Cat Scratch fever is more than just a Ted Nugent song. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), it’s a major problem that could kill you. In fact, the doctors from the CDC have laid out a set of guidelines to make sure you handle your cat in a manner that is conducive to your personal safety.
1. Always wash hands after touching your cat.
2. Try to avoid kissing cats whenever possible.
3. As a cat owner, it is your responsibility to ensure that your cat remains flea free.
4. Don’t touch stray cats.
According to the doctors, they found that kittens and strays are the most likely animals to carry the disease. Not only can you catch it by not washing your hands after touching a kitten, but you could even spread it to the rest of the litter by petting more of them.
Of course, all this could be taken with a grain of salt. While doctors have reported that instances of cat scratch fever are a lot higher than they expected, the infection rate is still just around 4.5 outpatient diagnoses/100,000 population.