We've all had that moment of fear when we've checked out of a hotel and felt a little itchy. Uhoh, did we just spend the night with bed bugs? Now imagine if not only you were itching and scratching but your cat was too!
That's what a woman is claiming happened to her and her pet after they both spent a few nights at a Holiday Inn in Glendale, Ariz. The woman, who is only going by the name Elena, says she developed red itchy bumps on her neck after checking out the hotel. A doctor determined she had bed bug bites but her cat ended up in worse condition. ABC15 local news reports:
"I noticed she was starting to pull her hair and itching," Elena said. "I said let's see in a couple of weeks if it gets any better. Within that time, it had gotten much worse. There were bald spots throughout the cat's body and (pus)."
Elena took her cat to Apollo North Animal Hospital in Glendale. Dr. Patricia Bennett treated the cat. Bennett tells me the cat had "damage due to scratching an itch." Bennett said there were "scabs, bumps, and lesions" from "head to toe."
The doctor, however, cannot determine for sure the cat's bites were bed bug bites and in fact, bed bugs apparently prefer a human host.( Aren't we so lucky?) So no one can say for sure if the cat was affected by the little critters.
Meanwhile the hotel denies they have ever had bed bugs even showing the news team documents from an external investigator as well as the local environmental services department that show no evidence of bed bugs in the hotel.
Still, we'd probably leave the animals at home if you can. Unless, you know, you're staying at The Ritz.
(Source: Hotelchatter.com, 11th August 2011)
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