Cat bites and pretty yarns

I got bitten by a cat yesterday, and it wasn't Ken.

We stopped by the local shelter to pet and visit with some of the kitties. I was sitting in a chair with one cat and he had given me one nip already. Since Ken (and almost every other cat I've ever owned) does this often, I wasn't too worried about it but I did get a little cautious with my petting. It was rather hard. I still kept petting him, which was really stupid.

He nailed me HARD in the webbing in between my pinky and ring finger on my right hand.

Then I became reasonable and moved away from him. I went over to look at his card to see if it mentioned anything about any behaviour like this, when I notice a warm wet feeling on my fingers. Yup, blood running down. I applied pressure with a napkin, and noticed it was a pretty deep bite.

I did the only thing I could do. I filed a report with them.

They had me wash the bite out with soap and water (the good thing about bites that bleed is that the blood can work to flush germs out). They gave me disinfectant and a band aid. They are going to pull him and quarantine him for 10 days, and will call me if anything comes up with him. He'll be re-evaulated, too, I'm sure. If he passes, they will not put him back in the community room, but in his own cage, and will monitor him to make sure he doesn't bite anyone else. There will probably be a mild warning sign on his cage too.

I'm about the best person this could have happened to, really. I know how serious cat bites can be, and I know what to look for. I also understand that these things can happen, and I'm not blaming them. The cat was turned in by his former owner, he has been evaluated, and had just been moved from the holding area to adoption. At least he didn't bite a child.

So, you wanna see a picture?



The hand on the left is the swollen one, in case you can't tell right away.

I went to the doctor today. I thought about doing so last evening but didn't feel like spending 8 hours in the ER for a cat bite. I got a tetanus booster, as my last one was in 2001, and a 'script for amoxycilin. The doc also drew that nice line around the blotch on my hand, so I can monitor it in case it gets bigger. I'm supposed to call them if it does get bigger, or if the swelling gets bigger or doesn't go down within a few days of the amoxy.

Cat bites are serious business, kids. I worked with a woman who had to spend a couple of days in the hospital for a kitten bite. Dog bites get all the publicity because they usually are immediately fucked-up, but cat bites can really sneak up on you and mess you up.

Time for some yarn pr0n, right?

We went to NYC on Saturday. ZMrK was working at the NYC Comic Con, and I had a full 8 hours to myself. I shopped for yarn, among other things that are still unphotographed.



Lovely sky blue laceweight cashmere from School Products. There's 380 yards per skein. I may try to make a Lily of the Valley shawl from it.



JP Knits superwash sock yarn in the colorway "Tampa", from the Yarn Connection. I'm going to make myself some socks that will make Batty jealous!

I have my latest dyeing project all photographed, but I want to type it out step-by-step. I just don't feel like doing that right now, what with a swollen hand and all that I've typed already. I'll give that to you later this week.