Did you know? Cats can bite!
by Colleen Paige

Like our best human and canine kids, our feline kids can exhibit behavior problems just as frequently. With sharper claws and teeth, you might forget that your little yip-yip nipped you in the past, but you will never forget a cat bite!

Cats tend to have more bacteria in their mouth and on their teeth, especially if they don’t eat dry food to scrape off plaque and tartar. Dogs often chew on items that help remove their plaque, which helps to keep their mouths cleaner. You also have the added threat of bacterial infection due to the hunting hobby of your outdoor kitty. Rats and mice are known carriers of all kinds of bacteria such as salmonellosis, leptospirosis and trichinosis.

Children are more at risk for cat bites than dog bites, as cats are less tolerant of being touched than dogs are. Cat bites become infected more often because the bacteria that cats carry orally is called anaerobic, which thrives in an environment without oxygen. When a cat bites, often they claw you as well and this bacteria from it's teeth and the litter box is left behind in the tissue, multiplying at an alarming rate, because the wounds are more like fine needle-like punctures, which seal back over, leaving the bacteria in a little pocket to multiply from the heat of your body and the lack of oxygen. This can be extremely dangerous to a young child that has not yet developed a strong immune system. Dog bites on the other hand, are usually much deeper and wider, causing much more bleeding than a cat bite, which helps to clean out some of the initial bacteria. Dogs also don’t claw, so with cats, you often suffer from two kinds of wounds, rather than just one.

Cat bites often occur because children have not been taught proper handling of pets or they are too young to learn and have been left unsupervised with a cat. Often, an indoor cat that is being territorially taunted by an outdoor cat through a door or window can in turn, make him attack a child who approaches him during this emotionally heightened situation. It can happen to adults when petting a strange cat that doesn’t trust them. One moment it looks as if they’re enjoying your affections and the next minute they grab your hand and sink their teeth into you. For this reason, never allow a child to pet a strange animal…dog, cat, bird or otherwise. You can also get inadvertently bitten if you try to break up a fight between two cats.

If your cat is a repeat biter, you’ll need to hire an animal behaviorist who can help you discover why your cat behaves the way he does and to help you fix the problem before anything really serious happens - like a child losing an eye.

The most important thing to remember is to never, ever, hit an animal that bites you and to educate your children not to either. This is not only because it’s simply cruel to do so, as many animals don’t understand what they did wrong - but you may be setting yourself up for further attack. Instead, remove yourself and/or child from the animal’s presence and call your veterinarian for assistance and guidance. Often, with a little love and patience, cat problems, even serious ones, can find resolve.