Have any Flutherites ever contracted Cat Scratch Fever or known anyone who has been affected by it?

When do you expect the cat to arrive back on earth?

Several years ago I had a co-worker who after several misdiagnoses was determined to have Cat Scratch Fever. It was a problem on and off for several months – damaged her immune system.

I got it from some kitty next door. No seriously it is a common infection and can be pretty serious. With antibiotics it can be treated and the people I’ve known to have it didn’t suffer any long term affects.

@DarkScribe & @Adirondackwannabe – Ordinarily, the cat would be on it’s way out of the solar system, but I know he didn’t mean to hurt me and I should have known better than to stick my leg between two warring felines. It’s been about two weeks since the initial incident and the swelling in my leg hasn’t completely gone away, but I’m almost out of antibiotics and some stiffness, pain and swelling still remain.

Keep up with the antibiotics, because I think it can be pretty nasty if not completely cured. On the plus side, I’ve always liked a good cat fight. (either kind)

My father told me he got it and ended up needing hospitalized. The infection was in his arm, and his lymph nodes were extremely swollen as well as his arm. He said the doctors put a drain in his wound and kept him on IV antibiotics for a while. That was a long time ago and medical practice most likely has changed since my father was young.

Actually, most people who develop cat scratch disease do not require antibiotics. It is a very common infection in children, who get scratched by kittens (in some areas, 100% of newborn kittens harbor Bartonella in their blood stream). For what it is worth @Rufus_T_Firefly you almost definitely DIDN’T HAVE cat scratch disease, which typically takes weeks to develop in the draining lymph node after a scratch occurs (in your case, the groin), but rather a more mundane skin infection known as cellulitis.

@shilolo – That’s an interesting diagnosis, although I’m not sure where you’re getting your information. However, I’m probably going to go ahead and take the word of the two different doctors and the specialist who examined me. As expected, they couldn’t tell me how or exactly when it was contracted, other than my own confirmation of a cat attack, but all three diagnosed it as Cat Scratch Disease and recommended antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs as the best way to begin treatment. The specialist did say that if antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs didn’t take care of the problem, we’d have to try some other course of treatment. I said nothing at all about the groin area.

@escapedone7 – It’s interesting that you mentioned your Dad’s arm pain, because for the last few months, I’ve had pain in both arms, mostly around the elbow and upper arm. For the most part, acute pain and slight swelling has been mostly limited to my right arm. But, on those occasions where the pain has been acute, it would make my right arm nearly unusable until the pain subsides. I mentioned that to the ER docs and a specialist, but apparently they thought it was unrelated or it just didn’t raise any red flags for them.
The pre-existing arm pain was unremarkable while the leg swelling occurred, but now that the inflammation has gone down in my leg, the arm pain has returned. I’m probably going to need another exam.

I happen to be an Infectious Disease specialist. Sorry to disagree, but it isn’t cat scratch disease if it happened 1–2 days after the scratch, and if your entire leg became swollen. That’s cellulitis, which classically occurs in the legs after the skin is broken, such as via an animal scratch. Cat scratch typically has a small wound, and the bacteria lead to an ascending lymphadenopathy, or swelling of the lymph nodes. Now, I’m not saying you don’t need antibiotics, because you do, but more that the diagnosis is simpler.

I had cat scratch fever about ten years ago from my own cat. I tried to come between him and a very large dog that he was “having a verbal argument’ with on my front porch. He bite me, but like you I just had my hand in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was several days latter that I had any problems. In fact the wound was fairly well healing when I went to the doctor with swollen glands. When she saw my glands and listened to my symptoms she asked if I had been bitten by a cat lately. I told her I had. She said I probably had cat scratch fever, She tried one antibiotic but it did not help. She then gave me an antibiotic that specifically targets cat scratch fever (to this day I wonder why she didn’t give me that one in the first place, doh)
Now one thing of interest that she told me was that cat scratch fever does not come from scratches, but from the saliva in their mouths. I don’t know if this is true or not. But I am sure there can’t be anything real clean in the claws of cats (nor my own for that matter ,after a brief look at them lol).
The 2nd antibiotic did the trick, however I have no idea what it was called but you might just ask your doctor about it.

Opps just read the listing above mine and I have to agree, because like I said it was several days later that I had swelling in my glands. ooooo and I get to agree with an infectious disease specialist. I wish I would read from top to bottom. but it was the red highlighted bits that got my attention then as I am typing this I see that shilolo is a specialist. So there you have it.

Also, as I mentioned previously, most cases of true cat scratch disease do not require antibiotics. However, the treatment, if desired, is a macrolide antibiotic such as doxycycline, erythromycin or azithromycin. In contrast, the treatment for cellulitis these days would require a whole set of different antibiotics. Not sure who the “specialist” was, but I hope that your treatment involves a stronger antibiotic.

@shilolo – Okay, I’ll bite. Given that I will have to take your word on the matter, how do you explain the nearly-debilitating arm pain that preceded the infection? I’m not disputing your claim or even trying to argue. I’m only trying to understand why I might have been told what I was told.

Prior to my diagnosis, I had discussed the arm pain with each of them and, confusingly enough, CSD was their unanimous diagnosis. Unfortunately, none of those doctors even mentioned cellulitis and now that the swelling and infection has abated somewhat, the earlier arm pain has returned, So, if it is cellulitis, I’d still like to know what is causing the accompanying arm pain and if it might be related. At this point, I’m also left not knowing exactly whom or what to believe. If they are indeed incorrect in their diagnosis, what might make three different doctors suspect CSD at all, given my current symptoms?

As it stands right now, I have already gone through 15 days worth of antibiotics (I might have two days worth left at this point) and still some have some swelling, some joint/muscle pain and stiffness, maybe a slight skin and tissue sensitivity in the area.

@Rufus_T_Firefly Obviously, it is impossible to make definitive diagnoses over the internet. In particular, I think that your arm pain is unrelated to your recent cat scratch event in your leg (unless, of course, you’ve been having lots of scratches from various cats on your hands/arms). People that develop cat scratch disease all over (disseminated bartonella infection) tend to be immunocompromised (i.e. advanced AIDS), and have infection in their skin or bones. However, the bone infection is very rare, and typically seen in people with true CSD in their nodes or severely weakened immune systems.That said, the tempo of your recent episode (cat scratch -> 2 days -> painful, red, swollen leg) suggests cellulitis, whereas CSD typically manifests 10–14 days after a scratch with a small peripheral blister and swollen glands.

Ultimately, I can’t know for sure what you have had in your leg or arms, but years of experience tells me that it 1) the arm pain is unique and 2) the leg infection was unlikely to be CSD. Blood tests for CSD exist, but they aren’t the best tests in the world. As to why you still have some residual symptoms 2 weeks afterwards, I cannot say, though perhaps the antibiotics you were prescribed weren’t ideal for the severity of your infection. Maybe you should request an evaluation by a local infectious disease specialist, and certainly go back to your regular doctor for an evaluation of your chronic arm pain.

As to why the 3 doctors said CSD, I don’t know. Maybe they have access to information I don’t, or maybe one suggested the diagnosis and they all just agreed. Maybe they saw “cat scratch” and “infection” and put them together to CSD. It certainly is a “sexier” diagnosis than run-of-the-mill cellulitis.

@shilolo – Well, thanks for the clarification, anyway. Unfortunately, I’m one of the lucky people who has no health insurance, so I have no regular doctor nor immediate access to one without an expensive visit to the emergency room. Will take notes on our conversation and pass it along in hopes that the next doctor will make a more concise diagnosis. Cheers.

This doesn’t sound like cat scratch fever, and I don’t think croudsourcing medical advice is the best idea.

@Provlear Thanks for the insight.

@Provlear – While I did receive some clarification on how CSD presents itself, I’d most certainly have to disagree somewhat since, according to @shilolo, three different doctors may have misdiagnosed the condition as CSD and, if I hadn’t asked the question here, I would never have heard about the possibility of simple cellulitis. If I have to return to the doctor because of this same condition, then at least I have the more pertinent questions and info to discuss. Besides, I never said I was looking for a perfect medical diagnosis here, just personal experiences.

My son who is seven years old , was comlaining with pain in his arm which i took for a strained muscle since he is always climbing trees and rolling around poles, but on the third day i decided to take him to a health centre for a check up, the doctor said it is an inflamed gland under his arms and he sent us for some blood tests, I was scared and went running to my family gp, who said that since he is always chasing cats and he has been bitten by more than one lately it could possibly be cat scratch disease, he prescribed klacid antibiotics and they eased the pain and maybe even the size decreased, but after 2 weeks here we are again , today he woke up complaining about the pain again, I was shocked by size which is a bit bigger than the first time around, the doctor saw him and said that maybe he needed a longer course of antibiotics and he changed klacid with a two week treatment zinnat 500mg.However I also suggested the blood tests and the doctor agreed that it will do no harm to have him checked, now I am petrified they might find something malignant, I am so scared, he is so healthy, agile and rarely ever gets sick, in fact I rarely take him to the doctor, he eats little but sensibly and is very thin, maybe underweight, which I was glad before since I am obese and know all about the problems with obesity, but now I look at him and I am scared, please could someone advice, like the disease specialist