A couple of things- cats are designed to infect. They carry pasteurella multicida-- a very virulent (but, thankfully, easily treatable) bacteria in their mouth. They inject that bacteria very effectively under the skin. This causes a fast-spreading, severe, cellultitis. IF the ED treated you for rabies, that gets expensive. That vaccine needs to remain refrigerated and has a relatively short life span. So it's expensive AND no urgent care carries it. It needs to be given at days 1, 3, 7 and 14. So that is just ONE of four ED bills. It used to be required to have a 5th vaccine on day 28 too. That has been stopped by the CDC 2 years ago. VERY expensive.
Cheaper to quarantine the cat for 4 weeks. If it doesn't get rabies, no need for the vaccine, since it is a very slowly spreading disease. It's fatal if left untreated, but watching the cat for 4 weeks is ok. You can get vaccinated later on. The alternative is to euthenize the cat and send it's brain for testing.
The treatement for pasteurella is any of a slew of antibiotics-- IV first if severe and then transitioned to oral.
The ED is everone's dumping ground. Try having any complaint and calling you PCP. Go to the ED. Or, better yet, go to a shitty urgent care and be seen by someone with an 89 IQ and no serious medical knowledge, get charged $175 dollars, and then they will send you to the ED anyway. Unless, of course, you don't have anything really wrong with you. Then they charge you $175 and send you home with some med you don't need (like an antibiotic for a virus).
