When Predators Attack

Today was a vet visit for Grendel and Charcoal. Grendel needs a periodic steroid injection for her chronic cough--which we have notice increasing over the past two weeks. Although she remains feral, she is docile enough to pick up. She resists going into the carrier but once inside, she is quiet and resigned. She doesn't give the vet any problem so the bimonthly vet visit is usually uneventful.

Grendel

Charcoal has lost a small amount of weight recently and we wanted to have her checked for possible early stage kidney disease or thyroid problems.

Putting her in the carrier was not as easy as getting our feral cat in one.

Gentle, shy Charcoal not only struggled when I grabbed her but bit me. I got four bites on my arm. Denny grabbed her and got bites and scratches on his hands.

My arm with cat bites

We finally got out the Big Leather Gloves and put Charlie in her carrier. She was well behaved for the rest of the ordeal. Denny and I will be healing up for some time. And we are still in shock that our sweet little Charlie would bite.

Charcoal in the closet

Charcoal spent the evening hiding in the closet, unwilling to forgive us for making her bite us.

*~*~*~*~*

Edited to Add: My wounds healed up with no problem. Denny got bit more deeply and had to soak his hands several days running in a warm epsom salt bath. We also both used the clorox bleach soak (1/2 cup bleach to one gallon of water--thanks, Noofies!) one day after the "attack." Denny healed up in about a week.

Cat bites, though rare, are a part of dealing with large numbers of the critters. I have learned to be very proactive in treating these wounds as these bites are nototious for infection. Bites our cats have received from others have become abcessed in less than a day and I have learned to run them in to see the vet the minute I see a wound.

Comments

Meggie said…
Some of my most docile felines turn violent when they need to go into a carrier. It can be quite an ordeal. I've learned to cover their eyes as I pick them up when headed to the carrier. Of course that can also upset them.
Meggie said…
I hope your bite wounds heal well. I've heard that cat bites can be quite painful and prone to infection. You may want to get some antibiotics....it's the nurse in me speaking....
Laura said…
Thanks, Meggie. I know how bad cat bites can get. I ran into the bathroom and washed with soap and water right away, then smeared ointment on the wounds. The deepest one bled nicely--which helps. They are healing well.

Denny has had some infection but we started him on epsom salt soaks and a couple soaks with bleach water and now he is healing as well. We watch the bites very closely and if there had been any swelling or pus, we would have gone to the doctor. It is amazing how fast bite wounds can go bad.

That's a good idea about covering the eyes--it is said to calm cats. We will try it next time.
M.Benaut said…
Ouch! I have a little feral cat that comes to eat every night and at first he would turn and bite me. He has stopped doing that now fortunately. The bites certainly hurt and infection has to be watched closely.
I've always made vet appointments in the afternoon so I can get everything ready while the cats are asleep and then pick them up from sleep and put them in the carrier. Without a stretch and being bleary-eyed, they are much easier to manage. I have everything already in the car ready to go immediately so they're on the road before they realise what has happened.
Poor little Charcoal ... she will recover, with lots of cuddles from Mum (Mom).
Mme Benaut
Oh gosh Laura! That hurts to look at it! Did you put Clorox on it?
Hope it's healing by now.

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