My cat scratched me—what should I do?

So, a few days ago I noticed these weird little bumps on my neck, right under my jawline. First it was just one on the left side, then three or four days later, a second one popped up.
I went straight to my doctor for some blood work, and she said everything looks normal, so it’s probably nothing...
Back then, the second bump hadn't shown up yet.
But this second one appeared this afternoon, and now I'm running a fever. It was around 98.6 earlier, but now it's hit 99.3.

About three months ago, a friend's cat scratched me, and that wound took forever to heal—like, almost a month. Then, last weekend, I was hanging out at my neighbor's place with their cat, and that's when all this started.

I've been pretty stressed lately so I didn't think much of it at first, but now that it's the weekend, I'm starting to get a bit worried... it's definitely bothering me.

My throat is also super red, feels totally raw, and I've got this nasty congestion that's really unpleasant.

I have another appointment with my doctor on Monday, but until then, has anyone dealt with anything like this? I'm really struggling here, especially since I can't tell if these are just swollen lymph nodes or something else...😲

Ethan Turner48 said:A few days ago, I noticed some lumps in my neck right under the jawline. First one was on the left side, then three or four days later, a second one popped up.
I went straight to my doctor for blood work—she said my counts look fine and it’s probably nothing.
Back then, the second lump hadn't appeared yet.
The second one showed up this afternoon along with a fever. It was around 98.6 earlier, now it's already at 99.3.

About three months ago, a friend's cat scratched me, and that wound took forever to heal—nearly a month. Then, a week ago, I was at a cabin with my neighbor's cat, and that's when these issues started.

I've been pretty stressed lately so I didn't think much of it at first, but now that it's the weekend, I'm actually getting worried. This isn't great.

My throat is also incredibly red, looks raw, and I've got some nasty constipation that isn't helping matters.

I have an appointment with the doctor again on Monday, but until then—has anyone dealt with similar symptoms? This is really wearing on me, especially since I can't tell if these are lymph nodes or something else. 😲

Go see Fran Mihaljević and get a TORCH panel done (could be toxoplasmosis), and check for Bartolomeov scratch—that's feline scratch disease.

Standard labs at the local clinic won't catch that just by looking at your ESR levels!

Man, I wish it was just a scratch from some two-legged cat! 😁

Jokes aside—you mentioned the slow healing and those other symptoms, which sounds like it could be cat scratch fever. Usually, they just put you on penicillin and everything clears right up without much drama.

Yes, I picked up a small kitten from the street yesterday... she was abandoned... she seems quite sweet and docile enough... she’s clean... though she did manage to scratch me slightly by accident... I find myself wondering, is there any actual reason for concern here...?

In truth, she isn't aggressive; she’s quite affectionate, so I wouldn't exactly describe her behavior as anything approaching fury or rage.

It could be swollen lymph nodes. I actually know a young girl who had a scratch just like this about six years ago, and she’s still heading into clinics in Chicago once or twice a month for follow-ups on her lymph nodes. She’s got swelling in her groin area too; you really ought to keep an eye on it.
I wonder if it’s some kind of allergic reaction... I'm not sure what the doctors told her, but this isn't something to just brush off!