I survived the pit bull but the small white cat took me down...

Dancemom03

Flexican wannabe
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Jun 14, 2005
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We'd been warned and lectured by everyone we met during the two years DS32's angel of a pit bull lived in the house about how unpredictable they can be but she never even growled at one of us. The danger lurking in our unsuspecting midst turned out to be our small affectionate 16 yr old cat who's never minded being dressed up, carted around in doll carriages or cuddled like a teddy bear all night long from the time DD20 was 4.

The night before last, he went completely pyscho and attacked me without even a hiss of warning. One minute I was standing in the kitchen talking to DH, the next minute I felt this intense pain accompanied by growling. He grabbed onto my leg from behind with all four claws digging and bit me - hard. As I screamed in surprise and shook him off, he immediately went for the other leg, where he got in a much deeper and larger bite. I couldn't get him off. Thankfully, DH was not too far away and grabbed him from behind to throw him off my leg. It was just all so sudden & unexpected. I didn't even know which of the cats it was when it was happening and never would have expected it to be this agreeable & docile little guy.

DD9, who saw it from the hallway was terrified. DH was furious. I was just in intense pain with blood running down both legs when DD20 comes out of her room and takes the cat's side telling us that it's not unusual for older cats to "lose their minds then be perfectly fine again". I know this is her baby, but really... :headache:

Anyway, I've never heard of this before and tend to think she made it up. If not, we need to evaluate his future here in the house. I shudder to think that he might have chosen DD9's thin legs or face instead of me and the damage he could have done. The gashes and punctures on my one leg go into the muscle and, even two days later, it really hurts to put any weight on it or move around. We're still waiting on a snowplow to find our road so I can't get out to a doctor and am just hoping it improves over the weekend. I've heard cat bites are the worst but have never been bitten before even by a stray.

Has anybody heard of very tolerant loveable housecats suddenly losing their mind due to age and attacking without warning or provocation before? :confused3
 
We'd been warned and lectured by everyone we met during the two years DS32's angel of a pit bull lived in the house about how unpredictable they can be but she never even growled at one of us. The danger lurking in our unsuspecting midst turned out to be our small affectionate 16 yr old cat who's never minded being dressed up, carted around in doll carriages or cuddled like a teddy bear all night long from the time DD20 was 4.

The night before last, he went completely pyscho and attacked me without even a hiss of warning. One minute I was standing in the kitchen talking to DH, the next minute I felt this intense pain accompanied by growling. He grabbed onto my leg from behind with all four claws digging and bit me - hard. As I screamed in surprise and shook him off, he immediately went for the other leg, where he got in a much deeper and larger bite. I couldn't get him off. Thankfully, DH was not too far away and grabbed him from behind to throw him off my leg. It was just all so sudden & unexpected. I didn't even know which of the cats it was when it was happening and never would have expected it to be this agreeable & docile little guy.

DD9, who saw it from the hallway was terrified. DH was furious. I was just in intense pain with blood running down both legs when DD20 comes out of her room and takes the cat's side telling us that it's not unusual for older cats to "lose their minds then be perfectly fine again". I know this is her baby, but really... :headache:

Anyway, I've never heard of this before and tend to think she made it up. If not, we need to evaluate his future here in the house. I shudder to think that he might have chosen DD9's thin legs or face instead of me and the damage he could have done. The gashes and punctures on my one leg go into the muscle and, even two days later, it really hurts to put any weight on it or move around. We're still waiting on a snowplow to find our road so I can't get out to a doctor and am just hoping it improves over the weekend. I've heard cat bites are the worst but have never been bitten before even by a stray.

Has anybody heard of very tolerant loveable housecats suddenly losing their mind due to age and attacking without warning or provocation before? :confused3

The cat needs to get to the vet asap. Sudden changes like that can very well mean he is ill. If it anxiety or something in that vein, there are medications to calm him down. Good luck and make sure you keep a close eye on those bites/scratches, cat injuries are notorious for becoming infected.
 
Yes, take the cat to the vet immediately!!! A cat doesn't just lose their mind without a reason.
 
i agree with the PP's...loving housepets don't just suddenly lose their minds. it usually means they're suffering in some way and likely lashing out in pain. as soon as you are able to leave the house, please have your leg checked and take the cat to a vet. i hope you get well soon and no one else is injured by the cat.
 

The cat needs to get to the vet asap. Sudden changes like that can very well mean he is ill. If it anxiety or something in that vein, there are medications to calm him down. Good luck and make sure you keep a close eye on those bites/scratches, cat injuries are notorious for becoming infected.
First off, you need to get to the doctor. I had a cat bite once (my cat) and the doctor put me on antibiotics right away. Please get to the doctor as soon as you can get out of the house.

Second, I agree that a normal, healthy, loving cat does not freak out due to old age. Heck, my parents ran the senior home for cats at one point. All the little kitties we had dragged home through high school and college all aged at the same time. At one point, the youngest cat in the house was 11. The others were 16 - 18 and there were at least 6 of them. At no point in time did any of them ever freak out. I believe your cat may be sick or have an infection or something. Seriously, you both need to go to the doctor. This behavior is not normal.

Feel better. :hug:
 
You need to get a tetanus shot if yours isn't current and may also need to take antibiotics since cat bites can become infected. My former boss almost lost his hand due to an infected cat bite, so it is not something to brush off. It is not normal for a normally docile cat to attack without warning. The cat definitely needs to be seen by your vet to rule out physical problems causing such a drastic change in behavior. If you haven't already isolated the cat, I would do that now to prevent anyone else from being attacked.
 
cats are really good at masking pain. When my cat was 16 she developed kidney failure - we had no idea until she got too far along to really get better again and towards the end became very unlike her sweet, normal self. The pain was too much for her and she became unpredictable in her behavior. This was about a week or two before she passed away.
 
You do need to get to a Dr. yourself. A vet I used to work for at an all cat vet clinic was bitten once and develped a blood infection and was hospitalized. Soak the bite wounds in Epson salt and warm water if you have some. It will take the swelling out rather quickly.

Your kitty may be developing some dementia in her old age, not uncommon. I wouldn't take it personally.
 
My Aunt got a bite like that in her calf and almost lost her leg. See a doctor IMMEDIATELY. Cat bites can be very dangerous!

That cat just didn't like her. It tried to attack her all the time. It was completely in love with my Uncle and saw her as a threat. After the bite he was confined to two rooms in the house and she never went near him again. I think they both were happier that way. There other cats treated her just fine...this cat just hated her. This does not sound like the case with your cat. I would monitor her for eating/drinking and any other out of character behaviour and then get her to the vet as soon as you can!
 
Thanks everyone. DH's doctor called early this morning to cancel his appt for today and I called our GP's office both yesterday & today but they're closed. The snow filling Maryland roads & parking lots is really impacting businesses. The vet's office has a recording on too and hasn't gotten back to me but I plan to make an appt for next week when I can get thru.

In the meantime, I'm sharing DD20's amoxicillian and hoping it'll help until I can get into the doctor's office.

THis was just so unexpected it's left me shell shocked. I retrospect, I envision it kind of like the tasmanian devil cartoons circling my legs, all teeth and claws. It'd almost be comical if I wasn't so worried about him. Here's a pic of him with our collie. AS you can see, he sure doesn't look like the tasmanian devil...

sapphire.jpg
 
I agree get to the doctor. My dh had a cat bite on his thumb and lost his thumb nail...the cat needs to go to the vet asap as well....
 
We had a cat that did this once. It was under my DD's bed and when she walked in the cat attacted her, bad. We think it was because we had just gotten a puppy and they freaked when they saw it in the house. We think that the cat may have just been protecting herself and may have thought that DD was the puppy or something. We don't know, but that was one awful night. We let the cat out and we never saw her again. :sad1:
 
This happened to my sister and myself. I had just walked in our room, walked past the cat and she went off. Attacked both me & my sister. She wasn't very old, under 10. My sister was quick thinking and covered us with a quilt, we huddled under there until the cat left the room. She called her boyfriend, he came over and took us to the hospital. Like others are saying go to a doctor, urgent care, something. We both ended up with tetanus shots and I think my sister ended up with some stitches on her back. We took the cat to the vet, nothing wrong. We ended up putting her down. There was no way we could ever feel safe around her, not knowing what set it off or if it would happen again.

*I am not saying for you to put your pet down, this is just what we did. It was my sister's cat, her choice. She did talk it out with our dad, brother and myself, she had our full support on whatever she wanted to do.
 
If this were my cat I would get it to the vet as soon as possible and keep it confined away from the rest of the household. Right now NO-ONE in your family (including the DD who says "older cats do that") can trust this animal...maybe it's in pain, maybe it's senile, at this point who really knows. The cat could have permanently disfigured one of your children or a visitor, and this attack can still cause *YOU* permanent damage. Cat bites are some of the worst bites that a person can get. The teeth go so deep and their mouths are a cesspool of bacteria *plus* the germs/bacteria on your skin have now been shoved deep into your body. Keep on eye on your wounds, if any of them start getting red and 'angry-looking' or your skin surrounding the bites and those multiple scratches starts changing color or looking kind of mottled get to the closest Emergency Room as soon as possible. If you haven't had a tetanus shot within the past couple of years (5-7), you need to get one. Some of the results from cat-bites can be things like Tetanus or various kinds of infection as in Pasturella/Staph(50-80% of cat-bites become infected) or even Cat-Scratch Fever. Have someone else in the house (either your DH or your DD20) who won't get sick from looking, take a look at your wounds. You probably can't get a good look at them because of where they are on your legs. This other person needs to also check for any redness, tenderness, puffiness, pus in and surrounding the wounds.

I had a serious cat-bite several years ago and went to the Emergency Room for a tetanus shot and some serious antibiotics (can't remember if they were pill-form or intravenous).

Frankly, unless a course of treatment was found that would guarantee that this cat would never attack anyone like this again, I would have the cat put down. I don't say that lightly either...I say it as an animal-lover. I love cats, dogs, grew up on a farm with horses and all sorts of pets, know all the dogs' names in my neighborhood but don't know some neighbors' names. It's just that keeping people safe has to take precedence over any animals in my care.

I am so sorry, having this happen plus the blizzard's aftermath must suck.

agnes!
 
Does the cat ever go outside? If so, has rabies vaccinations been kept up to date? As previously stated, your tetanus status needs to be updated ASAP if you haven't had a booster in the past 5 years. Please watch closely for signs of infection - redness, swelling, heat, increasing pain or drainage from the wounds. Cat bites are treated as rigorously as dog bites in the ER and hopefully you can get looked at ASAP. As with the PPs, the cat needs to be isolated and observed for any further bizarre behavior. I'm sorry for the snow keeping you from seeking care - hope you get cleared out soon!!
 
I just remembered that my uncle had a cat when I was young and went to see my gma (where uncle lived) and his cat attacked my dad it was bad!!! come to find out he got a hold of rat poison from the neighbors..I thought I'd put that out there in case there is a chance that could have happened..he had to put him down as it was not going to be something that could just be treated...
 
If one is nearby, I would look into going to Patient First or some other sort of urgent care place over waiting. And definitely isolate the cat until you can get her into the vet. Good luck!
 
OP, I may be remembering incorrectly but aren't you near Westminster? If so, there is a wonderful walk in urgent care place on Washington Rd. If you can maneuver over there, they are open until 8:30 tonight. If you're not certain about being up to date on your tetanus, there is a small time window where you can get a shot to protect you. As others have said, you really should have the bites looked at, they can become infected quickly. Sharing your DD's amoxicillin is not a good idea because first of all, she should be taking ALL her doses and secondly, it might not even be an effective antibiotic for your injuries. I hope you can get out!

I'm sorry about your kitty. It doesn't sound right for a previously docile pet to turn so unexpectedly aggressive and it's difficult to know if/when this might happen again. Hope he gets in to the vet soon~
 





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