: Whose bite is worse for infection a cat's bite or a dogs? I've been wondering lately, I get bitten, or scratched by my cat a lot and the wound gets a tiny bit swollen, and then it heals. So if I get bitten by a house dog

Vote Up Vote Down   0 Reactions

Login to give Reaction!

They can both be bad; it depends greatly on the type of wound. Dogs are responsible for the vast majority of bites, hospitalizations, and deaths, but there's some suggestion that when cats do bite, it's more likely to cause serious problems, but the numbers of cat bites are small, so it's hard to say for sure.

Statistically, dogs are are the cause of 85% - 90% of bites in the US, and ~50% of those bites are unprovoked. Cats are responsible for 5% - 10% of bites, and close to 100% of those bites are provoked.

Neither cats nor dogs are known for their dental hygiene, so both cat and dog bites are at high risk for infection. There's also a chance, especially in older animals, that some portion of the tooth breaks off and is left in the bite wound. It seems that cat bites are more likely to be deep puncture wounds than dog bites, and, as such are more likely to cause a serious infection, but cat bites are also much rarer than dog bites.

With cat bites, some people can go into anaphylactic shock, which is less likely with dog bites.

Both cats and dogs can transmit rabies via bite; statistically, cats are more likely to have rabies than dogs, but the chance of either is very small.

See www.aafp.org/afp/2014/0815/p239.html for detailed information.