Nip from pet cat put girl, age 6, in hospital

MOST cat owners accept they will have to put up with the odd scratch or two.

But six-year-old Alice Hudson ended up needing surgery after she was nipped by her pet Tigger.

Alice was playing with her ‘best friend’ when she received the seemingly minor injury, after they both tried to grab a ball at the same time.

The cat ‘wasn’t being vicious’ but simply ‘bit her arm instead of the ball’, Alice’s mother Chantelle said.

After hearing her daughter’s scream, Mrs Hudson immediately washed the five puncture wounds on her arm and treated them with antiseptic lotion.

But despite her swift action, Alice’s right arm became infected and she was admitted to Hull Royal Infirmary in England for surgery to remove the infected tissue under general anaesthetic.

Mrs Hudson, 30, initially thought staff were overreacting, but her daughter had in fact contracted Pasteurella – a bacteria commonly carried by cats and transmitted through bites, scratches or licks.

It can cause serious soft tissue infections, which in turn can develop into sepsis or meningitis.

Mrs Hudson, a carer from East Yorkshire, has now spoken out to urge others to have any animal bites checked.

She said: ‘I remember thinking, “all this because of a cat bite”.

‘When she was in the operating theatre I was thinking about what to do about Tigger but I realised that what happened was a genuine accident.

‘He’s not vicious, it would have been totally different if he’d attacked her. We’ve had Tigger since he was a kitten.

‘He and Alice are little best friends. She is obsessed with him and they won’t leave each other alone – they’re always playing together.’

Alice was kept in hospital for three days while she recovered from the operation earlier this month, and given antibiotics for another two weeks.

Her mother said her arm has healed ‘really well’ as has her relationship with her half-Bengal cat pet. Alice said. ‘It’s nice being home with him again. ‘My arm was sore in hospital, but it’s all better now.’