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Comment by apotatopot | Hacker News Reader

I was recently bit on my ring finger by my indoor house cat. Unbeknownst to me, people were messing with the poor guy all night during a party. I ended up being near him when he freaked out and bit (I am glad it wasn't someone else). Had to go to urgent care and was almost sent to the hospital for an IV drip because my coffee made it seem like I had a fever when they took my oral temp.

The DR reported the bite to the state, who forced a home investigation and vet checks on me. Even though it's no longer infected, my finger/hand still hurts and I expect it to for a long time. The whole thing cost me time away from work, prescriptions/medical stuff, and the cat's vet exam. 10/10 will never own a cat again, especially if I had kids in the house.

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But 10/10 would still party with people who torment animals?

No, absolutely not. man, i really don't get why people are tearing me apart here when none of you know anything about me or my cat. You all sound like a bunch of assholes.

Dogs would do the same thing

I suggest you google for "cat bites vs dog bites".

Having been hospitalised following a bite from one of our cats (caused by a dog scaring him witless) I hadn't realised how dangerous their bites are - I now know that if you get a proper deep bite from a cat get medical attention.

Cat bites are the strongest of any animal in terms of PSI because their teeth are so sharp, and they're ambush predators that kill with a single bite. I would totally go to hospital after a full-on bite from our cat.

Just in case, because of my experience, the cat bite doesn't have to be powerful/severe or deep to require medical attention. Mine was on my finger and quit bleeding after I washed it, but now I know I should've gone to urgent care pretty much right away.

I've read a ton of stories lately about folks who barely bled/hurt and ended up requiring surgery.

except the dog would have had the potential to maul and kill you

I've learned from my recent experience that dog maulings is why states take animal bites so seriously. My cat bit me, requiring medical attention (due to infection, the bite wasn't bad at all), cat may have rabies, may be an outdoor cat (mine isn't), and may bite a dog that would potentially maul someone.

The problem with cat bites is that people don't know how they can cause sepsis and kill you within a few days, despite appearing relatively minor. If their teeth penetrates ligament lining, it can totally destroy it, etc.

My doctor told me they'll clean dog bite and send you on your way, but a cat bite they may hospitalize you for days for monitoring, antibiotics, etc. expecting a wide variety of dangerous ailments.

Yes, but the danger profile is very different. A dog bite will do all the damage it's going to do instantly. If it's a big dog, it can be severe, but otherwise it's generally just a minor wound you can treat the same way you'd handle a scrape or accidentally cutting yourself in the kitchen.

A cat bite puts you at risk of several very serious infections which may not develop until much later and can cause long-term consequences.

Dogs do impact damage, but cats do poison damage.

Maybe don't let assholes fuck with your cat?

On second thought, you never owning a cat again is probably the best choice.

>On second thought, you never owning a cat again is probably the best choice.

The net take away for me as well.

From OP:

>Unbeknownst to me, people were messing with the poor guy all night during a party

Doesn't say a whole lot of positives if OP is freely acquainted with people who willingly hurt/disturb animals.

I own multiple cats. Have a child. We foster additional cats as well. I've never seen anyone hurt by a domesticated cat(non-feral) that didn't have it coming.

My roommate has a cat who mostly hangs out in the living room. I never had pets growing up, so I never interact with it. Every so often, when I'm walking past it to get around the apartment, it swipes at/scratches me, even drawing blood at times.

Did I also have it coming?

The first time, no. The following times, yes.

The cat is making it clear that you are not respecting its personal space. (It can't talk, yeah?) If you never interact with it, it has no idea whether or not you're cool.

What's GP supposed to do, never walk around the apartment? Avoid the living room entirely?

I personally wouldn't say you "had it coming" or "deserved it", but there is an extremely high likelihood that a person attuned to cat behavior observing your interactions with this particular cat would not being surprised by the reaction.

No, you don't. That's on your roommate.

You might want to try to interact more with the cat, ask your room-mate what the favorite toy is. That's the best way to form a bond with any cat. It may be trying to assert dominance over you.

Might be your roommate plays rough with the cat and it thinks all humans like being swiped at. Some cat owners are surprisingly incompetent...

This is my situation. Cats have different personalities and some don't like to be touched, some like to hunt more than others. Those aren't factors that need to be fixed or are the result of us as owners. My cat doesn't like to be touched, but likes to sit near people when they come over. When I say "messing with my cat" I meant they were just trying to pet him all night, but that appears to have been interpreted as "tormenting" him by judgy assholes on this site.

You can buy all the toys, trees, and catnip you want, but sometimes cats just behave in a way we don't prefer as pet owners. Doesn't mean you or your roommate are at fault like others are saying.

And that's been fixed, so maybe don't assume. No need to be an asshole to strangers when you don't know anything about them but a few words.

Personal attacks will get you banned here, regardless of how wrong someone else is, or you feel they are, about cats. Please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and don't post like this to HN in the future,

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