Doctors have revealed that a young man was suddenly unable to have an erection – because he was scratched by a cat.
A case report in the British Medical Journal revealed how the unknown patient, from Belgium, was infected with a rare disease by the scratch.
Known as cat scratch disease or cat scratch fever, it is caused by a type of bacteria found in cats’ mouths and claws.
The 23-year-old patient was suffering from symptoms including erectile dysfunction and pain in his testicles, The Sun reported.
When he told medics that he had been scratched by his cat, he was given antibiotics.
Fortunately for the man, he was successfully treated in three weeks.
Doctors wrote: ‘The symptoms quickly vanished and he fully regained his erectile function.
‘In this case the patient was unable to provoke erection despite his will even during periods of calm symptoms.’
Cats carrying the bacteria, known as Bartonella henselae, can pass the disease on to humans by bites or scratches, or if their saliva gets into a person’s open wound.
Up to 40% of cats carry the bacteria at some point in their lives – usually when they are kittens.
Other people diagnosed with the condition can suffer from fevers.