I just got attacked by two cats

[Attackcats]

I am so shaken and am wondering what people would do in my situation.

I’ve just been out walking my dog, on her leash. A couple of streets away from our house, we saw a cat sitting on the pavement. It walked towards us and then turned around and disappeared into a drive. As we passed the drive the cat jumped out from under the car and attached itself to my dog’s face. I tried to go in between them and get the cat off when a second cat shot out from under the car and also went for my dog and my legs. We managed to move about a meter but the cats wouldn’t let go of my dog and I got knocked to the ground. They then kept attacking both me and my dog. I didn’t know what to do at all. I got 5 cats myself and have never seen such aggression. There was nobody on the street to help us. Eventually I managed to get up and we ran away.

As we turned the corner I saw two girls walking their dog. I told them not to turn into that road and explained what happened. They described what the cats looked like and said similar had happened to them on a previous walk. They said in their case the cats had been lurking hidden in a hedge and jumped out and attacked as they walked past.

I’m home now and still shaken. My dog has a small bite on her chest. I have a scrapped elbow and buttock and my shoulder is sore.

I’m home alone at the moment. I feel like an idiot being so upset about being attacked by cats. My dog, a very docile lab, is a bit shocked too.

Nope, we live in a town and these are two pet cats. I described the cats and the location to my DC and they told me which house the cats live in. They know as the DC of the attack cats’ house attend the same school.

Were they Bengals by any chance?

Wildcats aren't found in England or Wales.

It does sound like you were attacked by leopards or something, but having said that I got a very nasty cat bite a few years ago and needed antibiotics.

Cat 1, the one who was coming towards us first and then disappeared into the drive and shot out first to attack, was a standard tabby cat. Cat 2, who came to attack second, was a long haired cat and a bit bigger but still a standard pet cat.

The family seems to be going on holiday as I just drove along that road and there’s now a campervan being loaded up in their drive.

If my arm isn’t better by tomorrow I will go to Minor Injuries. I’d feel like such an idiot telling them I was attacked by cats. I have cleaned the dog’s wound.

We are in Scotland and google tells me that cat owners are liable for cats causing injuries if they know their pet is aggressive and they don’t do anything to mitigate the danger they are causing. Not liable for a first offence because they couldn’t have foreseen the cat attack. I’m now thinking I should let the owners now and possibly report this to someone so that if this happens to the next person they can’t claim ignorance.

I’m thinking this must have happened to more people in the neighbourhood because how likely is it that this has only happened to me and the two girls I met and yet these two were exactly the people I bumped into straight after?

And just to reiterate, we currently have 5 cats. Male, female, some bigger than others, some more outdoorsy that others. We have always had cats. I’m always the hands on one who gets the worming tablets down them. I’m not scared of cats or a cat scratch. This was honestly a level of aggression I’d never seen.

I remember once a cat did this to me and my dad with our then mongeral dog, we were walking along the village lane to the river, and a cat just sprang out towards us. Fortunately not injured, but it was a shock. Its never happened again to us since.

Please do not report this to the police. It’s a civil matter at best (you could make a claim against the owner for vet treatment for your dog). There is no crime of “cat dangerously out of control”..!

Sorry but why not report it?
Do you think.OP will be charged with wasting police time?
If the police do nothing about it fair enough. But why are you against OP reporting it?
If she and her dog had been attacked in a similar manner by 2 dogs it would have been taken seriously. If she and her dog had been attacked by humans it would be taken seriously. OP and everyone else has the right to walk down a street without being attacked and knocked over and injured!

Your car? 😁

Sounds like the cats attacked the dog and you just got in the middle of it. I just wouldn’t walk down there again. Most cats will just run away but some will attack dogs just as some dogs will attack cats

We are in Scotland and google tells me that cat owners are liable for cats causing injuries if they know their pet is aggressive and they don’t do anything to mitigate the danger they are causing. Not liable for a first offence because they couldn’t have foreseen the cat attack. I’m now thinking I should let the owners now and possibly report this to someone so that if this happens to the next person they can’t claim ignorance.

This was my understanding as well. At the very least you should let the owners know.

I’d report OP just so that if it happens again it doesn’t go down as a first offence.

How terrifying for you. I really hope you are ok.

Yes, it would be a waste of police time, because it isn’t a criminal offence. Human attacking human - criminal. Dog dangerously out of control attacking human - criminal. Cat going for a dog and human getting scratched/bitten trying to stop it - unfortunate.

That's horrible op. I got bitten by a cat once when I was trying to rescue my kitten who had inadvertently wandered into another cats territory. You do need to get some antibiotics for you and possibly your dog too.

Well perhaps if people took the trouble to report incidents like this then there might be a shift in attitude and a change in the law to protect people from aggressive cats.
From OP 's posts it appears Scottish law does provide some protection already.

Cats are vicious. A feral cat scratched my dogs eye about a month ago. Numerous trips to the vet...anti-biotics, anti-inflammatories, eyedrops etc. He almost lost his sight.

Sorry to have made this post about me but I'm highlighting how dangerous they are. They tend to go for dogs eyes too apparently. My dog still isn't right. A deader version of himself.

Imo cats cause way more damage to dogs than vice versa. Dogs chase, and bark like idiots...but that's my opinion.

I’m so sorry to hear what happened to your dog. He must have suffered emotional trauma. I hope he becomes happier again.

Wow. Horrible thing to happen, and I do sympathise. But I guess the reality is that cats are scared of dogs, and some of them view attack as the best form of defence. I absolutely don't blame them, or their owners, for that. If it is a repeated problem in the neighbourhood, though, it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect the owners to take some sort of action (not sure what!!).

My previous dog was attacked a couple of times by cats when on the lead. Cats don't understand that the lead makes them safe, or that going in for an attack actually puts them at more risk.

I assume that it was just bad luck that you were hurt as well as your dogs. Collateral damage, I suppose.

Bengals are awful, really vicious. There's two in my street and while I love cats, I hate these two. They attack my cats and are really nasty for no reason. It's a terrible breed.

Wow Ive never heard of that happening - how scary. Do keep an eye on the bite as cat bites can lead to bad infections - as I know from experience, having stupidly petted a feral cat and ended up with 3 rounds of antibiotics and a hand that wouldn't work for 6 weeks.

This happened to me too when I was younger and out walking the family dog with my Mum.

Four of them set upon us and the dog, we just walked past a garden where one took exception and the rest joined it.

We had to pick her up and run, it was really scary. Luckily they didn’t follow far!

Thank you. He is slowly recovering and sometimes appears very tired. Still fighting the infection i think. He jumped at the chance to go on a walk an hour ago so he still knows what he wants!🤣

This is very far from normal cat behaviour. Extraordinary. I imagine there is more (or less) to this story. Or these were some kind of feral cats.

Imagine away. I posted exactly what happened to me. I don’t know what you think the benefit to me would be of doing anything else.

Your dog must’ve scared them. Normal tabby cats don't randomly attack dogs on walks and knock humans to the floor.

Why is your username attackcats? Odd.