I just read an article in Natural News (www.naturalnews.com) that I was quite surprised to learn about. It talked about the dangers of cat bites. Although not as common as dog bites (4.7 million dog bites occur in the U.S. each year), cat bites can be far more dangerous to humans.
The tiny little cat fangs are capable of injecting bacteria deep into joints and tissue. Dogs' teeth are blunter so they don't penetrate as deeply. Also, bacteria from a cat bite can include a common animal bacteria that is difficult to treat in humans with the patient ending up in the hospital. In a Mayo Clinic study, 8 of 193 patients needed more than one surgery. Of course, a patient with an immune deficiency disorder is even more at risk from a cat bite.
So, use caution when petting your cat!