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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

If your cat bit you

111 replies

MollyWantsACracker · 22/01/2018 23:26

AIBU to wonder what you’d do. Proper bite, puncture x 4, (one quite deep) blood.
She’s been vet checked recently, no problems. Bite happened whilst sitting on lap, me mnetting, random grooming. No signs she was irritated.

It’s quite painful 😣

OP posts:

user187656748 · 22/01/2018 23:27

I'd assumed I'd really pissed her off. I'd stick some tcp on it.

Deshasafraisy · 22/01/2018 23:28

I’d put my cat out straight away so it knew that it was unacceptable

FluffyWuffy100 · 22/01/2018 23:28

Clean the bite area, and be a bit cautious watching her whilst on my lap from now on

Shmithecat · 22/01/2018 23:29

How recent was the recent check up? Cats don't bite for no reason..

123bananas · 22/01/2018 23:29

Clean it well boiled water with salt in it cooled down try to get into the deep sections too if not already scabbed over. Watch for signs of redness that is spreading, pus or if you get a temperature. Seek medical treatment straight away via GP or walk in if that happens. Cat bites can be nasty and easily get infected.

SparklyLeprechaun · 22/01/2018 23:30

Be very careful with cat bites and scratches, they get infected really easily. A&E and 2 weeks of antibiotics was what happened to my dad when he ignored a cat scratch.

Walkingthedog46 · 22/01/2018 23:31

Some cats don't like being groomed, or even stroked, near their tail end. My sister's cat loves being stroked, but if you go near her back end she lashes out with her paw.

Catzpyjamas · 22/01/2018 23:31

Clean it well! You may need antibiotics as she broke the skin. Cat's mouths aren't the cleanest.
As for why... they don't always need a reason. Try touching her all over in case there's a response to pain in a particular area though.

MissT84 · 22/01/2018 23:32

bite it back so it knows whos boss!!!! (joke...before the mn no sense of humor brigade jump on it)

seriously.... you probably annoyed her too much. or maybe she has a painful area you have touched. My cat is lovely, then she broke a tooth and attacked me when I stroked her chin (something she usually loves and purrs at)

KillDora · 22/01/2018 23:35

My cat loves fuss and often comes up for a stroke...but he is also hypersensitive and will lash out when it gets too much.

I've learnt now, three strokes then I'm out

singingdetective · 22/01/2018 23:35

I worked as a pet groomer and we were told that in the event of a cat bite we were basically to stop what we were doing and go straight to the hospital to have it seen to and to get antibiotics.

KillDora · 22/01/2018 23:36

MissT84 OMG how can you say that? When would biting back ever be acceptable?!

Everyone knows that the correct response it to tazer the little shit.

Notthiswankagain · 22/01/2018 23:38

Clean it really well. My cat did this when he was caught in the airing cupboard. He uncaught himself by attaching himself to me. It got infected and I was off work for two days.

I'd get the cat checked at the vet too. cats tend to hide if they are in pain. Hope you and kitty are okay!

diamantegal · 22/01/2018 23:39

Antibiotics. I thought the vet was overreacting (was holding the cat for his injection, but obviously not tightly enough) when he told me to go straight to the walk in centre. By the evening my hand had ballooned and I couldn't make a fist. Cat saliva has evil things in it - get it seen to if it's a deep bite.

PurpleRobe · 22/01/2018 23:40

Stab it in the eye (*joke)

Finderscrispy · 22/01/2018 23:47

You need to be more attentive to her body language when you are fussing her, presumably if you where mumsnetting at the time you weren’t paying her attention.
I have rescue cat that occasionally bites, at first quite savagely. I just walk away or send him away when he does it and I’m now more mindful of his body language and preferences when I’m stroking him. The biting is now very infrequent and much more gentle - even gentle bites are treated in same way though, walk away.

YouKnowNothingRickGrimes · 22/01/2018 23:49

A good few years ago i lived in a shared house with a girl who had 2 cats. One day i was alone in the house and the cats started full on fighting, like fight to the death style. It was pretty brutal. So stupid me tried to intervene. Stupid, stupid me. I ended up being bitten and had a big puncture wound between my thumb and index finger. My hand then swelled to about 4 x the size and was throbbing:( Took my self off to hospital and ended up staying for 4 days hooked up to a drip with mild sepsis.
It was bloody awful.

willstarttomorrow · 22/01/2018 23:49

Cat bite as already posted clean well and keep an eye on it in case of infection. Cat's are a law onto themselves. You've pissed her off somehow. Mine current wee moggy is a timid stray who turned up in the garden. Generally lovely and left alone to show love when she feels like it. She is increasingly more loving but does lash out at times. Why (and with no insight into her past) I cannot say. I just accept she is a greater and more intelligent being and consider myself told and lucky her highness has decided she is my owner.

YouKnowNothingRickGrimes · 22/01/2018 23:50

May i add that i didn’t hold it against the cat. She was a good kitty really 🐱

GreyHare · 22/01/2018 23:51

Yes if she properly punctured your skin then you need to go to A&E, cat bites are notorious for getting horribly infected, a vet nurse I know has a damaged hand now after a cat bite injury and the infection went into her thumb joint, and she sort medical straight after the bite.

WTAAF · 22/01/2018 23:53

I have 17 cats. A couple are volatile. One has every reason, rough start, amputated leg, lost half an ear (and was neutered at the same time as losing the other body parts!). The other cat has always had a charmed life. Either of them could give me a bite quite suddenly if I'm not very aware of what's going on. Though a bite as deep as yours would suggest either pain or that somehow the cats been startled into anticipating real danger. Just be more cautious for a while and monitor the cats behaviour and health until you're confident it was a one off.

HungerOfThePine · 23/01/2018 00:07

If it's a cat that is pretty docile and not usually tetchy about being touched then I wonder if it has a sore spot that you touched and it reacted.

I'd get it looked at if it's a serious puncture.

My cat is the sweetest/docile cat and would never full on attack me if she was in a cat mood. I can usually spot the signs to basically leave her alone and not wind her up and even then it's a light bat and a nibble.

When I say never I don't really mean that she's an animal but if she ever did I would know it's out of character and would want to get her checked out.

LegArmpits · 23/01/2018 00:11

I'd assume she was a fucking cat 😂🔫

feelingfree17 · 23/01/2018 00:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Ollivander84 · 23/01/2018 00:23

Depends on the cat. Mine once opened his mouth vaguely when I touched his shoulder
I felt a right idiot at the vet going "he looked at me funny". Turned out to be a giant abscess, he's so soft that even in so much pain he wouldn't bite me

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