Fucking cats, man

The past 24 hours have been kind of surreal. Last night I was trying to get my girl kitty, Olive, in the house because she was kind of mad at me for giving her a flea treatment earlier. But I didn't want Blues to get out because it was late at night, and there are coyotes, and ever since Ginny came to live here he's been on a constant freaked out state of alert and it's hard to keep him inside. He had been attacking the door for a long time, meowing and just generally being a pain, so I picked him up and took him to the bedroom. I knew he wouldn't likely come out because of Ginny.

When I was getting ready for bed, he attacked my ankle from under the bed -- I think it's possible I stepped a tiny bit on his tail, but it was just my toes, and not much, neverthless, he really went after me and hissed and snarled. A few minutes later he was at the back door, and so I picked him up to hold on to him while I tried to get Ollie inside. He was just being hysterical, so I scruffed him, which never really works with him (it does on Olive) for some reason, but I hoped it might calm him down. He stopped, but then I switched arms, and was going to hoist him over my shoulder, the surefire way to get him to relax and calm down. Instead, he bit my left forearm.

Not a nip or a quick in and out bite, but he sank his fangs into my arm and then kept increasing the bite. It's amazing how much pounds per square inch those little jaws can create, and when I screamed he started whipping his head sideways, like he was trying to kill my arm. In my blind rage and pain, I couldn't get him off so I only remember kind of holding him up and throwing him across the kitchen and him landing on the floor and sliding across it a couple feet. Kind of like a Jaeger picking up a kaiju and hurling it down. He ran into the bedroom and I went to attempt to disinfect it.

Blood was just pouring out of the two right hand puncture wounds, and dribbling out of the lesser ones on the left. I washed it a good long time and doused it in alcohol and peroxide, but I've had cat bites before and I know about the Pasteurella bacteria in their mouths that lead to infection. Mostly it was just really, really painful. I had a lot of trouble sleeping because everything touching it hurt. Today I had to go return something at Nordstrom and when I was wandering around the store, I noticed that it had gone increasingly red under the Band-Aids, and I wasn't sure if that was because of the mildly allergic reaction I have to adhesives on bandages, or the bruising from his nasty little jaws clamping and clamping and sawing, or if it meant infection.

As I was driving across the lake, I figured by the time I got home and called the doc it would be too late to get in to see her, so I went to the awful urgent care place that's the only medical treatment facility in my area. I had to go there in June for a tetanus shot because I gashed my leg and I couldn't get in to the doctor quickly enough, and they were short staffed and incompetent and I was there for three freaking hours, but today they were a little better and the PA who saw me said "yeah, this is going to require the big guns." The swelling had increased dramatically and the stiffness in my hand was growing, which bothers me since the wound is in the middle of my forearm and not near my hand. The bacteria can destroy tendon tissue in a matter of days -- if you don't believe me, go find the article about a cat bite on Gizmodo.

They want me to keep it elevated as much as possible but that's really hard to do (especially since my workout on Monday was really, really intense on my arms, pecs, and shoulders, and then I had a really intense deep tissue massage in the evening!). I'm trying but, of course, I just got a huge book to proof and it's due in a really short time frame. I have a bad headache, but I'm really hoping it's just stress and not a fever from the bite. Ibuprofen just is not doing it for pain relief. I'm not sure what would, though, right now. And I have to get some acidophilous to combat the intestinal distress I'm gonna get from these super antibiotics the pills are the size of my freakin' thumb).

I'm so angry at Mr. Baby but I'm trying really hard to not let him see that. He used to be my sweet tender little boy until he was about three, and then he turned into this bullying little shit who is often incredibly sweet and loving and then just a complete monster. When I finally stanched the bleeding enough, I tried to get Ollie in again, and he came up to me on the dining table like he wanted me to pet him or something, and I just shoved him away with my hand, which unfortunately made him panic and he fell off the table, so that was awful and I felt horrible but I also just really hated him at that moment.

Then this morning the two of them were on either side of me in bed when I awoke, like most mornings, as if nothing had happened. Ollie will hiss and snarl and go after you a little if she's really pissed, like when I clip her claws, but she has never bitten me the way Blues has. I don't think I'd be alive today if it wasn't for my kitties, but sometimes I just...arg. Animals. Crazy foster dogs, violent cats...who knows what would happen if I ever fostered one of the rabbits we have in our care. I'd have to call Tim the Enchanter.