Has a domestic cat ever killed anyone?

[Angel Fish]

Yes, a strange question I know, but it arises from having protracted Cat Vs Dog arguments with my SO....

The question is - has a domestic cat ever directly killed a human being? By directly I mean not via a severe allergic reaction, or, say, running into a road and causing a car accident, etc.

I've heard anecdotal stories about cats sitting over the faces of small children and elderly/paralysed people, suffocating them, but since I've seen that exact thing on a horror movie, I'm inclined to think that it's an urban legend.

I suppose a cat could severely injure a small child, and a lucky swipe to the jugular, or other artery, could, theoretically, kill an adult - but has it ever happened?

Thanks.

[Ice Wolf]

Well, here's a UL shootdown by Snopes. (http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/catsuck.htm)

[Ice Wolf]

And this from the American Human Association. (http://www.mihumane.org/html/sec07/catgiveup.htm)

[phraser]

Cats can carry diseases which kill humans with just one bite- for example, Rabies. But many of these are also transmitted by dogs.

[Dahnlor]

I wouldn't expect your average domestic cat to be a threat to even an infant since they're adapted to hunting small rodents. At the same time, you never hear about poodles killing people either, it's always a larger, stronger and aggressive breed like a pit bull. A cat of that size could be quite lethal, but fortunately we don't normally keep bobcats and mountain lions as pets.

D

[StanDup]

Remember the thread about the frog shot out of the potato launcher? I think somewhere in that thread there was a cat who jumped up on a table with some kind of gun on it, and it fired... Don't remember if it killed the person or not... Maybe some Doder can provide the link?

[Angel Fish]

So, in other words, if I continue to insist that although they may not love you as much as dogs, they've also never deliberately killed anyone, I won't be technically wrong? Is that the size of it?

[Gulo gulo]

Originally posted by Topaz
Remember the thread about the frog shot out of the potato launcher? I think somewhere in that thread there was a cat who jumped up on a table with some kind of gun on it, and it fired... Don't remember if it killed the person or not... Maybe some Doder can provide the link?

It was this (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=178139&highlight=potato) thread.

Why bother getting your claws dirty when there are loaded firearms around? :D

[Una Persson]

Originally posted by Angel Fish
So, in other words, if I continue to insist that although they may not love you as much as dogs, they've also never deliberately killed anyone, I won't be technically wrong? Is that the size of it?
Well, yes and no. People will come back in any argument with "I heard it on the radio", "I read it in the paper", or "my cousin's uncle's dentist's concubine said..." Plus, just because no one here in this short thread has posted anything doesn't mean it hasn't happened. I think the best you can say is "There's no known case of them doing it, as far as I know."

But I think you're missing the whole point. How do you measure the "love" of a cat or dog in the first place? Dogs and cats are completely different animals with completely different mannerisms and attitudes. And even among cats, and among dogs, there are very different manners. My cats clearly and unambiguously show "love" (that is, what we humans interpret as it), and are very needy and friendly. Even a total stranger who comes over will, within 5 mintues, be blanketed by purring, nuzzling, bread-making furry monsters.

I don't think it's fair to say that one animal loves or doesn't love more than the other in first place. Or, perhaps, that either loves at all, as we know it.

[Agback]

Originally posted by phraser
Cats can carry diseases which kill humans with just one bite- for example, Rabies. But many of these are also transmitted by dogs.

Many? I was always told that very few diseases are transmissible from dogs to humans, and that rabies and hydatids are the only ones worth worrying about. Whereas cats transmit cat-bite fever and Toxoplasma gondii (see http://www.jeukmic.org/abstr/int/c3/c305.html).

Regards,

[mipiace]

Originally posted by Agback
Many? I was always told that very few diseases are transmissible from dogs to humans, and that rabies and hydatids are the only ones worth worrying about. Whereas cats transmit cat-bite fever and Toxoplasma gondii (see http://www.jeukmic.org/abstr/int/c3/c305.html).

Regards,

NO, I think that is right. My vet told me that there are a lot of diseases that pets in general (dogs, cats, reptiles) can transmit to humans. Usually our immune system is strong enough to combat them but in people who are immune dificient, it is possible to catch the same diseases. Inversely if you have a virus, you can give it to your pet as well.

[liirogue]

Okay, my husband (who is from Romania and is convinced that eggs have poison in them (not cholesterol!) and opening the windows in a house brings in "sickness") says that his aunt (who is a nun) told him about a man in her town that got drunk and passed out in the street. He had a small cut on his neck, just enough to get a little blood flowing. Well this alley cat came by and started licking this guy's neck because he liked the taste of blood, and just licked right down to a major artery and busted it, causing this guy to bleed to death.
He also tells a story of a man dying because his lungs had become too stuffed with cat hair.
Take it with a ton or two of salt :D

[MLS]

Originally posted by mipiace
NO, I think that is right. My vet told me that there are a lot of diseases that pets in general (dogs, cats, reptiles) can transmit to humans. Usually our immune system is strong enough to combat them but in people who are immune dificient, it is possible to catch the same diseases. Inversely if you have a virus, you can give it to your pet as well.
My vet also told me the same thing. Our cat had an upper respiratory infection, and the vet said it was just an ordinary cold she had probably gotten from one of us. He said it had been proven that cats could get colds from people, and inferred that the reverse was also true, but not deemed worth testing. I certainly wouldn't want to go through the annoyance of a cold just to prove that either!

[Shade]

Are you looking for a cat deliberately killing someone (or killing someone while trying to harm them, say with a lucky scratch) or does it count if the cat killed someone, but malicelessly?

I'm sure peole must have tripped on a cat on the stairs and broken their necks at some points.

[StanDup]

"my cousin's uncle's dentist's concubine said..."

Whoa, what kinda dentist they got? "Hey, why are you taking your clothes off? I'm your dentist..."

[Qadgop the Mercotan]

I had a patient die from overwhelming sepsis from a cat bite.

[slipster]

This is purely anecdotal, but, nevertheless:

Some years ago I read a newspaper item about a man who became enraged when one of the numerous cats in his family's home failed to use the litter box. It ran and hid under a couch, and he was killed when he tried to scoop the cat out with the butt of his shotgun.

I've always wondered if the little guy figured it was him or me, and thrust his paw inside the trigger guard.

It is also interesting to speculate if something on the order of Bram Stoker's story The Squaw has not happened at some time. There a cat shuts the door of an Iron Maiden on a crass tourist who is showing off.

[The Man With The Golden Gun]

I heard about that, slipster. The version I heard was that the man was mad at his cat, and tried to hit it with the butt of the shotgun, only to have the gun fire, and shoot him in the throat. He died later.

[StanDup]

Excuse me if I quote >Ahem<. "Sometimes the karma train runs right the fuck over you"

[StanDup]

I have no tolerance for people who abuse animals

[Apollyon]

Originally posted by Qadgop the Mercotan
I had a patient die from overwhelming sepsis from a cat bite. Whoa! :(
OK, not so dramatic, but I was hospitalised for several days a couple of years back after my cat went bananas at the Vet's at sunk a claw into my hand leading to infection of what I think the doctor called the "tendon space". (?)

Twelve hours later my hand was swollen to hell and I was getting IV antibiotics, with a doctor saying comforting things about how they wanted to "catch it before it reached the wrist and we lost the whole hand". :eek:

I can well understand how if one puts off seeking medical help, thinking that "it's just a cat scratch/bite... it'll get better", (or if help wasn't available) then things could get very ugly.

[Elenfair]

Originally posted by Qadgop the Mercotan
I had a patient die from overwhelming sepsis from a cat bite.

I was once bitten by a cat and ended up in the hospital with an arm turning all sorts of funky colours. Can you say "Cat Scratch Fever"? Oh yeah. Gotta act fast. You can lose a limb, or hell, you can die from this kind of crap...

Elly n' da dawgs

[Agback]

Originally posted by mipiace
Inversely if you have a virus, you can give it to your pet as well.

I am pretty sure that that is only true with major qualifications. Viruses tend to be rather specific about which hosts they are able to infect. Smallpox is certainly not transmissible to or from most pets (although you might get it into a cow with a little effort). Dogs can't catch the common cold. Humans can't catch canine distemper. Dogs and cats can't get influenza....

Regards,


Agback

[StanDup]

What about HIV?

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Would THIS cat kill? (http://beta.sluggy.net/sz/image.php?filename=evilthrifts-978.jpg&skip=18&category=Photos&subcategory=unassigned)

But This One Has Been Pushed Too Far. (http://beta.sluggy.net/sz/image.php?filename=Dibujo-1497.jpg&skip=0&category=Photos&subcategory=Kittens)

Kitty Assassin Training (http://beta.sluggy.net/sz/image.php?filename=crouching_tiger-848.jpg&skip=30&category=Photos&subcategory=unassigned)

But Rabbits Do Kill. Feel the fear. (http://beta.sluggy.net/sz/image.php?filename=badassrabbit-299.jpg&skip=72&category=Photos&subcategory=unassigned)

[MLS]

Originally posted by Topaz
What about HIV?
Some primates can get HIV, but IFAIK, no other animals. Cats get a similar disease (FIV) which is not communicable to humans. If animals could get HIV, I am sure they would already be being used as test animals in research for vaccines, cures, etc.