Cat experts?! I adopted a cat from animal shelter and bit me (severely) unprovoked - any ideas? (see details)?

Question

I have to give you more details. Seemed like a very sweet cat, I brought it home and as I was cooking dinner, it rubbed against my leg, purring, wanted to be petted. So I scratched him on his head and out of nowhere, the cat grabbed my arm with all four paws, sunk his claws in and bit my hand so hard that I bled everywhere and needed stitches. It was very painful. Don't worry, I'm fine now and did all the necessary antibiotics and disease testing. I returned the cat and explained the situation. I don't know what they did with the cat, I'm fine with not knowing.

But does anyone know WHY a cat would do such a strange thing? I'm just so glad it didn't bite my children. I'm cat shy now and can barely pet a strange cat.. I'm scared it will freak out on me like that one did. Ideas?

Doug, would you like to be bitten so hard that you needed stitches after waiting 5 hours in the emergency room in severe pain? Thanks for being rude.

I have no idea what this cat's history was, there was none on him. He was a sweet gorgeous cat but two hours after I brought him home, he did this. I don't remember how I petted him, it's all a big blur now but I do know that I petted him and he seemed to like it at first but then snapped.

Answer 1

You said you were cooking?? What scent did you have on your hands?

Answer 2

I'm feeling sorry for you & the kitty. The cat may have bitten for several reasons - it may have been startled, it may have felt threatened, it may have had pain in that area from an unnoted condition - like an ear infection or even an old abcess wound or something; it may have been mistreated int he past; it may have been taught as a kitten to play & chew on dangling fingers then continued the behavior it had been taught, but is now bigger & stronger & bit someone too hard causing it to wind up in the shelter (I feel very strongly about teaching people w/kittens/cats that hands are for love, toys are for play - don't mistake the two). Some cats are fear aggressive - if they are in a circumstance where they feel a bit afraid or threatened they could lfor instance like being petted but feel nervous about it, then get more scared & lash out. I was bitten once by a cat - nice cat - but I was traveling & someone ran a red light, totalling my car - the cat escaped the carrier & was frightened & all my windows were knocked out & since the cat had never been outside I was determined to hold onto it no matter what & it bit me terribly, so my point is I know & feel your pain - my hands were swollen up like baseball mitts. I think I should mention this too, but I have always heard that animal bite wounds shouldn't be stitched closed as they are more likely to become infected. You may want to check into that. I'm sorry for the kitty, because he probably was just very fearful being in a new environment & coming out of a shelter which is about as stressful of an environment for a cat as it can possibly be, and he may now be considered unplaceable & put down. I'm so sorry it didn't work out. I hope it doesn't make you fear cats - most cats don't bite like that.

Answer 3

Fear is usually the number one reason that cats bite. (One of my previous cats bit my hand on two separate occasions when frightened at the vets). As others have said, who knows what kind of life the cat had before you adopted him. From a cat's eye view, humans look like giants, and if you reached down to pet him, and he has a history of being abused, he may have lashed out instinctively to protect himself. With nervous cats, it's always best to kneel or sit on the floor, let them smell you and take your time before trying to touch them.

Did the shelter give him a thorough health check before offering him up for adoption? There could be an underlying medical problem which would also explain his behaviour.

I'm pleased you are fine, but I do feel sorry for the cat too. The shelter from where you adopted him, should have done a better job of fully assessing his health and emotional status before homing him. If they knew he had problems of any kind, they should have made potential owners aware so that he could be adopted by someone who had time and experience with cats to help him.

Please don't let it put you off cats. When treated with love and kindness, they really do make wonderful pets. If you have friends with cats, visit them and see for yourself that not all cats behave the way this one did.

Answer 4

You were correct to return the cat and explain what happened. Why he did it is difficult to say. Something triggered a strong aggression response in him, and what it was is only guesswork.

Cat bites can cause severe infections. Anyone bitten by a cat should go to the emergency room immediately.

The best thing is to not pet a strange cat until you have made its aquaintance, and be cautious even then. I deal with a dozen or more cats a week at the vet hospital where I work, and I am careful about trying to pet them. I let them sniff my fingers first, and if they rub their faces on my fingers I'll scratch their ears and pet the tops of their heads, but I rarely reach in to pet their bodies till I know them better. Cats who are afraid or anxious will often seem amenable to petting, but then lash out when you touch their bodies. We have had numerous cats that behaved the way yours did. Their histories were uinknown so we have no explanation.

Start with cats you know and who are calm and giood natured, to desensitize yourself about fear that the cat will atttack.

Answer 5

my guess is the cat was afraid. Who knows what was done to it before you adopted it, or how long it was in the shelter for. I found some reasons why cats are aggressive:

Some of the many reasons why cats direct aggression towards people are because they:
1) are fearful and defensive,
2) are redirecting aggression which was stimulated by something else (e.g. a cat outside) onto their owners,
3) are playing,
4) do not want to be petted any longer, and/or,
5) view certain people as intruders in their territory.

I'm glad you took this bite very serious, and gave the cat back, because if it had that much aggression, it probably would bite other people.

Answer 6

the cat was probably brought to the shelter as a stray so it may have been a little feral and not use to human contact. it was probably scared. moving to a new home can be very stressful for a cat. it may have not really known how to react to human contact and affection. it's fight or flight mode set in and it attacked.

I can understand you being nervous around cats especially ones you don't know. I would suggest as soon as possiable, go to a shelter and volunteer a couple hours a week. you can be surrounded by cats that are in cages and can't hurt you and you can work your way up to holding and petting cats. you can ask workers there which ones are the most friendly and you can start with those ones.

Answer 7

Most cats do not bite and are friendly to people. This cat may have been abused in the past (or as a kitten) and was only reacting to prior abuse (to protect itself). Maybe try putting our your hand next time and let another cat smell you first and then pet. Sorry to hear what happened. Hopefully you will give another cat (or pet) a try because so many need home and most are very friendly!

Answer 8

My aunt and uncle's cat was also adopted from a shelter, but as a tiny kitten. My little cousins are INCREDIBLY rough, and they're made that poor little thing go through a lot (we've told them how to act with the cat, but they're children, they can't help it sometimes). Anyways, that cat has become really unpredictable...I could be petting him and he'll be purring and then the next minute, WHAM, he attacks my hand. I guess he just feels he has to constantly defend himself, it was probably the same thing with the cat you adopted. Sometimes things that become engrained in their minds when they're young are hard to change.

Answer 9

Sometimes a cat will do something like that when she doesn't want to be petted any more.

But was this kitty abused in the past? When you started to reach toward him, did you come down from directly overhead or with an open palm? He might have interpreted that as a threat.

Other than that, I really don't know.

Answer 10

The cat was problem hungry, you were fixing dinner and had the smell of food on your hands.
I have strays I bring in and train to be people cats, the problem of biting when food is involved is common .
Hopefully you did inform the humane society that you were cooking when the cat bit you and they recognize the problem.

Answer 11

i like all kinds on pet and animals. to say my own dog that had form 6 years bit me on my right foot by mistake. well i was feeding him and one of his biscuits fell out of his plate and landed a little fare away form him i thought that he couldn't get it so i pushed it close to him and put my legs in the place where the biscuit was withen a second it bet my leg. don't worry many be ti was mad at something or someone it just showed it on you. any way you are all right so why worry. and i still pet dogs i am not scared. i like it that way.