Dog attacked our cat

[LeftInTheDust]

A dog from the neighbourhood attacked and badly injured our beloved pet cat.

Our cat is a healthy, 9 year old neutered male who is a lovely cat. In recent weeks he had been a target for something, three weeks ago he was taken to the emergency vets as he had been injured (he had a cut to his neck and he was fine) then last week he came home and half his whiskers had been cut off (we think by drunk people as it was over the bank holiday weekend). This afternoon it got taken to a new level (whilst we don’t think they are the same people we do think the whiskers impacted this event as it affected his decision making).

It was just me and my 16 year old sister in the house and she started screaming for me to come down and when I did she told me to look out the window. What I saw will stay with me for the rest of my life, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get it out of my mind. This dog that was easily half the size of me (I’m 5”7) and it had our cat in his teeth mauling him like a ragdoll. I genuinely thought that he was going to tear our boy limb from limb.

The owner eventually prized away our cat who ran up the tree. The event was witnessed by us and some neighbours over our road and they helped us coax him down. We were in shock and it was the neighbours who helped us (neither of us can drive and both my parents were at work) so they took the cat and me to the vet. They also managed to speak to the owner as I was in such a state whilst my sister tried to contact our parents.

The cat has serious injuries, that apparently were quite rare. He has a dislocated sternum and liquid in his abdomen. At one point we thought the cat was going to be put down but we were sent to a specialist who has given us a better prognosis, although if he survives it’s going to be life altering injuries.

We are now going to have to keep him inside (we have other cats so this is gonna be a nightmare) and he’s going to have to have more surgery to try and put a plate in his sternum. Oh and he has kidney damage. This will all be covered by the insurance.

The issue we have is reporting it. We have the owners contact details and we will be contacting him but we have also logged a police report. Obviously we will try with compensation but the main issue is that the owner is blaming our cat.

We live opposite woods and the owners claim that our cat went into the woods and antagonised the dog and she went chasing after our cat. However, we have eye witnesses that dispute this claim (we don’t really know these neighbours so it’s not like they are lying for us) that our cat was actually sunbathing on our drive and this dog appeared out of the woods and ran up and attacked him. But of course the dog owner says it was our cat that made the first move.

Do you think it’s worth reporting it to the RSPCA? According to other neighbours (who all came out after hearing our “bloodcurdling” screams) said that their dogs (if not the same one) have attacked and killed foxes and then the same dog attacked another dog in the road. Now I don’t think it’s fair for the dog to be destroyed but the big fear is what’s next? A child? Does anyone have any advice on what todo about contacting the RSPCA? We’ve already stated on the police report we want the dog on the lead and muzzled the whole time, but it’s unlikely that the dog owners will do that as she was roaming freely around the area. It’s unlikely that the claim will be taken anywhere but something needs to change because we don’t want other families to go through the same thing as it was traumatic so does anyone have any advice as to what to-do/ who to contact?

@kittycat01 yep they came around to our house and told us that the cat attacked him.... it’s not like we are asking for the dog to be destroyed we are asking for the dog to be on a lead and muzzled... I don’t think they really comprehend the extent of the cats injuries. What he has (luxated sternum vertebrae) is very rare and the vets have never seen an attack like that. Thankfully, the cat is strong but imagine if that had been a child? But it has been reported and the vets have said that (if needed) they will give their professional opinion about how dangerous the dog is to the police and show them pictures of the internal damage.

That I said not to say I don't think the owner should be punished mind.
Their dog was out of control in a public place which is an offence.

I absolutely agree the dog should be muzzled and leashed too.
Though I doubt the police will enforce it in this case as it isn't human aggression.

And yes I imagine everyone is traumatised, it must have been a horrific thing to witness and I really hope your lovely cat makes a full recovery.

I'm just making the point that a highly prey driven dog most likely does not pose a safety risk to anyone, it's such a common thing to hear 'omg that dog savaged a cat/squirrel/small dog etc it's dangerous, what if it's a child next time' but it is utterly, utterly inaccurate

*That is not to say

I meant to type

I do get what your saying but the difference between a hunting dog and my cat is that my cat is tiny in comparison. If the cat was to go hunting (and that’s a big IF, the cat is far too lazy to hunt) we can usually stop it before the cat does any real damage. And we have done with our other cats.

The man that had the dog could not. The dog was easily over half my size and the man stood their and watched until someone shouted at him to get the dog off the cat. Even then it took minutes for him to be able to do. If he can’t control his animal when it’s in a public space it should be muzzled and on the lead. It shouldn’t be able to run into our property where our cat was sunbathing. We have a number of dogs down our road, our neighbour has a beagle, but not once have they posed any danger to any of the cats down the road. We had one instance where we had a dog out of control and the neighbour started screaming for help

*and they managed to stop him before he did any real damage. Even in that case it wasn’t the case that the dog was off the lead, it ran out of the front of the house.

I don't agree with pp claiming that a dog trying to kill a cat means it is a danger to a human child. If you know anything about dogs you'd know this to be a ridiculous conclusion.

However, the owner is being an absolute CF for refusing to now keep their dog on a lead. If either of my dogs got hold of a cat like this they would be on a lead and muzzled at all times when out.

Don't engage with the owner anymore leave it to the police, you have good witnesses so fingers crossed owner will be forced to control the dog.

So sorry for your poor cat.

Your vets have no right to spout incorrect information on subjects they don't understand.

^I agree

Yanbu at All, id go mad if this was mine
Im afraid i would and do keep my cats inside.
They are allowed in their garden but they do not roam.
They are happy and content.
In fact the front gate was left open and they simply walked straight in the house and into their room
Id push this as far as poss op, you’re being much more restrained as me!

my point is a high prey dog is highly unlikely to pose a risk to humans.
Just as a cat is highly unlikely to pose a risk to humans.

Every cat I've had has taken a swipe at a human on occasion. They are unlikely to pose a risk because of their size alone.

Clearly bold formatting doesn't work properly on the app. 🙄

Every cat I've had has taken a swipe at a human on occasion. They are unlikely to pose a risk because of their size alone

So the dog is dangerous because it's big?
Is that what you are saying?
I'm afraid I'm a bit lost.

A dog that has a high prey drive is no more dangerous than any other dog when it comes cones to people.

Because predatory aggression is fun and is aimed at 'prey', unless your talking about a tiny little newborn, and even that is fairly rare, pretty much all high prey drive dogs will recognise a child as a child and not a prey item. Therefore, they pose no risk.

When dogs attack children it is almost always fear based.
Bad experiences, bad socialisation, painful area child poked etc.

Assuming this dog is not fearful around people, it poses no safety risk to people.
That is all I am saying.

Yes it should be muzzled, yes it should be leashed, yes the owner is a twat and should be punished.

But twice now the OP has said 'imagine if it were a child'.
You don't need to imagine if it were a child because the dog is only interested in prey items.
It poses very little risk to human safety.

I do get what your saying but the difference between a hunting dog and my cat is that my cat is tiny in comparison. If the cat was to go hunting (and that’s a big IF, the cat is far too lazy to hunt) we can usually stop it before the cat does any real damage. And we have done with our other cats

I'm not sure you do given you've said twice 'imagine if it were a child'.

And I'm afraid the cat comment is one of the silliest things I've heard on mumsnet!

I also have a cat who isn't a big hunter either.
I very rarely see her with anything, in the years I've had her I've seen her with a baby mole, 2 mice and a bird and that is it, but I am under no illusion she probably catches quite a lot more!

The vast majority of cats absolutely do catch and maim things, often when you aren't there.
Unless you are supervising your cats 24/7, which I highly doubt, you don't know what they could be killing and maiming out and about.

And if you have indeed 'stopped it before it did any damage' first you must have extraordinarily placid cats and lightening fast reflexes!

I caught my cat with a mouse once, after chasing her all around the garden with it I somehow managed to pin her down and prize it out of her mouth, you have never heard such loud, angry guttural growls come out of such a small cat!
She went absolutely crazy crying and scratching the door when stuffed into the house so said mouse could get away, it's no easy feat encouraging a predatory animal to give up their prize!

And secondly, you don't know that you rescued 'before any real damage' given that cat caught critters frequently die of shock or succumb to a nasty infection and die a long death after being bitten.

The man that had the dog could not. The dog was easily over half my size and the man stood their and watched until someone shouted at him to get the dog off the cat. Even then it took minutes for him to be able to do

The owner is a twat, no doubt about that but at the same time when predatory animals have their 'prize' cornered it is going to be very difficult to get them to leave it alone.
Regardless of if we are talking about dogs, cats, whatever.
They won't give up the prey easily.
That is why highly prey driven dogs are often kept leashed, because once they have eyes on the prize it's damn near impossible to call them off.

If he can’t control his animal when it’s in a public space it should be muzzled and on the lead. It shouldn’t be able to run into our property where our cat was sunbathing

I agree.

So the dog is dangerous because it's big?
Is that what you are saying?
I'm afraid I'm a bit lost.

🤦🏻‍♀️ I'm saying it's completely stupid to try and compare a cat to a dog. They pose very different threats due to their strength and size.

Assuming this dog is not fearful around people, it poses no safety risk to people.

Yeah, I bet all of the owners of the dogs who have attacked and killed/badly injured children said that. Just like all the cat owners who have done similar... oh, wait...

(Owners of cats who have done similar. Not aggressive owners)

I have a dog and i have cats. I know who could cause the most damage. A dog can turn for many reasons (I have still have fang marks on my wrist from a bite by my family spaniel over 30 years ago. He couldn't understand the play fighting between me and my dad.)

When my previous cat went outside I was always worried sick that he'll be attacked by a dog. I wouldn't have blamed the dog as it's normally instinct.
In your case however the owner of the dog clearly would have let his dog kill your cat and has attacked other dogs as well so I totally agree that you should pursue getting him muzzled and walked on a lead all the time. Rescue dog or not.

Your poor cat! I know if it had been my cat I’d be taking it as far as it can go, the owner should have better control or at least have better trained his dog. I know plenty big ‘bad’ breeds that are softies as they are well trained and looked after.

I'm saying it's completely stupid to try and compare a cat to a dog. They pose very different threats due to their strength and size

I'm not 'comparing' who is the more dangerous animal, I am making the point that there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to suggest a link between aggressive behaviour towards children and predatory behaviour in dogs.
Therefore, the dog poses very little, if any risk.
It is no more likely to savage a child than any other dog.

Everyone knows and appreciates that cats are vicious killers and barely bat an eye lid at this behaviour, yet if a dog is to catch and torture say, a squirrel, or a cat, out come the screams of OMG, it's a dangerous animal! And the classic what if it was a child! line.
It is absolutely ridiculous.
Dogs are predatory animals and a significant proportion of them relish stalking, chasing and dismembering smaller animals.
They are not stupid.
They know children are not prey.

When dogs attack children it is almost a always fear based behaviour and owners frequently either ignore or don't recognise the dog's signs of stress beforehand.

A totally different scenario to predatory behaviour.
The two are just not comparable.

@LazyFace I don’t mean to come across as blaming the dog, it’s never the am animals fault! It’s all the owner and it’s really frustrating me that the owner is refusing todo so....

@Wonderland18 oh I know this is an isolated animal! Again I’m not trying to generalise. As long as the dog is well trained and looked after they are lovely animals! Some of my best friends have the stereotypical “bad” breeds and their dogs are lovely 😊

It's difficult.

Lots of dogs have a high prey drive - it's instinct and doesn't mean they're dangerous to humans. Dogs can't differentiate between pet cats and rabbits or squirrels - they see a small furry and they chase. It doesn't mean they're going to chase a child.

However I totally get how upsetting it is. I have a dog and two cats and if one of my cats was injured by a random dog I'd be really angry too!

Cats whiskers have an important role to do with their balance. If cut off will have balance & navigation probs. Google cat's whiskers. Or what are they for. Eg. cat will have trouble jumping up, to flee etc.