Cellulitis: should i stop taking my antibiotics?

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hey everyone, a medical question here.

so, about a week ago, maybe two my two dogs were in a fight and i was trying to break them up, the house cat (outdoor/indoor) started attacking my leg and bit it quite hard, i cleaned it and bandaged it and forgot about it, until a few days later when i went to my friends house and it was really hurting; every time i walked it burned. I took a look at it and it was quite infected. I delt with infections before and wasn't too worries, i marked it to see if it was growing and played the waiting game.

i have always known that cat bites can be nasty and cause some bad issues like 'Cat Scratch Fever' so i did some research. I found out that the Bacterium is likely pasteurella multocida, a nasty bacteria but sensitive to Penicillin based antibiotics.



The next day my leg hurt too much to walk on and my dad was too worried and so we went to the hospital, the doctor said I "should've came in as soon as the cat bit me, 90% of cat bites become infected and it can be aggressive" and put me on some REALLY powerful antibiotics called amoxicillin ( a pill i used to take as a baby for chronic ear infections) that i was supposed to take 3 times a day for a week, but the pills make me nauseas and give me some bad stomach problems so i took 1 pill for 4 days and the swelling went down significantly, it was no longer hot to the the touch and the redness was shrinking. Its still hard as a rock and some puss and blood still leak from it every now and then but im not too worried.

Should i be worried though? is the infection going to return or am i in the clear?

For something like this, you should just be able to call the doctor's office, if you're sensitive to the medication he can prescribe a different antibiotic, but if you only experience minor side effects like an upset stomach and not a serious immediate allergic reaction, I wouldn't stop without speaking to the doctor. But yes, the infection isn't necessarily taken care of just because the swelling is gone.

With that said, if you get bitten by an animal again, just apply peroxide as soon as you can. It usually takes care of it. I've been in a house with 5 cats and never gotten anything short of a tiny infection that could've/was treated with simple over the counter topical antibiotics..

I know you're not supposed to stop taking antibiotics before they're finished unless the doctor says so because the bacteria can become resistant, but there's no way I could cope with side effects like that. Ask the doctor.

But in Canada there's kind of a Murphy's law for seeing a doctor for a non-emergency ailment. If you make the appointment by the time you actually see the doctor (which is even longer in summer when they're usually on vacation), your illness will be completely gone and seeing them will be like a waste of time. But if you don't make the appointment, what started out as a nasty sniffle will develop into something that causes your bronchial tubes to shut down. If you go to emergency so you can have it looked at before that happens, unless you're heavily bleeding or literally dying you will be stuck there all alone (unless you came with someone) with no doctors keeping even an eye on you for hours and hours and HOURS.

It almost makes you wish you had one of the worse illnesses or injuries the other patients had so they could be seen more quickly. "Oh lucky b@$!@#&, he got to go ahead of me because he's got a steel pipe rammed right through his left temple!"

heres what it looks like now, shrunk a lot.

You should always take the full course of antibiotics. If you don't, then what can happen is that the partial course of antibiotics kills off just the weaker bacteria and the stronger ones that can survive some antibiotic treatment survive and flourish -- so if the infection isn't completely cleared, it can be harder to treat the bacteria that remain (i.e. needing stronger/different antibiotics, a higher/more frequent dose of antibiotics, or a longer course of antibiotics to treat what may be a more severe infection).

And antibiotic resistant bacteria doesn't just suck for you -- it's one way that antibiotic resistant bacteria like MRSA can get started.... they can travel from your body to the rest of the world, causing harder to treat infections in anybody they infect.

When you have problems with side effects, you should see a doctor or talk to a pharmacist (doesn't even have to be a pharmacist at the place you got your prescription -- you can just ask any pharmacist) and ask them what to do -- they may be able to suggest/prescribe medication or other treatments for the nausea and stomach problems or give you a different antibiotic.

Another problem with bites and cellulitis is that the bacteria can easily enter the bloodstream and cause a blood infection. These are very hard to treat and can cause death quickly.

Not to scare you, but my dad almost died from a blood infection, and my husband almost got a blood infection from cellulitis caused a bad reaction to poison ivy.

The antibiotics are important. The advice you have been given about talking to a pharmacist is good. Something as simple as taking an antibiotic with food can help with the nausea. Taking a probiotic also helps.

As others have said, you must ALWAYS complete the FULL prescription of antibiotics.

Infections can be very dangerous----as someone else said, I always use Hydrogen Peroxide on ANY scratch, cut, and the like, to clean it out (I wash it with soap-and-water, FIRST); then, I put on Zinc cream, and a Band-Aid.

As for the nausea, try eating Saltines crackers; if that doesn't help try an OTC med, called Emetrol (if they have it, in Canada)----I've taken it, several times, and it has been a wonder-drug, for ME.

I've had Cat-scratch Fever, myself----I was on a mobile IV, for 2 weeks, I think it was (or, a month; can't remember); had to keep the medicine in my fridge, and put the bags in this little purse-like thing----it's nothing to sneeze at (CSF). The doctor told me that people get more severe infections from cats, than any other animal; and, more people are allergic to cats, than any other animal (and most, don't know it). I'm allergic to cats, as well----but, I've had cats all-of-my-life----one just has to know, like, HOW allergic, they are; for instance, I'm fine as long as a cat doesn't get in my face.

As for ANY infection, as someone else already mentioned, MRSA is very scary----I've read / heard about a few instances..... In one case, a woman got a cut on her finger, and as a result, had to have her entire arm, part of her shoulder, and her breast removed.

Never, EVER think: "Oh, it's nothing----just a small cut....."!