I too, have been bitten and scratched by cats over the years. I have been nipped by dogs as well. So far, no problems.
I think generally there's not much danger when playing with a cat. I was just thinking that since Yvonne is having swelling and lymph drainage in her legs, she might be more susceptible to cellulitis. Just something to keep on the lookout for, and have antibiotic cream available.
Oh, don't get me wrong. I am not suggesting that there couldn't be a problem with it. Michelle doesn't playfight with the cats because when one of them accidentally claws her, her arm turns purple, which can take a long time to heal. Bubba has learned that he can ambush me if he wants to, but not to do that to Michelle.
The big Cat Scratch Fever danger is probably from cats that have access to the outdoors, but most, if not all, cats use a litterbox, so they kinda play in their own poop
Which is largely eliminated by raking the litter box every day, which goes a long way towards eliminating the odors too. I have two cats and three large litter boxes, which are raked nearly every day. Cats don't like touching that stuff either.
@Yvonne Smith I second this about having this checked. And I seldom even think about doing that. Our skin on our legs thins as we get older. It can be cut scratched and bruised very easily and then it does not heal as quickly because our capillaries are kind of clogged up. I have my own ways of dealing with stuff but it really sounds like you should get this looked at.
I will talk with my doctor about this. I have an appointment coming up before long, and he always checks my legs for swelling. Thank you all for the encouragement, and I apologize for taking this thread so far off -topic. If I can find where it should go, I will move the off-topic posts to some thread about lymph or edema, or at least not tattoos.
Yvonne, "before long:" might not be soon enough if you have cellulitis. My husband was hospitalized for 21 days with it. He coded twice during that time. I don't mean to scare you, but you should see a doctor right away. Cellulitis is easier to treat if it's treated early on.
I had an episode too, and it didn't respond well to antibiotics but after several rounds of drugs, it went away without hospitalization.
My husband wouldn't go to the doctor soon enough and it got really, really bad. I had it a while back and went to the doctor as soon as I suspected it was cellulitis. She prescribed me a Z-pack and said keep my leg elevated for three days. It was gone in three days.