Small Dog Nip Causes Woman To Lose Six Fingers, Two Legs

Kathy Roberts' love for animals turned for the worse when she lost both her legs and six fingers due to capnocytophaga.

Oklahoma News 4 detailed the dog lover's story that started in 2017 when she adopted a two-year-old Maltese whom she thought was as “cute as a button.”

“I was giving my little dog some chicken one night and he took the piece of chicken from my hand – I wasn't paying attention,” said Roberts as she described on how she got the wound.

It was one little nip. A “slight little scratch of the skin.” At that time, s he didn't mind that the dog bit her. She even applied triple antibiotic.

According to the source, Roberts' illness wasn't that bad, but it was sudden and unusual.

“I was not sick to my stomach, no sore throat, none of those symptoms,” she told the source, adding that she only felt very tired as though she was coming down with the flu.

The next day, however, things got pretty bad.

“My right leg, when I'd get up to walk was dragging,” she recalled.

Roberts was rushed to the hospital by her husband due to “extremely low” blood pressure, elevated heart rate and severe dehydration.

It was here that Roberts remembered the bite that she got from the dog.

“It seemed inconsequential at that time but that led us to the diagnosis of the infection,” said Roberts' attending physician, Dr. Karen Allen, who pointed that it was capnocytophaga that infected the patient.

Allen added that around 75 percent of dogs will have the bacteria in their mouths. It is common, but the infection isn't.

“It's not even a reportable disease but incidents are estimated to be 0.5 per one million,” said the source, but the bacteria targeted Robert's weakness: her immune system.

Allen claimed that the bacteria causes “severe infection of gangrene of the extremities.”

Doctors amputated Roberts' fingers that day after her 60 ^th birthday. Two weeks after, she lost her legs.

“They treated me as if I was a burn patient. I had huge blisters and my legs were black,” she said.

“It was hard, it was painful to have legs one day and not have legs the next.”

Roberts was fitted with prosthetic fingers and legs 3 months after her surgery.

The dog that bit Roberts was adopted. Its previous owner gave the dog for adoption because it was too “nippy.”