# Are cat owners masochists? Are you currently suffering from an injury from a cat?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cat-owners-masochists-are-you-currently-suffering-from-an-injury-from-a-cat/668412
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 9, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cat-owners-masochists-are-you-currently-suffering-from-an-injury-from-a-cat/668412 "2013-09-09T14:00:01Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cat-owners-masochists-are-you-currently-suffering-from-an-injury-from-a-cat/668412/1 "2013-09-09T14:00:01Z")
Title says it all: Are you currently suffering from an injury from your cat?
Doesn’t matter how it got there. Whether it was on purpose or just an accident. (Or how small the injury)
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### Author:  [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cat-owners-masochists-are-you-currently-suffering-from-an-injury-from-a-cat/668412/2 "2013-09-09T15:26:01Z")
I have four cats and I rarely get an accidental scratch and I have a cat who can’t properly retract her claws. We’re just very careful with her. I had a blind cat for years who wasn’t a very good aim. I’d get little puncture wounds all over my legs from his attempts to jump in my lap.
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### Author:  [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cat-owners-masochists-are-you-currently-suffering-from-an-injury-from-a-cat/668412/3 "2013-09-09T15:46:47Z")
Very rare and always an accident. We didn’t even realize he wasn’t declawed for the first few weeks because he never used them.
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### Author:  [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2013, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cat-owners-masochists-are-you-currently-suffering-from-an-injury-from-a-cat/668412/4 "2013-09-09T15:54:40Z")
I currently have a little claw puncture on my arm. One of my cats likes to grab at me when I walk by, like “Hey you! Person! Feed and/or pet me.”
He’s kind of an asshole but I love him so.
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### Author:  [@txcwaste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txcwaste)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cat-owners-masochists-are-you-currently-suffering-from-an-injury-from-a-cat/668412/5 "2013-09-09T16:21:11Z")
We have 8 cats and only time I have ever got a scratch is when we are getting ready to put them in a carrier and take them to the vet. Our cats are the nicest calmest cats in the universe.
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### Author:  [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cat-owners-masochists-are-you-currently-suffering-from-an-injury-from-a-cat/668412/6 "2013-09-09T17:14:45Z")
I have two cats. I’m lucky enough never to suffer from what I call and can immediately recognize as “kitten arms.”
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### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cat-owners-masochists-are-you-currently-suffering-from-an-injury-from-a-cat/668412/7 "2013-09-09T17:25:58Z")
I have perpetual scratches on my right thigh from my clawed cat who likes to use it as a launch pad while I’m on the computer. I also have a scratch on my right breast from my declawed cat who stuck a still-clawed hind paw down my shirt a couple days ago so he could climb onto my shoulder.
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### Author:  [@mage-girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mage-girl)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cat-owners-masochists-are-you-currently-suffering-from-an-injury-from-a-cat/668412/8 "2013-09-09T17:31:06Z")
My mom’s cat is so sweet he wouldn’t dream of actually biting someone. He is your basic orange tabby. Currently he is recovering from some kind of lesion on his eyelid.
My cat however is a bastard. Sometimes he gives you a little warning. Sometimes he doesn’t. And he bites HARD. He is 17lb and very stocky.
We think he may be extra aggressive because he was front de-clawed by the people who had him before we got him. But there’s no real way to know what’s going through his furry little head. 😕
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### Author:  [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cat-owners-masochists-are-you-currently-suffering-from-an-injury-from-a-cat/668412/9 "2013-09-09T17:34:38Z")
The resident cat was semi-feral when we took him in, and has no moral compunctions against clawing and biting whenever frustrated. He is gradually getting better, and if this trend continues, within a decade or so he will be the perfect cat.
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### Author:  [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cat-owners-masochists-are-you-currently-suffering-from-an-injury-from-a-cat/668412/10 "2013-09-09T17:34:48Z")
I currently have four paw bruises on my thighs, thanks to Mayme deciding to jump off the dresser onto my legs last night while I was attempting to fall asleep. She’s 18lbs. I went flying, she went flying, I couldn’t fall asleep fo a while afterwards.
For the most part, none are bitey/scratchy cats, and if I have scratches it’s due to them kneading with claws that need to be clipped.
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### Author:  [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cat-owners-masochists-are-you-currently-suffering-from-an-injury-from-a-cat/668412/11 "2013-09-09T17:48:42Z")
I have a cat who is scared of everything. EVERYTHING. If he is in contact when something sets him off, there will be blood. It’s never intentional, though - just his haste to get away and find a nice piece of furniture to cower under.
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### Author:  [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2013, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cat-owners-masochists-are-you-currently-suffering-from-an-injury-from-a-cat/668412/12 "2013-09-09T17:52:12Z")
8 cats + 1 orphan kitten. No injuries major or minor.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cat-owners-masochists-are-you-currently-suffering-from-an-injury-from-a-cat/668412/13 "2013-09-09T19:25:33Z")
We have 4 cats and I am often sporting injuries from one of them. That’s ok. Caelan was traumatized as a kitten and has PTSD. I wouldn’t trade him for the world, no matter how many times he launches off my chest at a loud noise outside. Not his fault, and he always looks sorry for any bloodshed.
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### Author:  [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2013, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cat-owners-masochists-are-you-currently-suffering-from-an-injury-from-a-cat/668412/14 "2013-09-09T19:31:59Z")
Nope. My cat has never bitten or clawed me, even when I had to give her a bath with serious scrubbing, or shove a pill in her maw (I’ve since discovered that he falls for pill pockets, Yippee!).
It isn’t that she’s not capable of violence - she needed a bath that time because she beat the shit outta the neighbour’s cat under our car, getting grease all over herself in the process (the neighbour’s cat was larger and going under the car gave her the tactical advantage … ). She’s very affectionate with people, though.
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### Author:  [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2013, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cat-owners-masochists-are-you-currently-suffering-from-an-injury-from-a-cat/668412/15 "2013-09-09T19:40:50Z")
We adopted Mitzy when she was 9 years old, so haven’t had any of the ‘kitty doesn’t understand how sharp her claws are’ problems.
The only thing she does is in the mornings when she wants me to wake up, she carefully extends one claw and pokes me in the lower lip, which can hurt.
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### Author:  [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cat-owners-masochists-are-you-currently-suffering-from-an-injury-from-a-cat/668412/16 "2013-09-09T19:50:00Z")
They’ve healed up. Male cats bite, although don’t break skin. One female bites, scratches, and kicks in the context of play so I get some nice ones there. I don’t do much to discourage it though; she just flips on her back and digs in with all 5 appendages. Still, we have a psychotic dog, and I’d rather have common scratches than the dog’s rare serious murder wounds that take weeks to heal (last one just disappearing).
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### Author:  [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2013, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cat-owners-masochists-are-you-currently-suffering-from-an-injury-from-a-cat/668412/17 "2013-09-09T19:51:43Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#):
>
> Still, we have a psychotic dog, and I’d rather have common scratches than the dog’s rare serious murder wounds that take weeks to heal (last one just disappearing).
You keep a pet that has seriously tried to injure you? :eek:
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### Author:  [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2013, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cat-owners-masochists-are-you-currently-suffering-from-an-injury-from-a-cat/668412/18 "2013-09-09T22:02:00Z")
Scratches come with cats, just like scrapes and bruises come with some sports, or cuts come with woodworking or dirt comes with gardening. It’s just part of the package.
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### Author:  [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cat-owners-masochists-are-you-currently-suffering-from-an-injury-from-a-cat/668412/19 "2013-09-09T22:12:36Z")
I can sort of understand why non-cat people are scared about cat injuries, but really, it’s no big deal, and you get completely used to it. Sure, yeah, whenever you interact with something that has five pointy ends and no qualms about using them, there will be some bites and scratches, but cats are pocket-sized and can’t really seriously hurt you even if they try, and they very rarely try. Mostly it’s just love bites and minor scratches. Nothing worse than what your average girlfriend will do to you, and a cat won’t break your heart.
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### Author:  [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-cat-owners-masochists-are-you-currently-suffering-from-an-injury-from-a-cat/668412/20 "2013-09-09T22:29:06Z")
What even counts as “suffering” or “injury” depends on perspective, anyway. I can see someone who doesn’t like cats getting a bite or a scratch and flipping out, thinking “the cat tried to kill me”. If I get one, I don’t even think about it half a second later, it just comes with the territory. The difference between a scary/painful cat attack and just a completely mundane, everyday part of loving cat-human interaction is mostly in your mind. If there’s no fear or worry, there’s no suffering either, mostly. Just like the back pain I get the day after going to the gym if I haven’t been for a while doesn’t bother me, because I know it’s just muscle soreness, while the same pain resulting from being hit by a car would probably make me freak out and go to the doctor.
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