I've been bitten badly by a cat -- he gets angry when he's hungry. When I got up to pee at 4am, he was all friendly -- when I went back to bed, he lunged at my foot and chomp. That was like the first or second time I spent the night; only my gf can actually touch him without getting slashed up. I got lucky, but cat mouths are nasty and bites typically get very badly infected.
True, most cats are very prudent about human interaction -- most strays will avoid you. But if a stray has been taught to expect food, or gets cornered, they can do a surprising amount of damage
"Cat bites are more likely to introduce bacteria deep into the wound, causing serious infection and damage to tendons and ligaments."
They don't cite a statistical source for this. It sounds like it's based on the preceding fact that cat fangs are sharper and can reach deeper.
The study they link to cover statistics of patients treated for cat bites, but I wonder what percentage of overall cat bites get infected. Most cases that don't probably never reach an emergency room, I would assume.
that's a socialization problem - your cat needs more social training. it's harder (longer, more time, more effort) when they're older but still possible.
you can find training regimens and videos online, but basically, you need to find a motivating factor for the cat (food, play, grooming, etc.) and train out from that.
i volunteered at a kitten nursery for a while helping socialize rescues. i've seen cats go from completely vicious to humans to being pettable and loving. not all cats can make that much progress though.
Understatement of the century. As I said, it's not my cat, but anyway, he was rescued from a very abusive situation as an adult, has diabetes and a voracious appetite.
I wasn't posting here to get cat advice: I've lived with them my whole life and have nurtured several stray kittens into pleasant companions. I was responding to the notion that cats are ambivalent to human existence and wouldn't bother to harm us.
True, most cats are very prudent about human interaction -- most strays will avoid you. But if a stray has been taught to expect food, or gets cornered, they can do a surprising amount of damage