stupid but please answer

[kodahkingg]

Im a major hypochondriac.. today i had my rats in the tub with me to get them used to me, since they still havent. My rats have super long claws that i cant trim because they arent tamed yet and i havent been able to get my hands on a lavablock sort of thing yet. I got loads of scratches on my wrists and arms from them... im so scared of rat bite fever and on google there are so many scary articles of people dying from scratches and bites. should i be worried? it didnt draw any blood. what do i have to look out for?! i know i sound stupid but ah

 

[SQ]

no, I would not be worried, everyone gets scratched by their pet rats

and rat bite fever is extremely rare

 

[Emmabeeee1996]

Maybe wearing a thicker long sleeve shirt would help protect you from their claws? I wouldn’t worry about rat bite fever, I don’t think it’s a very common occurrence!

 

[Agy]

I know how you feel. I'm recovering from ME/CFS and am also paranoid that any germs or something might affect my recovery. The only thing I have to say to that is: live in the moment LOL
Because I'm very allergic to my rats, I always wear long sleeve and a hood (since they like to sit on ones head) and sometimes even gloves and a face mask (defo face mask when cage cleaning).

From a more scientific perspective, I'm a biomedicine graduate and can tell you that humans (and animals) have an incredible arsenal of immune defences starting from the immediate barriers to entry (eg your skin, membranes in the various cavities, germicides in your saliva), stomach acid that kills off most bacteria etc etc and of course the entire immune system cells. It's actually not that easy to get ill. The human body is designed to survive and be healthy (as long as you provide the necessary conditions for health such no stress, good diet, sleep, rest etc).

 

[Agy]

If you haven't watched Dynasties on the BBC, see in the first episode the magnificent David the alpha chimp and the ferocious attack on him that left him for dead... Somehow, he got back up after a few days and recovered... It was amazing. See, the body is a fantastic thing