Cat biting my little girl

[Mammaaof]

I went out into our garden this morning and my little girl followed me out (enclosed garden no way she can get out) she started playing in her sand pit so I went back into the kitchen and left the door open, I was back and fore to the garden and back inside just pottering around. When I heard a scream, I ran out and my little girl was holding her hand saying the cat bite her, I asked her where the cat was and it was sitting on our garden chair but it was tucked under the table so I didn't see it when I was in the garden.
Now this car is known to be nasty, always hisses and shows its teeth at any neighbors who shoos it out of their gardens. This cat is constantly coming into our garden and sitting on our furniture.
Now I'm assuming my little girl has gone and tried to stroke the cat so not trying to make out she didn't do anything.
But aibu if I went and told the neighbour what had happened? Just to add we don't get along with these neighbours, neither does anyone in the street
Sorry for long post thank you x

my lovely soft idiot of a dog broke the skin of my cleaner as a puppy when she unexpectedly bent down to pet him and he turned very fast and broke the skin. I wouldn't characterise it as a 'bite' it was more that his open mouth meant the teeth hit her hand hard
I mean, that does rather sound like an intentional bite to me though!
What size dog do you have?

My dog has accidentally caught my hand before jumping for a toy, shockingly painful!
But still never drawn blood.
And she’s not small, roughly Labrador size.

Unfortunately you cannot ever be 100% certain with any dog
I agree, but a cat (or dog) going for someone with the intention of harming them and producing a wound requiring stitches and a puppy biting are two very different scenarios.

@Sooverthemill this thread isn't about my puppy I don't know why it's turned to that. I think there's MASSIVE different of my own puppy nipping than a random cat in MY garden surely!?

No one knows why the cat bit the little girl though. She might have grabbed his tail, or it might have been unprovoked.

Having a small puppy and toddler will be challenging , and yes the puppy might also bite the little girl.

My cat bite me when she was injured, it hurt. But the worst bite I received was from a young dog (maybe six months old).

But this thread has taken an odd turns with OP becoming very cross😂😂. It is most entertaining.

But this thread has taken an odd turns with OP becoming very cross
it is most entertaining
I’d be cross too if I was OP tbh.

@Mammaaof there is something your neighbours could do. Our cats (very affectionate and not biters) have a habit of pooping in one neighbour’s lawn. Not ideal but we get on well and offered to buy them some cat sound repellents which you put in the garden. Sounds like your neighbours wouldn’t pay for it but might be worth it

My Mum has a cat in her road thats only young and its evil , it looks all sweet an innocent and when people try and stroke it it attacks you so no one in the road will have it near them
I think it has some sort of issue in the brain or is part feral, the owners think its wonderful and seemingly love it too bits

I cannot believe some of the responses on this thread.

Dear god, a vicious cat, which the OP and her other neighbour have both found to be aggressive without it being stroked and we have:
Keep the child indoors
The child should be taught not to stroke it (it hisses and bites WITHOUT being stroked)
The OP is horrible for wanting a feral cat transferred elsewhere to be feral
The OP should spend £££ on fencing, spikes etc etc
Poor abused cat
2 year old child should not expect to enjoy her own garden because cats are free spirits
Child might get bitten but it would be cruel to confine cat.

Maybe MNHQ should rename this Catsnet?

I think most posters have acknowledged that it's a very unfortunate situation all round. Some posters however are having a good old stir.

If they feel threatened they will attack and they play games jumping out and running off. Op I don’t disbelieve you but an aggressive cat is a frightened or defensive cat. I’m sorry your child was hurt. I think any fault is the fault of the cats previous treatment.

I’m sorry OP, and I do believe you. We had an evil cat once (we adopted it, had many homes prior to us) and it was a bit vicious. I think, Best thing would be to spray it with water whenever it’s in your garden and it should keep clear hopefully.

@Mammaaof I know but I was responding to a poster about dog bites.

@Borderstotheleftofme when he did it he was about 5 months old and not very big, like large cat size. His moth was open he did not close his mouth around her he hit his mouth on her and teeth met skin. Absolutely definitely he was just surprised and turned. He is now a giant and I imagine he would tear a small deer apart if he so chose but he would be more likely to lick it to death like he does to our cats who are very tolerant.

@@Mamabear12 I'm not criticising your parenting or your pets or your desire not to have random cats in your garden. You should be able to enter your own space without fear unless you live in a place with bears.

I don't blame you been upset.
Cats can do no wrong on Mnet they can roam and shit as they please if we don't like it pay to cat proof the garden not my opinion The cat hissing in the garden may not be frightened some cats are just arseholes like with everything there is always one.
Invest in a squirter keep a bucket of icy water and give it a good soak.
There is scents you can invest in too.

Well I was going to abandon the thread as I did get cross when some posters were trying to accuse my mum of financial gain through breeding and saying we had no health checks. I wasn't even going to mention our pup I only mentioned it as someone asked if we could borrow a dog, it seems that some people think as I'm having a puppy I should just let my child get bitten to get it prepared

But when I came back and read all the new supportive comments I couldn't run without saying thank you so much for reassuring that I haven't gone mad by being upset

Also for the poster who said my little girl could have pulled its tail, I highly doubt it, she has always been around animals and our friend has cats and she always strokes them so this is why I said she's probably stroked it, it's hard to teach a 2 year old which cats to stroke and which to leave alone especially when it's sitting in your own garden

Maybe MNHQ should rename this Catsnet? Brilliant 😂😜

Cat isn't a dog there are different rules.

If you see the cat in your garden throw a cup of water at it. It's not cruel but makes them not want to come back

That was me on the tail pulling, I didn’t mean your tiny daughter did this on purpose, I just meant no one saw what happened - she might not have move at all, she might have reached out to stroke it and yes your little angel might well have unintentionally pulled its tail. Who knows😊.

Your child should not have been hurt sitting in her own back garden though.

An I am sorry did you say the puppies were £4.5k a pop, but that your mum didn’t do it for financial gain😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣. I have heard of people taking advantage of the higher demand for puppies during lock down but that is the highest price I have seen for any puppy. My brothers just paid £1500 for a kennel club registered Cocker spaniel. And he was aware there was Covid inflation in that price.

I would talk to the owner and if they don’t stop the cat from wondering, I would call animal control, but I live in a place where owners are legally responsible for their cats.

Just to be clear, my ds was teasing our dog (a puppy at the time). I told him to stop and I was about 10 feet away and walking over to pull him away because he was not listening (he was basically using his hand in front of her face and pulling it back and fourth playing around). But he was using his hand like a toy and she was trying to catch it (he was 5 at the time). She nipped his finger and it was a small puncture. Because pups teeth are sharp. It was a very tiny puncture that required no stitches. But bc it was a dog puncture wound it is prone to infection, and bc it swelled that is why we stayed in the hospital. It’s been two years since and our pup is now a teenager. She is absolutely the loveliest dog ever. She never did that again. The children adore her. My ds especially. She is the kindest dog and didn’t nip intentionally. They were playing a game. I haven’t been following this thread. But saw someone tagged me.

Anyway, my comment about spraying the cat w water if they come into the garden was because if the neighbor is not doing anything to keep the cat out of the garden, what else can you do to deter it? And water is hardly going to harm the cat. Geez!

@Itwasntme1 if you have a look on official dog selling websites you will see they are all around this price (especially in my area) someone asked how much. I was answering a question. And no my daughter is not an angel but I know my child.

I will take your word for it, I don’t know your area.

The most expensive I have ever seen them Is £3k and that was shocking and at the height of lockdown - but clearly there is a demand at £4.5k in some parts of the world.

My point was your comment that it wasn’t for financial gain was odd, when your mum Selected the price point was making such an enormous profit. Nothing wrong with taking advantage of market conditions.

I’ve clearly made you even crosser. I am sorry, will bow out.

@Itwasntme1 yes she has made a profit but my point was she didn't breed for profit but when the pups are going for that price your not going to sell them at £800 what they would be worth if lockdown didn't happen

The difference between accepting responsibility for your pets between dog owners and cat owners is stark.

Ain't that the truth!

I know it's kind of irrelevant to the thread but OP did ask - my puppy was in a playful mood one day when I was getting ready so not paying full attention she jumped and nicked the skin on the inside of my upper arm. I can still hear the noise 😖. Ended up with quite a big gash that had it been one of the dc I'd have taken the to dr for treatment, it probably could have done with some steri strips at least. Several weeks on its almost definitely going to scar. She's tiny - a Jack Russell but a small example and was little over 2.5 kilo at the time. She's 5 months now and mostly growing out of it however many puppies carry on far longer even if dealt with correctly every time as evidenced if you go on to doghouse threads. Lots of puppies do still intentionally bite at this age so the cleaner bite could well have been intentional- doesn't mean it will go on to be a viscous dog, just a startled or over excited puppy.

Ffs! Surely the child’s welfare is more important than a cat! It’s hardly a pet if it’s hissing and biting other people. Why do cat owners always come out with - oh they’re free to roam so there’s nothing I can do about it? Yes there is - get rid of it and buy a proper pet. One who stays on your own property. I have a dog and can imagine my neighbours reaction if I let it roam free shitting in their gardens. And if it bit their child it would - rightly - be reported to the authorities. The cat in this situation is showing feral behaviour - therefore it’s not a pet.

@chocolatemademefat I totally agree, and when I posted this thread it didn't cross my mind that people would actually say it was my child's fault and that I should basically stop her going into the garden and let someone else cat have full use of my garden because it's allowed to roam x