Question
My kitten had hurt herself and was bleeding in the neck a few days ago. I'm not sure of what caused that, but I doubt it may have been bitten or scratched by some other feral cats of street. From few days, she has started to lose hair on the head and now it's almost a bald spot. Her head is swollen also. She isn't eating properly also. I'm worried for the kitten and my family's worried for me. They say it's not safe to keep her at home anymore as she may have developed some contagious disease as one of our old neighbors had died from a cat bite, but I don't want to send her away.
What should I do?
What's the reason for that baldness?
Will even accidental scratch/bite from her cause diseases to humans?
Is that bite/scratch on her neck too serious issue?
Note: There are no veterinary doctors near our place.
Answer
You still need to get the cat to a vet to get this diagnosed and treated, but not only for your current problem, but to get the cat vaccinated and spayed/neutered.
When you get a cat you take on the responsibility of providing all the care a cat needs for the next 20 years or more.
Your cat does have an infection and needs treatment, so it does need a vet; often cats get an abscess after getting bitten and this needs to be emptied and cleaned out by a vet and sometimes the cat needs antibiotics after this.
Some of the diseases a cat can get can be transmitted to humans, like rabies and tetanus and a few others.
This is how it looks after the abscess has ruptured and this means the danger is mostly over, but I still took him to the vet to get it cleaned and flushed out (the cat's name is Lillepus, he was a feral cat, I had to put him down to save my other cat as he was not able to adjust to my other cat, so it was not connected to this problem, he lived for a year after this).
Answered By - trond hansen