Thinking of putting my kitty down... - Page 2

[vegmom]

Originally Posted by Mothra

I had a cat in college that scared the crap out of me. He bit often and hard enough to bite the skin. I could not have people over to my apartment because he would attack my guests if he wasn't busy attacking me. If I put him in my room, he'd meow his freakin' head off. I realized I was staying out of my apartment because I was scared of my cat. He scratched my boyfriend bad enough that he needed stitches one night. Each of these attacks were completely and totally unprovoked.

Finally, my dad came and took him to my parent's house in the country. He did much better there, but was still a huge problem. As long as it was just my parents there everything was okay, but this cat chased my brother's girlfriend across the yard one night and frequently trapped me in the bathroom. I was very, very relieved when this cat died.

If you've never dealt with something like this then you can't imagine what it is like. If I hadn't had my parents to take the cat I would have had him put down. I wouldn't want to chance someone with kids getting the cat.

I hope that you get the issues with this cat resolved. Best to you no matter what you decide.

Uggg! How horrible. I do not fear my kitty this much now, but i did at the beginning. This just made me remember that my tabby attacked my midwife during dd#2 homebirth. Just her ankles and did not break skin. We put her in another room after that.

[SpiralWoman]

Originally Posted by girlndocs

Cat bites are nasty. If it was *real* biting, breaking the skin, I would be concerned, especially if it was repetitive. I don't think that's normal.

Here's a story for anyone who is interested:
My Mom & I are both cat lovers. Last year my mom got her 1st kitty in years as a companion after divorcing a man who hated cats & wouldn't let her have one. Horrible man. So, she was so excited to have this wonderful kitten. But the kitten started biting quite hard. She spents months & months training the kitten in every possible way. No cat either of us ever had acted like this one. Would attack and bite hard, breaking the skin (not scratching & just baring/applying teeth). As the cat got older, nearing a year, it got much worse. Finally the vet told her the cat had "attack syndrome" & they had done everything (short of super expensive psychotropic drugs!) they could do & that both she & the cat would be better off if the cat were euthenized. My Mom just couldn't do it. She was feeling so much grief over her divorce, wasted years of her life etc. One morning, the cat attacked her again, this time causing 2 deep puncture wounds in the back of her calf. By afternoon, she was in the ER getting high powered antibiotics. The swelling continued going on & peaked, reaching from her ankle to the back of her knee. Huge, hard, red, with streaks. Thankfully the antibiotics & all the other stuff we had her doing helped. There is still a hard spot at one of the punctures (6 months later). She is lucky she didn't have a huge chunk of flesh die. So, she did have the cat put to sleep. She still wasn't angry at the cat. She knew this was all the cat could do, it was just not an animal that could be a pet. And she didn't want anyone else to go thru this. And have it be her fault. Our animal companions are our responsibility. To have a dangerous animal is irresponsible.

Here is what I told her while she was bawling her eyes out after holding kitty for the last time while kitty was given a painless injection & drifted to sleep: That she loved her cat. That she did what she needed to do for that cat. She had loved it, she had taken wonderful care of it. That kitty had never suffered a day, had never gone hungry, had never been tortured or terrified or abused. That even tho kitty was no longer alive, kitty was never hurting, and that was thanks to her. I believe that. I believe that all is one & when one kitty (or doggy or person) dies then we all come together again as one, & when one is born, it is how that creature is treated during life that counts.

For those of you who have never known a cat like this, I hope you never do, or that better treatments for such cats come about. It is a hard hard situation.

I don't know if my story will help th OP or not, but I hope your kitty responds to the wonderful suggestions you were given.

Now donning my flame protective suit
~Maria

[EMT-Mom]

Cat scracth fever!!!!!!!!!

To any one who thinks cat scraches are harmless..........Cat scrach fever (Bartonella Henselae) can be very serious. Bartonella Henselae effects the lymphs and can dammage the lymphatic system long term. A recent study found that long term exposure to Bartonella Henselae is linked to lymphatic cancer. Most people don't see signs of the infection for weeks so they rarely associate the high fever and swollen lymphs with cat scratch or bites. If an anamal is to be apart of the family they must under stand "pride pecking order" and pets that want to be Alpha "cat or dog" will not understand where his/hers place is in the family "pride". If you lived with a family member that attcked you every day would you allow them to do it or put them in thier place and show them that is not accepted?

[2much2luv]

Wow. ok, that's not what I was picturing. I never imagined such a feirce housecat.
good luck.

[shannon0218]

EMT-mom is definitely right. I have permanent lymphatic damage in both my arms. My left one in particular (that's the one where I almost lost the hand) The damage is so bad that if I scratch a mosquito bite on my left arm and accidently break the skin, I have about a 50% chance of ending up in hospital with a nasty case of cellulitis. It was because of the damage from my cat bites that I had to quit working as a registered vet tech. I loved my job, but my doctor told me things were getting way too bad and would only get worse. Many of the worst infections I got came from bites that were no big deal--cat mouths are disgusting.

To be honest to everyone who says their cats bite them all the time--there was only 3 yrs where I was without a cat and I've never had a cat attack me at home just to "tussle" The cat we have now has never left a mark on anyone (except for the fact that there are no squirrels or mice left for a good square mile of here) I don't think your cats biting you on a regular basis is even remotely normal.