It’s a histamine response, also known colloquially as “an allergy”. I get them from cats, pine trees and other evergreens and some dogs. My cat and dog reactions are mild enough that I rarely bother treating them, since they’re topical. If a cat breaks skin or a piece of fur lands just right and penetrates the skin or sticks into a pore, then I’ll itch like mad and swell in that spot. If I notice it happening (like last week when I was pilling the neighbor’s cat and I ended up with a broken off claw in my hand for my efforts), a Benadryl taken ASAP will stave off the worst of my symptoms.
Pine trees, OTOH, make me miserable. We’ve switched to an artificial tree, my kid decorates it (because the oil/sap on the ornaments from natural trees 10 years ago is enough to trigger it) AND I take Benadryl anyway and that keeps me only mostly miserable while the decorating is going on. That one might be enough to be called an actual allergy, as it causes some airway constriction. Bad news.
Declawing involves the removal of the distal phalanx which is the last bone at the end of a cat’s paw. It is not unreasonable to liken that to the amputation of a finger at the first joint.
Next time you’re getting ready to prepare a meal, run the food through the litter box for a minute or so. Or better yet, next time you cut yourself . . .
My sister was scratched by an animal (a dog, but it makes no difference in this case, as I’ll explain) and it developed a serious infection. If the red swelling around the wound starts to spread or ‘track’, get thee to a doctor with huge urgency. I think you have OTC topical antibiotics available where you live, don’t you? If so, I’d slap some of that on it as soon as possible.
Now, the reason the wound got infected in my sister’s case is not anything to do with the animal, it’s because without thinking, she wiped it down with her own saliva and the infection came from there - there are bacteria many of us carry in our mouth nose and throat with impunity that will do us great harm if they get under the skin elsewhere on our bodies.
Thanks for the information, everyone. The inflammation, such as it was, has subsided. Now they’re little, red marks on my arm. It’s happened before, but I’ve never thought to start a thread about it.
About the cat litter thing, my wife and I carved up the household duties nine years ago. She does the cat litter. Two or three times a day, maybe four. I know it’s not the most sanitary thing, but it is kept clean.
So, what do you suppose it is on the tips of her claws that could produce that reaction in me, without my actually having an open wound? I don’t get any kind of adverse reaction from petting her.
I have antihistamines at home, and also some antibiotics, in case I need them. In this case, I don’t think I will.
Most cat allergies are caused by urine, dander (dead skin cells) or dried cat spit. cite There’s certainly lots of dried cat spit on kitty’s claws, since they lick them all the time for bathing.
Dang, beat by one post. My bet is that it’s from dried cat saliva on the claws, the cat breaks the skin even a little and you get some of this foreign substance basically injected under your skin and you have a reaction.
Bacterial infections are not instantaneous unless your cat is really a komodo dragon.