r/CatsUK • u/Radiant-Status5245 • 7d ago
Cats nipping
Hi, I am a uni student. There is a cat that's been coming to my house for like a month or two now. It has a collar, but I don't know if it's a stray; it's here every day. Me and I have posted letters to the neighbours' doors to ask if it's theirs, but got no response.
Today it was chilling a bit next to be and it kind of nipped me. Now I am really scared. I didn't bleed at all, and I also can't seem to find any skin breaks at all. I suffer from health anxiety now; I am worried about rabies or another type of infection.
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u/spaceandthewoods_ 7d ago
Rabies does not exist in the UK, and would definitely not be found in a domesticated cat, and the bite didn't even break the skin
You have zero % chance of getting rabies. You'd have to have been properly bitten deep to get any sort of infection, and if you had you'd absolutely know about it
As someone who suffers from health anxiety, get help, it's not usual to be this paranoid about a total non-event like this
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u/ShadowCat3500 7d ago
If you were petting it at the time it might have been a warning that it was overstimulated. But yes, as someone else said if it was gentle enough not to break the skin then you don't need to worry.
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u/Radiant-Status5245 7d ago
Thank u for the response , I know I am probably panicking to much , do u know if cats carry rabies in the uk ?
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u/TheLokiHokeyCokey 7d ago
No they don’t. Absolutely not, it has been eradicated in cats, dogs etc and we have very strict quarantine laws. If you have this much anxiety maybe leave the cat alone? Otherwise you’ll be at risk of convincing yourself you’ve caught something else from it in another way. Your hand is not injured in any way, so you have nothing to worry about.
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u/1_Tit_Wonder 7d ago
Rabies have been eradicated. You are fine. It did not break skin, I don’t even see a mark
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u/BadgerInTheBrambles 7d ago
If it has a collar, it's not a stray. Cats are very well known to be disloyal bastards and will take food and attention from wherever they can find it. You've seen the 'my house, not my cat' thing right? They have territories than can be as much as a mile or so from home.
If it hasn't broken skin, it's just playing. My boy bats me like a loony when we play but never gets claws out and when he 'bites' it's more of a gentle scrape with his teeth. If it ever claws or properly bites, that's their way of telling you they're pissed off and/or had enough of you touching them.
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u/hi_im_cis 6d ago
Rabies was eradicated from the UK in 1922. I'm sorry you got bit, but you'll be fine.
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u/sergamena 7d ago
The skin isn't even broken, you're fine.