'Berserk' house cat sends owner to hospital
By ElicBxn
@ElicBxn (63252)
United States
March 11, 2007 8:43pm CST
This is scary - I'm glad my cats aren't like this guy
HAILEY, Idaho (AP) -- A house cat attacked its owner, sending her to the hospital by ambulance with more than 20 bite wounds.
The cat, a black and white domestic male, went on the rampage Wednesday when a neighbor showed up at the door with a different cat, mistakenly thinking it belonged to the woman.
"She went to the door, and her cat went berserk," Jeff Nevins, assistant fire chief for Wood River Fire and Rescue, told the Idaho Mountain Express.
The woman in her 60s was taken to St. Luke's Wood River Medical Center with what Nevins described as "pretty serious puncture wounds." Neither the hospital nor the fire department would provide any details to The Associated Press on Saturday, or say whether she has been released.
"I think the owner said she was going to take it to the shelter because that's not the first time she's been attacked," Nevins said.
6 people like this
13 responses
@66jerseygirl (3877)
• United States
12 Mar 07
I had hard about that. I wonder if it's an older cat? Cats are very territorial and get very protective .Kittens adapt very easy to other cats but sometimes older ones have a problem adjusting which apparently was what happened in this case.
@ElicBxn (63252)
• United States
12 Mar 07
Its true that kittens tend to adapt better to new cats, but my friend's cat didn't, even as a fairly young cat. I've known the friend since the cat was about 3 and she told us then that the cat didn't accept other cats, even just seeing it thru a window.
1 person likes this
@raydene (9871)
• United States
13 Mar 07
Hello
This kitty needs a kitty psychologist bad.LOL
I think there had to be some issues with this monster prior
We have a cat that was a ferel that my son raised and he's always
been here but he was always strange and would never allow anyone to pick him up
except my youngest daughter,my son , and myself.He always hated my hubby
which my hubby thought was funny .If anyone else tries to pick him up he would
attack them.
I started giving the cat masseges,concentrating on the face and head and he is
the sweetest cat now.Maybe there was something wrong with him.
R
@ElicBxn (63252)
• United States
13 Mar 07
I have 3 ferals in my house. Only one has a problem with other cats, but she doesn't attack them, she just pops them when they get too close. I can't get my hands on her to give her massages. The other 2 can be touched in certain situations, but I don't think they are going to allow massages either.
@slickcut (8141)
• United States
12 Mar 07
wow that is terrible..That cat is some kind of wild cat.I think i would get rid of it as fast as posssible,it needs to be checked for rabies...I love cats and I have one,but never have been attack by a cat....When you think you've heard itall then a story like this appears and its a shock...
@retardedrugrat (4791)
• Canada
13 Mar 07
Wow, my cat doesn't go nuts like that, although she will let us know when she wants to be left alone. She'll raise a paw or nip us - not hard but just so we know that she's not in the mood.
She's also a lil hit and miss with others cats - again, not all of them, but even the ones she doesn't like wouldn't send her into a frenzy like that.
It almost seems like this house cat was jealous of her owner or something ... like seeing that other cat made the house cat think that he/she was going to have to fight for attention or something.
I don't know how it works with Cats, although I do know that Dogs have a pack instinct. Either way, maybe the shelter can work with the cat to calm it down somewhat.
@ElicBxn (63252)
• United States
13 Mar 07
Oliver, who has never been an only cat, has certain cats he doesn't like. Serena,(f) who has been in the house since he was 4 weeks old he hates. Booboo, (m) who has only been here since the very end of Dec he also goes after, but he doesn't have a problem with Boo's sister.
I hope the shelter can calm the cat, but it could be too much for the poor cat too, surrounded by all those other cats.
@Modestah (11179)
• United States
12 Mar 07
goodness! wonder what triggered that cat. Wonder if he is neutered or not, or if that would even make a difference. I would think twice about taking it to the shelter, though, what if some unsuspecting family adopts him and he turns on a child? I think it may be irresponsible of the owner to drop him off, unless all details are foretold.
@ElicBxn (63252)
• United States
13 Mar 07
As you can read in some of my responces, I have been attacked by one of our cats, but we now know better than to mess with him when he's upset. And we tell kids that come in to be careful of him. But he hasn't attacked anyone in several years, he's 13 now.
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
12 Mar 07
That is pretty scary. Some cats do go crazy when they see other cats. You never can tell when this sort of thing will happen. I have 4 cats, one of them fights with the stray we have but he knows he gets in trouble for it so he doesn't do it very often anymore.
@jwfarrimond (4473)
•
12 Mar 07
That's a seriously disturbed cat by the sound of it. But i don't think that the story tells it all, maybe the cat tried to attack the strange cat and the woman tried to restrain it so that the cat then turned on her. I had a female cat who would attack any strange cat that tried to come in the house regardless of size. She would even tackle a tomcat who was twice her size.
@ljames (30)
• United States
12 Mar 07
We had an incident with our 8 month old male kitten when we brought a puppy into the house. He is normally the most gentle and loving cat, but he went nuts with fear and attacked my husband. He bit him in several places on his hands and scratched his arms, hands, and neck. The worst part was that the dog was more scared than the cat after this! Sometimes I think animals get into the "moment" and just are not themselves.
@ElicBxn (63252)
• United States
12 Mar 07
Honestly, when my roomie read this artical she said "I guess we got off pretty good." We have a cat that when he was younger, went nuts too. He sent us both to the emergency room, but not bad enough to be admitted or anything. Actually he sent me twice, but the first time I wouldn't have gone if there had been ANYBODY at home to treat me. The roomie was at work, the other roomie was IN the hospital and he scratched my ear. He actually tore some of the cartalige as it turned out, but I couldn't treat it - I couldn't hold the mirror to see it (since it was the back side of the top,) hold the hair out of the way and doctor it. But when he attacked his owner/provider/slave he just tore up her arm, bit by a nerve so badly she still can't feel too much on the outside of her hand & down the little finger. The other time he sent me was because he bit the back of my hand so bad I could feel teeth down the tendons & stuff. Neither of us needed any stitchs, but I was worried because there are blood veins on my hand, he didn't cut any tho.
@Lavera1 (896)
• United States
13 Mar 07
I hope that the lady is recovered. I do seriously believe that she should send the 'berserk' cat to the shelter for her own protection. I'm not a cat person anyway. I perfer dogs. And I'm not saying that dogs are better that cats. I'm just stating my preference.
@seamonkey (1976)
• Ireland
12 Mar 07
The poor woman. I have seen cats do some nasty damage when they were feeling cornered or protecting their young. I guess it was just too much for the poor kitty!
@ironstruck (2298)
• Canada
12 Mar 07
People have such strange ways of understanding their pets..
I run a lot and once this woman was walking three dogs and one charged after me and the other two joined in and she just lost complete control of the leashes.
I finally managed with the help of a passerby to fight the off.
The lady said that her dogs had never done that when she walked them one at a time. I guess this was the first time she had tried to walk all three.
She had no understanding of "pack instinct" that every dog has. If one attacks they all will. That is pretty well the way it is.
Often it is more than one dog when an attack occurs.
Why own three dogs if you can't handle them?
what is wrong with having one?
