Cat Bites Are Linked To Depression

[Fantastic Anarchist]

(The title is a bit misleading, but interesting, nonetheless)

The reason why is not fully clear. Maybe cats just dislike depressed people.

What's the matter--cat bite your hand? After combing through the health records of 1.3 million people over 10 years, researchers found an unusual link between cat bites and depression. More than 41 percent of those who had presented to hospitals with cat bites were also treated for depression at some point. Furthermore, 86 percent of the people that had been both bitten and diagnosed with depression were women. If you are a woman who's been bitten by a cat, there's nearly a 50 percent chance that you will be diagnosed with depression at some point, the study suggests.
Puzzling findings, there. What's going on? The researchers don't know. But they do outline some guesses.

Source: Popular Science

[Vinnie From Indy]

1. Dogs have owners

cats have staff.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

4. This picture always makes me laugh:

[Pretzel_Warrior]

20. Wtf is up with that GIF?

Subliminal protest against the Vietnam War?

Weird.

[Cirque du So-What]

23. Dog has the 'thousand-yard stare'

At least that's what I *think* it means.

[Pretzel_Warrior]

24. well, I guess that would soorrrrt of explain it? Just seemed ridiculous juxtaposition

[Fantastic Anarchist]

25. That's what I get out of it.

That's what makes it funny to me.

[MADem]

26. I guess I don't get the joke, there... nt

[1awake]

2. Soooo....

Owning a cat carries with it a high possibility of being depressed. I 100% completely believe it.

[antiquie]

3. Here is the PopSci link to the science source with abstract.

Describing the Relationship between Cat Bites and Human Depression Using Data from an Electronic Health Record

Abstract
Data mining approaches have been increasingly applied to the electronic health record and have led to the discovery of numerous clinical associations. Recent data mining studies have suggested a potential association between cat bites and human depression. To explore this possible association in more detail we first used administrative diagnosis codes to identify patients with either depression or bites, drawn from a population of 1.3 million patients. We then conducted a manual chart review in the electronic health record of all patients with a code for a bite to accurately determine which were from cats or dogs. Overall there were 750 patients with cat bites, 1,108 with dog bites, and approximately 117,000 patients with depression. Depression was found in 41.3% of patients with cat bites and 28.7% of those with dog bites. Furthermore, 85.5% of those with both cat bites and depression were women, compared to 64.5% of those with dog bites and depression. The probability of a woman being diagnosed with depression at some point in her life if she presented to our health system with a cat bite was 47.0%, compared to 24.2% of men presenting with a similar bite. The high proportion of depression in patients who had cat bites, especially among women, suggests that screening for depression could be appropriate in patients who present to a clinical provider with a cat bite. Additionally, while no causative link is known to explain this association, there is growing evidence to suggest that the relationship between cats and human mental illness, such as depression, warrants further investigation.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

5. Thank you!

[surrealAmerican]

6. Could this be related? ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024535770

It just might be that a common microbe that is implicated in memory deterioration could also be playing a role in depression.

[LiberalEsto]

8. I'm glad you added that link to this thread

I've had cats most of my life and experienced a few cat bites over the years, mostly from ferals. I've also had episodes of heavy depression. It would never in a million years occur to me that there could be a connection between cat bites and depression.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

9. Very interesting.

I'm young, but I wonder if I'm infected.

[GoCubsGo]

7. Maybe depressed people take too much comfort in their cats?

And, maybe the cats can take only so much hugging? Dogs are a little more tolerant of that sort of thing.

[Rex]

10. So the majority of people bitten by a cat were also NOT depressed.

nt.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

11. It would appear so. nt

[bettyellen]

13. or depressed people worry more the bite could be bad and go for treatment- while happy-go-lucky

types don't even notice..... the swelling red veins that can be a precursor to a deadly infection or loss of limb?
I got bitten really bad - to the bone- at a party last year (cat hidden under the pie of coats) forgot all it and woke up with a very swollen hand. Antibiotics are awesome!

[Rex]

14. I've been very lucky, never got an infection from a cat bite or scratch...yet.

Knock on wood! I bet you are right, depressed people worry more about the bite.

[bettyellen]

16. I would have forgotten it except the swelling. So I googled and found out scary shit that they are

more dangerous because they more often hit deeper into the bone and cat scratch fever gets into the bloodstream People get infections around the bones in the knuckles and hands that are very hard to clean out and often require surgery. Also, some really debilitating infection that can kill you. I had NO IDEA but I couldn't bend a few fingers. So, I called up for antibiotics, stat.

[Rex]

17. I'm glad you did! No telling what infection could lead to.

A few years ago a neighbor had one of her cats scratch her face and the right side swelled up like a balloon! She was miserable for about 3 weeks while taking an antibiotic. I consider myself lucky.

[bettyellen]

19. Me too! Googling medical info/ pictures can freak you out, LOL.

[pansypoo53219]

12. not me. my basil is just part raccoon i think. 1/2 wild maine coon.

[1000words]

15. Time to ban these filthy, disease-ridden health hazards

[Rex]

18. Say wut...

[Pretzel_Warrior]

21. Depressed people tend to acquire numerous cats

And increase likelihood of bites. That's my hypothesis.

[RedCappedBandit]

22. Depressed people probably seek solace in companionship

Cats make good companions for many of us.

[tblue37]

27. I suspect that many lonely, isolated people, especially women, adopt cats to

alleviate their loneliness, so a significant subset of cat owners--and perhaps especially multiple cat owners--are already a self-selected depressed demographic. Those who have cats, and again, especially those with multiple cats, are, obviously, more likely to end up with cat bites. Thus, a self-selected subset of depressed people have cats and are therefore more likely to present in ERs with both depression and cat bites.

Dog owners tend to get out more than those with cats, because cats are the choice of pet for those who live alone in small apartments in cities, as well as those whose age and infirmities (both of which are conditions correlated with higher likelihood of depression) make them unable to handle the physical demands of a pet that is likely to be more energetic and demanding and that must be walked several times a day.

IOW, there are a number of fairly obvious factors that would lead to a higher incidence of (pre-existing) depression among cat owners in general, and of course cat owners are the ones who are most likely to get bitten by cats, simply because they spend more time with them.

BTW, in a multiple cat household, the cats sometimes will get into a spat. If the owner tries to intervene, that is one of the situations that can lead to getting bitten, even if the person's cat doesn't mean to bite its owner. Another situation: if the owner tries to bathe the cat or put it into a carry case for travel or for a vet visit, a stressed cat that has not been well trained might bite and scratch.