Well, my roommate is in the hospital right now with a staff infection. (hope i’m sayin that right.) His doctor thinks he got it from my cat. (I’m having a hard time believing this myself. why didn’t I get one? :dubious: )
What I’m wondering is,if it is my cat; what can the Vet do for me. Also, how fullproof a traetment is there? (Assuming there is one.) I ask, because I can’t run the risk of my roommate getting sick again.
Thanks for any input.
Can’t really help you with veterinary information, but I think you mean a staph infection.
To help you out on the spelling, it’s a *staph * infection. Short for staphylococcus, a type of bacteria. IANAD or vet, but I’d suggest the first thing would be to take your cat to the vet and find out if the poor kitty has such an infection. I believe that staph infections are usually treated with antibiotics. Which one, of course, depends on which particular strain of bacteria you’re dealing with.
Again, IANAD, but I recall reading that there are staph germs all over the place but that we usually don’t become sick from them because our immune systems normally take care of them. A person whose immune system is compromised, or just not functioning as well as usual for any number of reasons (fatigue, other illnesses, etc.) will be more susceptible.
Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus (MRSA) infections are an increasing problem for people. They cause a variety of infections, most frequently abscess or pus forming skin infections. More and more, it is seen that both cats and dogs are getting colonized with this type of infection, and are serving as both a reservoir and a vector for the bacteria.
The same appears to hold true for the other disease-causing but non-MRSA strains of staph.
Not all people who are exposed to the bacteria will come down with an infection. Some people are colonized with it and can pass it on to others, while never getting sick themselves.
So it could be that your cat is the problem.
Maybe not, too.