mauled by a lion

[westie]

ok, it is an exaggeration but my wife selected a male lion coloured cat from the rspca (animal shelter) from a cage with front and rear viewing and missed the sign at one end advising archie is prone to biting and scratching etc.

well darling archie has just jumped four feet and attacked the left side of my face while i was working on the computer and made 3 deep puncture/scratch marks. he hit me with such force that it was like someone had slapped my ear.

i bleed heavily for about 20 seconds and then it stopped.

strange that the cuts from this mauling should stop bleeding so quickly when a recent shaving cut took 2 hours to stop.

 

[Ross]

What in the world is your INR if it's taking that long to stop?

 

[skeptic49]

Cut the points off kitty's claws with a pet nail clipper...it will help.

Jim

 

[lisou]

I don't know but personally I would return the lion back to spca!!

 

[Ross]

Taser the monster!

With a range of up to 35 feet, the TASER M26 gives you the battle-tested, field-proven capability to incapacitate dangerous subjects with minimum risk of serious injury.

 

[Lisa in Katy]

You're mean, Ross!!!

Actually, I'm surprised the SPCA adopted him out. Our shelter seems to have no problem eliminating animals that are aggressive, some that even look aggressive. My friend's husband had two dogs before they were married - one a purebred Husky and the other a mixed breed shepherd type dog. He was living in a rent house and one day the owner came and said that she would need him to move out in a week. He didn't have a formal lease, so had no recourse. He has a daughter and had difficulty finding a place in the same school district on such short notice, so made plans to move into an apartment that didn't accept dogs over 25 pounds. He took the dogs to one of the local shelters, asked that they be adopted together if possible, and even took the time to write out instructions for the owners on their likes and dislikes. The next day he found a friend who was willing to take the dogs until he found another place and he went to the shelter to get his dogs back. They had been euthanized that morning, and the reason was because they were aggressive. They had been there less than 24 hours, so of course were probably scared. Needless to say, lots of us wrote nasty letters to the shelter, but nothing came of it.

 

[Bina]

Clean those cat scratches well....they can get easily infected.
It sounds like this kitty may have been previously traumatized.....poor thing, and poor you!

 

[Blanche]

Westie:
Is it possible that your cat is feral, that is born in the wild of a wild mother cat? It sounds to me like the kitty is either feral or unsocialized....both of which are big problems.

I have lived with both feral and unsocialized cats for more than 30 years. They are very difficult to manage and have a tendency to scrath or bite, out of fear I suspect.

At the moment, I have one feral cat who has been with me since 1995. She spent the first 4 years of her life with us under one of our beds. To this day, I can not cut her nails or even pick her up. Pookey has a dear heart, but if I were to try to pick her up now she would bite and scratch me. When I take her to the vet, I need my combat gear, including a football helmet to catch her.

http://www.lostourhome.org/resources/feral-cat-info/

It is very hard for most people to live with an unpredictable cat. It certainly is dangerous to have an unpredictable cat around children and, sometimes around other pets.

Sounds to me like you might need a football helmet too.

Best wishes for whatever you do,
Blanche

 

[Bridgette]

As Bina said, watch out that those scratches don't get infected - cat bites/scratches are notorious for that.

Bridgette

 

[catwoman]

Westie:

When did you adopt out this cat? Was there really a sign warning that the cat was prone to biting?

I work with a pedigreed cat rescue group. Unfortunately, we have had to euthanize one or two cats over the last 3-4 years. We have also worked with several cats to break them of fear, which many times is what triggers a cat to bite. I enjoy reading the e-mails from the new owners who enjoy living with a cat who might have been euthized.

Have you contacted the RSPCA about this particular cat?

I keep lots of amoxi and ceph on hand for cat bites and scratches. Hope you took some type of systemic antibiotic.

 

[westie]

3.2 inr

3.2 inr

my inr is 3.2; it was 3.7 approx when i cut my face. after the cat scratched me i mopped up the blood with a face cloth and the bleeding stopped; that did not work when i cut myself shaving.

surely a small diference in inr does not make that sort of diference in clotting times???

at the rspca, my wife saw archie at the rear of his enclosure and went in to hold him and immediatley fell in love with him when he made a huge fuss of her. after that i saw the sign about him biteing and scratching on the front of the cage in another corridor, but it was too late, she was in love with her new man. most of the time he is a very affectionate cat

maybe it is all our fault, we got home late and archies dinner was a few hours late.

we got archie 7 months ago shortly after my operation; my wife says she always gets the wrong man!

 

[Bina]

An INR of 3.7 or 3.2 should not show a difference in bleeding times as such....I guess it's just a matter of how your face gets sliced. Regarding Archie, it would be wise for you and your wife to take turns feeding and caring for him to try and avoid the jealousy and overly-affectionate nature of this cat. It's always best not to totally spoil this type of character. My hubby spoils our cat and coddles her ....so it's no surprise when she has temper tantrums and acts like a spoiled brat.

 

[Ross]

You must have used a face weasel. I'm forever nicking the heck out of my face and wearing toilet paper on cuts for a while. You must of hit a small capillary for it to bleed that long.

 

[Karlynn]

For some reason, I've found that cleaner, neater cuts (like a paper cut) bleed longer than other cuts.

 

[ChuckVSP]

Our last cat, Maxx, was abandoned near the EMS Station where my wife and I used to volunteer. He almost filled my hand, we feared he would get runned over and killed, so we took the little varmit home. (those ambulances and crash trucks are heavy rascals.) Maxx grew to about 12 pounds of tailless tomcat (he had no tail when he adopted us). He was most always a gentle being. Once, while giving him a bath, he scratched the back of my hand. With and INR of 3.2, I bled like pouring milk from a jug. After 45 minutes, i quit bleeding. Maxx never made an attempt to scratch or any other type of injury as long as he was with us. He was killed shortly after my last VR, in a traffic incident (ran over by a truck). Man, I miss that cat.

Our latest adopteee, Blossom, is of a differnt sort. She has scratched me also, with about the same 45 minute bleed time. She is quite protective of her adopted dad.... when a neighborhood cat growled at me, she attacked him. Shocked me, scared him, and he fled in short order! She loves car rides, and riding on my dash or in her momma's lap! She also likes to sit in Ms Thang's recliner and watch TV with me....

Oh, the chin whisker... I don't shave anymore. Saves my face from cuts, and money on razors! The white ones are just for this time of year!

 

[cp172]

My wife fell in love with the cat on the right when she saw her as a kitten(Stormy). Well Stormy's mother is a house/yard cat and her dad is a wild
bobcat. Stormy has very interesting behavor to say the least.

 

[catwoman]

maybe it is all our fault, we got home late and archies dinner was a few hours late.

Westie:
You may have hit the nail on the head!!!!!!!!!
After all, a cat -- no matter how well behaved it normally is -- is still an animal. A hungry animal (or human, even!) doesn't always remembers its manners.

I use human fingernail clippers on our cats' nails. If a cat is antsy about getting its nails clipped and starts to struggle, I do just a few nails at a time, then let the cat chill out, then nonchallantly pick up the cat when he/she is calm and resume clipping. Repeat as necessary.

I have been bitten/scratched/slashed numerous times. I just clean the wound with soap & water, put on some pressure, use some topical antibiotic solution -- clindamycin is good, you can get an Rx for it from your doctor, bandage to absorb any residual drops of blood and take 2,000mg of amoxi immediately.
Only twice have I needed medical treatment: Years ago one of our cats slashed my mouth; I went to the ER & they brought in an MD/DDS plastic surgeon to stitch my upper lip. Was told not to smile or laugh for 1 week to avoid the wound from stretching.
In 1998, a cat bit into the palm of my left hand, hitting a bone. Went to my PCP, got a tetanus show and an Rx for antibiotics.

Anyone who has pets would do well to keep antibiotic capsules for "accidents."

 

[witzkeyman]

wild (feral) cats should be left outdoors IMO and have no business in a house. they don't want to socialize with humans.

 

[zipper2]

You needto invest in protective gear Westie

hope your cat has all his shots up to date and you stay away

from any shots due to more mutalation and you two play nice

zipper2 (DEB)

 

[ctyguy]

I'd be more than happy to loan you a 110 pound shepard/rott mix Westie. Winston would love to meet Archie

Glad to hear you got the bleed squared away, was that your first significant cut since surgery ?