a time when cat owner suffers from cat scratch or bite, accidentally or not. Although the cat scratch or bite are just mild wounds, they can be hurt and sting or even bleed and become infected if they aren’t treated properly. One of the issue caused by cat scratch or bite is cat scratch fever. Cat scratch fever is a disease transmitted between cat and human. It is also known as Cat Scratch Disease (CSD) or Subacute Regional Lymphadenitis which is a bacterial infection spread by cat. It is caused by bite or scratch from cat infected with bacteria called Bartonella henselae. We can also get this infection if the saliva from infected cat come in touch with open wound or our mucous areas such as in the eyes.
According to research, there are around 40 percent cats that may carry Bartonella henselae in their life, and most of them don’t show any signs of sickness. Cat bites can be more harmful than scratch because it can leave deep wound that is more likely to get infected. Cat scratch fever is more dangerous if it infects children and people with compromised immune systems, such as people with diabetes, HIV or AIDS, or cancer patients who have chemotherapy. It has many symptoms, such as redness and bump in the site of cat’s bite or scratch that can progressed to rash on other part of body, painful and swollen lymph nodes, fever, nausea, vomiting, sore throat, loss of appetite, joint pain, etc.
The treatment of it include proper wound care and relieve the symptoms. It tends to get better by itself and special antibiotic treatment is usually not necessary for healthy people. Other than the treatments mentioned before, we can also treat cat scratch fever with home remedies. Home remedies can help relief the symptoms cause by cat scratch fever, soothe the sting wound, and help promote healing. Here’s how to treat cat scratch fever with home remedies.
1. Treat the cat scratch wound
The first steps in how to treat cat scratch fever with home remedies is to properly clean the cat scratch wound immediately. You may need to wash the wound with running water and apply antiseptics to prevent wound contamination that can lead to infection.
Manuka honey can be a good choice to treat cat scratch wound. It is widely used as a wound care and has many properties, such as antibiotic, antiseptic, mild anti-fungal, and anti-inflammatory properties. It can also keep the wound in good condition for healing. Remember to only use real honey, not the sugar added one. Real honey will not attract ants to it since it has naturally sweet substances, not like the sugar added honey.
Similar to Manuka honey, colloidal silver can also be a good choice to treat the cat scratch or bite wound. It has antimicrobial agent that can kill or slow down the growth of microbes, including bacteria. We can apply 2 to 5 drops of colloidal silver to the wound twice a day.
We can also use essential oils, the one with antibacterial properties like tea tree, oregano, cinnamon, and thyme essential oils, to treat cat scratch. We can treat it by one or the combination of essential oils with 1 teaspoon of Manuka honey and coconut oil. Apply the solution topically in the wound twice a day.
Vitamin A, D, and E can help you ease the pain from cat scratch. Topical vitamin A and D can promote wound healing process, while vitamin E is known as antioxidant which is good for cells repair. We can either drink the vitamin or use them as an ointment. If we choose to consume it orally, we must remember that our body has limit for daily vitamin intake, so we still need to consume the vitamin under recommended doses. Too much vitamin can be toxic and give more problems to our body. We may also need some antibiotic ointment if the cat’s claw is dirty or the cat just spend its time outdoors.
2. Reduce the pain from cat scratch fever
Another how to treat cat scratch fever with home remedies is to reduce the pain or discomfort from cat scratch wound. We can use baking soda or sodium bicarbonate to reduce cat scratch’s itch. Some cat scratch can give itch which can make us scratch the wound more that can make it worse. It is normal to have itch on the wound since it is a result of our body’s immune process, such as histamine and inflammatory substances, to do wound healing process.
We can also get swollen lymph nodes or lymphadenitis caused by cat scratch fever. It can be quite painful and give some discomfort. We can relieve the swelling and pain by applying warm compress periodically in the swollen lymph nodes area.
3. Boost immune system
We need to boost immune system to help promote wound healing and prevent infection when we have cat scratch fever. Manuka honey and colloidal silver can also be the choice to help to boost immune system. Remember that we can’t consume colloidal silver for more than 14 days. Raw garlic is also known has a good antibacterial properties and is powerful to fight any infection.
Remember to properly treat the cat scratch fever since it can cause complications to brain, eyes, heart and other organs, though it’s rarely happened. If you have concern about the issue or the scratch shows signs of infection, such as swelling and discharge, then you need to go to the doctor immediately. For cat owner, we also need to prevent Bartonella henselae infection to our cat. The bacteria can come from the flea, that’s why we need to do flea control treatment and regular grooming to cat. Stray cats found to carry the bacteria more often, we are recommended to never pet these cats. Always wash our hands after having contact with cats, never let cat lick us on open wound or mucous area such as eyes, nose, mouth. We may need to be careful if we play with the cat, especially when we have open wound. Be careful not to get any cat scratch or bite.