Does a dog bite cause infection or?

[KrisK]

This question is related to my thread about Cricket nipping the neighbour. Whenever I've been bitten (not frequently thank goodness!) I've always washed the area ASAP and have never had any after affects. With the nip my neighbour received (where there was no apparent bleeding), he required antibiotics for swelling. So my question - does the bite cause the infection or is it the actions or inaction after the fact? Or have I always been lucky?

[kelpiegirl]

Yes. I was recently bitten- about 3+ weeks ago. The dog didn't make it through my pants (I thought), but it was a deep scrape (no bleeding), and huge bruise. 1.5 weeks into it, it was hot, red, and the swelling was worse. Got cellulitis, and had to go on antibiotics. By the way, as far as the Doc knew, I scraped it on a fence- not going to go into the dog bite stuff because of legal ramifications. Anyway, I was on the abx for 10 days, and then started with an allergic reaction to that, and am now off. I am supposed to go on abx again, but I think it is going to be okay.. Anyway, it still isn't heeled, and it hurts when I walk too much. So, yes, it is best to go on the abx if the skin was broken- we all carry obligate bacteria on our bodies, so even if the dog didn't introduce them, the person who got bit might! I NEVER get infections, so I consider this a wake up call.

Julie

This question is related to my thread about Cricket nipping the neighbour. Whenever I've been bitten (not frequently thank goodness!) I've always washed the area ASAP and have never had any after affects. With the nip my neighbour received (where there was no bleeding apparent), he required antibiotics for swelling. So my question - does the bite cause the infection or is it the actions or inaction after the fact? Or have I always been lucky?

[BustopherJones]

When I received a dog bite a couple of years ago that penetrated the skin, I inucrred an infection that had to be treated with antibiotics; I also had to get a tetanus booster from my doctor (at her insistence).

[painted_ponies]

The teeth of most critters, including ourselves, are generally crawling with bacteria. So if teeth make a deep puncture wound, there's a good chance some of that bacteria will be injected into the wound, where they can reproduce.

 

I don't think I've ever had a dog bite that broke the skin - not bad for an ex-chow handler, eh? But I've been bitten by plenty of lizards and by a cat once, and I think pretty much all those bites got infected.