ot...cat question

[Sally]

If possible you might want to remove a small piece from the bottom of the gate. Our cats can come in and out of my bathroom, where their food and litterbox are located, but my daughter's dogs are still stuck behind the gate. Saves the whole jumping over process for 4 cats who are not always super jumpers.

 

[shortbun]

She must then have the worst luck ever! Freak accident. It is pretty hard to get scratched 1. by a declawed cat and 2. from the hind feet

I think the odds are against this ever happening again. Something must have spooked the kitty.

Yep. The only time I've witnessed a cat do anything like this was when the cat was in pain and freaked out. I've owned multiple cats all my life. I'm sorry your daughter got hurt. Cat scratches easily get infected so watch her face carefully. Also, get your cat in a place where you can check it to make sure it's not got any injuries. Cats acting radically is usually an indication something is wrong.

 

[LJSquishy]

In response to your question about the little nail covers, they do work. If you decide to use them, I would ask either your vet or a groomer if they can apply them for you, as I can't imagine a cat wanting to sit still willingly while they are glued on. They only last a few weeks I think but they are really inexpensive.

I'm sorry your daughter got scratched by the cat. My first thought, like the others, was "how did the cat scratch with its hind claws?"...but now it makes sense. I have seen cats go crazy zooming through a house like that (I don't have cats myself) before and they could certainly cause some damage I'm sure. It is unlikely to happen again since the kitty wasn't provoked, so I wouldn't necessarily worry about finding a solution to the kitty's claws...but the nail caps do work if you do want to at least try them.

 

[Pesky]

How likely is that to happen again? I mean is she normally that skittish? Because honestly it seems like a case of wrong place at the wrong time and not something that is likely to happen more than once.

Agreed. I wouldn't go to the expense of the claw covers and instead invest in a good pair of nail trimmers. I preferred the scissor kind as I found that easier to manipulate and see what I was doing while holding the cat. Just trim his back claws regularly and frequently and you can just trim a little without worry of cutting him too deep and causing bleeding. You can also pop over to the vet's to have a tech do a quick nail trim every now and again as well and usually that's not too expensive. That's probably the best answer for the occasional "crazy cat" mode. Sorry to hear your little one had an unfortunate incident with the cat and don't feel too bad about the prior posts as the original post was unclear as to what prompted the scratching and given the circs initially described, have to admit my first thought was wondering what the child did as well.

 

[NYCDiane]

*delete* not in the mood for debate

 

[cornflake]

I agree sounds like no big deal (like in the random concurrance of weird events - the nightly freakout combined with her face happening to have been there [as it is hard to get scratched by back paws]) but to answer your question -

They're called - Softpaws. They work fine. You clip the nail a tad, use a drop of glue and slip the cap on the nail.

They last about 6 or so weeks before they start falling off (they're meant to fall off as the nails grow out). Each set is good for multiple applications (it's like 40 nail covers per set).

 

[dbrn]

One of my four cats is very skittish, and I can completely understand how this happened. Any time he gets startled, he peels out, scratching whatever is in his path (usually me). He's been startled by the sound of a door closing when he was laying on top of the couch - he took off running down my head, shoulder, and chest, scratching me with his back claws the whole way. My thighs have been scratched countless times. He likes to lay in my lap and if he's startled by one of the other cats or the dog, he takes off and scratches my thighs. Yeah, he's nuts, but we love him.

I never thought about the soft paws. That's a good idea.

 

[Zim]

I'm of the set who thought it was the kid too... it's hard to get scratched by those back claws unless you've got the cat pinned on it's back, rough housing. So I would also chalk this up to a one-time shot, and maybe coach the kids that when kitty is in Crazy Cat mode, be wary that the cat is not in it's right mind, exactly, and won't understand it could hurt someone. I woke up one morning around 2am to searing, on-fire pain. By the time I was aware of my surroundings there wasn't a cat to be seen, but I had these huge scratches from take-off across BOTH legs. I could guess which one did it, but I'll never really know, and they keep pointing their paws at each other.

And I'll always wonder what spooked them (I probably barked in my sleep or something)