MRSA can be a life-threatening infection. It is resistant to most antibiotics. If left untreated, MRSA can spread to the bloodstream and possibly kill you. The Mayo Clinic1 has an excellent run-down of MRSA, its symptoms and treatments. This is my experience in dealing with repeated MRSA skin abscesses and how it was discovered I got MRSA from our cat.
Several years ago I got MRSA. Over and over again during a six-month period. MRSA, which my doctor pronounced as mersa, is short for methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus. During this time, I got four skin abscesses, all testing positive for community acquired MRSA.
The first MRSA abscess I got was in my armpit. The MRSA probably entered through a small nick from shaving. This MRSA abscess developed into the size of half a lemon. The doctor put me on an antibiotic, but switched me to another when MRSA was diagnosed.
The second MRSA abscess I got in the curve of my neck. It developed to about the same size as the first. I was also given antibiotics which were switched after a confirmation of MRSA. I don’t recall the name of the antibiotic I was given to cure the first two bouts of MRSA.
Just before I began getting the MRSA skin abscesses, our cat would come home from fights with the other local male cat. He would have several large abscess pockets. My husband used to work with animals, so I would help him start the draining of these abscesses. Then I would be the one to clean our cat and dress the wounds.
I got my third MRSA abscess on the side of my chin. This affected my speech and ability to eat. The physician’s practice I go to has its own Urgent Care Center, so when I went this third time, I saw a different doctor.
After going through my history, this doctor put me on the antibiotic Avelox, as he was sure it was going to be MRSA again. Avelox is a very strong and potentially dangerous antibiotic. You can learn more about Avelox (moxifloxacin) and it’s history of dangerous side effects at Wikipedia2. The doctor was beginning to wonder if I was a carrier for MRSA, or possibly another family member. Carriers of MRSA don’t always get infections themselves.
The Avelox worked astoundingly well to treat my MRSA abscess. Luckily, I had little side effects except slight heart fluttering feelings on occasion.
A few weeks after recovering from that MRSA abscess, I got my worst one ever. This was on the side of my face and developed into the size of half a grapefruit.
When I went to the Urgent Care, I was seen by yet another doctor. She was very sympathetic about my condition. She prescribed the Avelox since it worked so well on the previous occasion. She also prescribed Vicodin for the immense pain, which none of the other doctors seemed to be concerned about.
This doctor also took the time to explain why I may be getting repeated MRSA. She also said that she would normally lance a MRSA abscess and pack it, but she didn’t want to leave a potentially large scar on my face. She said it would go away with the antibiotics, but would take a few days before I noticed improvement. She also asked about pets in the home and explained how pet owners can sometimes get MRSA from their pets, such as dogs or cats.
I told her about our cat, who came home from fights with the neighbor cat with abscesses of his own. She suggested we take him to the vet to have him tested for MRSA.
Unfortunately, when I was almost done healing from the last bout with MRSA, our cat disappeared. We were never able to confirm that he carried MRSA. But since his disappearance, I have not had another MRSA abscess, or any other abscess for that matter.
After doing some research of my own, I figured out how I may have gotten MRSA from our cat. After cleaning and bandaging the cat, I would wash my hands with antibacterial hand soap. The MRSA was probably not eradicated completely during this process, possibly under my fingernails.
I get infrequent break-outs. If I feel an itchy spot, I will absentmindedly scratch the itch. If the spot is a blemish, I could inadvertently create an opening for germs to enter my skin. This is probably how I got MRSA abscesses from our cat.
A cat or dog doesn’t have to have an abscess or sore to spread MRSA to their owners. They can carry MRSA in their noses among other ways. There is an interesting article by JoNel Aleccia, health writer for msnbc.com3. Her article When MRSA Won’t Wane, Check the Family Pet has some interesting information on MRSA in humans and pets, as well as a small interactive box at the end of the article where you can learn more about MRSA.
It is just surprising that no one else in my family got MRSA from our cat. This is probably because I did the dirty work of cleaning our cat’s wounds. Also, I used really strong cleaning products throughout the home and used proper sanitation methods to prevent the spread of MRSA to my family beginning with my first MRSA infection.
As mentioned earlier, I have never again gotten a MRSA infection, and neither has anyone else in my family. I just wish our cat hadn’t disappeared and we could have got him treated by a vet.
If you continually develop MRSA infections, don’t automatically assume you are a carrier. If you have pets, you should have them all tested by a vet. If one or more of your pets is found to carry MRSA, proper treatment can prevent continued MRSA infections for yourself and those in your household.
THIS ARTICLE IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND SHOULD NOT BE USED TO REPLACE THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN.
1) Mayo Clinic; MRSA infection; Mayo Clinic
2) Wikipedia; Moxifloxacin; Wikipedia
3) JoNel Aleccia; When MRSA won;t wane, check the family pet; msnbc.com
