A man who was bitten by a cat four years ago has died after a flesh-eating bacteria ravaged his body when it got into his bloodstream.
Henrik Kriegbaum Plettner adopted a cat and her tiny kittens from a shelter in 2018, but once at home he was bitten on his index finger by one of the young cats as he tried to move them.
His family has now spoken out to explain what happened in a bid to stop the same thing happening to someone else.
Mr Plettner's widow said her husband thought nothing of the bite, until a few hours later when he realised his hand had swollen to twice its size.
The Danish man rang a doctor but was told to wait until the following day, and eventually ended up at Denmark's Kolding hospital.
The 33-year-old was hospitalised for a month and underwent around 15 operations.
But four months later his finger still did not function properly and doctors decided to amputate.
His mum told local media: "He had very fluctuating health.
"He had a weakened immune system, pneumonia, gout and diabetes.
"The cat had bitten right into a blood vessel, and when a cat bites and pulls its tooth out, the hole closes and the bacteria spreads."
Doctors say that the wound had let the bacteria enter the bloodstream.
Plettner's family say he died in October but they have now gone public so that others take cat bites seriously.
The man's widow Desirée said: "We knew that he was doing badly. However, we had no idea that he was so seriously ill.
"Go to the doctor after a bite, don't think, oh, that's just a cat. Don't take any chances."
