# Easier Opponent: Girl or Cat? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 11, 2007, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easier-opponent-girl-or-cat/422394 "2007-10-11T22:30:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easier-opponent-girl-or-cat/422394/1 "2007-10-11T22:30:14Z")
Inspired by the “Screaming 15 year old girl peppered-sprayed by cop thread” in GD, I pose this question to you. If you were forced to choose between wrestling a vicious girl that looks like the one in [this](http://www.breitbart.tv/html/6414.html) video, or a vicious 20 lb housecat, which one would you pick? Pretend that the only rule is that you can’t bring any weapons except the ones you were born with. The goal is to restrain is your opponent with sustaining the least amount of injury to yourself. Hurting them is incidental, but okay. Me, I’d pick the girl. And I’m a skinny girl myself. My rationale is that a cat is harder to grab on to and restrain. They have four paws bearing a total of 18 sharp claws that scratch you worse than a mofo. When a cat bites, it can _bite_. There is no mercy between their jaws when they are really angry. And they are squirmy and fast. You can’t pin them down without a lot of coordination and leverage and strength. A girl? Slam her to the floor, pin her arms down, and that’s it. As long as you keep herself out of the range of her face where she can bite you and you weigh a decent amount, then you’re good. She’ll struggle for a while but eventually tire herself out. Then you can knock her lights out if you were so inclined. What do you say? Cat or girl? ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easier-opponent-girl-or-cat/422394/2 "2007-10-11T22:35:56Z")
I can stomp a cat into submission with one foot, one stomp. Cat. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easier-opponent-girl-or-cat/422394/3 "2007-10-11T22:37:05Z")
Either way, you’re pussy whipped! ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easier-opponent-girl-or-cat/422394/4 "2007-10-11T22:48:03Z")
The cat could hurt me worse than the girl could before I restrained it/her. And **Duke** , I’ve never seen a cat that couldn’t get out of range of a stomp before I had my leg halfway drawn back. Sure, if you land a kick and catch the cat between your foot and the floor, or your foot and a wall, you could crush it. Not likely, IMO. My friend has a very docile cat who, unfortunately, does not like to be touched. If she is sitting on the floor and I make the slightest move towards her, she is on the other side of the room before I can take a breath. Cats are _fast_. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easier-opponent-girl-or-cat/422394/5 "2007-10-11T23:00:47Z")
The cat. I might take my shirt off to do it (use the shirt to wrap the cat in), but definitely the cat. With no shirt, I’d probably be forced to injure the cat, which I’d hate to do, but it’d be a lot easier than a 100 pound panicked human. I’ve done both, by the way. The only part of this that’s hypothetical for me is the “hurting them is incidental” part. I was trying, in both instances, to restrain them without hurting them. ETA: But I don’t have any \*training \*in restraining either. Maybe if I did I’d have a different answer. Also, cat scratches and bites tend to heal pretty well. The same cannot be said of human bites, alas. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easier-opponent-girl-or-cat/422394/6 "2007-10-11T23:14:17Z")
Not much contest - the cat. I’d expect to end up shedding some blood, but physics are working against it. It is far more fragile than any truly crazed human being, even an itsy teenage girl. Yes, I’ve known someone that had a tendon severed in their hand by a feral cat bite. But a human is much more likely to inflict serious damage. One of the worst things I’ve ever witnessed was a teenage girl damn near skinning another girl’s face with her teeth. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easier-opponent-girl-or-cat/422394/7 "2007-10-11T23:22:16Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Also, cat scratches and bites tend to heal pretty well. The same cannot be said of human bites, alas. [/QUOTE] Scratches, ok. Bites, not so much. I had a cat bite get really infected very fast. I then got lectured by the doctor (“In your line of work you should know better! Next time get in here before it starts swelling!”) and informed there is an antibiotic specific for cat bites. Works a treat, too. As for the OP, I’d take the girl. I would’t be nearly as worried about hurting a fighting kid (who should know better) than a cat who is probably scared to death and can’t understand a word I am saying. Then again, I like cats. Kids, not so much\*. \*Some kids I like. Most of the kids raised by my friends are turning out to be decent human beings. The ones I am exposed to in public a lot, however, seem to belong in cages. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easier-opponent-girl-or-cat/422394/8 "2007-10-11T23:27:37Z")
I’d take the girl. I know the weak spots, I fight dirty, and I have zero compunction against hitting a female. Cats I like. She’d be down in seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easier-opponent-girl-or-cat/422394/9 "2007-10-11T23:28:04Z")
What luck, there was just a thread where this vid was posted, 2 girls of a bit lesser age (13). I’d pit either of them against a cat. [vid link MSN](http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-US&brand=msnbc&vid=9559a5c0-92f5-49d6-aaa4-93097a16790d) ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easier-opponent-girl-or-cat/422394/10 "2007-10-11T23:33:41Z")
I am a rather small human and may not do well against someone my size or bigger and much younger, so since I wrestle with cats on a regular basis as part of my job I’ll just stick with the cats. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easier-opponent-girl-or-cat/422394/11 "2007-10-11T23:38:21Z")
Cat. I know tricks about cats. (Cuff 'em.) On the other hand, I know some tricks about people, too. I once knocked out a guy who probably weighed more than twice as much as I did. It’s all about knowing the right spot and doing things they don’t expect. When he fell to the concrete floor of the parking garage I thought I’d killed him (and I was okay with that) so I duly went and reported it to the cops. But when they went to get him, he was gone. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easier-opponent-girl-or-cat/422394/12 "2007-10-12T00:00:42Z")
A housecat (feral) clawed my face (there was no biting). The entire attack lasted about 10 seconds, beginning to end. I wound up in the hospital for two days on 2 kinds of continuous IV antibiotics due to severe cellulitis and infection in my eye socket. I can only imagine what it would be like to be in a pitched battle with such an animal rather than just a brief encounter. I think the teenaged girl’s attack might hurt more in the moment but the cat’s bites and claw wounds would get infected and could cause more harm in the long run. They’ve got that bartonella bacteria in their mouths that is pretty toxic, poop on their claws, etc. Also, it seems like cats just know how to fight, whereas most teenage girls could be fended off by someone larger while inflicting minimal damage. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easier-opponent-girl-or-cat/422394/13 "2007-10-12T00:16:11Z")
[QUOTE=Duke of Rat] I can stomp a cat into submission with one foot, one stomp. Cat. [/QUOTE] I can stomp that wiry 15 year old girl into submission with one foot, one stomp. I’m a big ol’ girl. Even if that girl had a weapon, I would probably have her ass stretched out on the ground in 3 seconds flat. But I didn’t come in here to vote. Oh no…I came in here to say that I have been rolling on the floor laughing since reading this in the “pepper spray” thread in Great Debates : [QUOTE=Contrapuntal] That would change everything. What if I had a shotgun? Or a deathray? Or thousands of bees at my every command? [/Quote] [QUOTE=you with the face] "Has a cat ever lobbed a rocket grenade at you while doing the Harlem Shuffle to the tune of ‘Camptown Races’ "? [/QUOTE] I wanted to express my pure delight at those responses to the silly arguments in that thread, but I had vowed not to post in that backward trainwreck again. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easier-opponent-girl-or-cat/422394/14 "2007-10-12T00:38:16Z")
[QUOTE=you with the face] a vicious girl that looks like the one in [this](http://www.breitbart.tv/html/6414.html) video [/QUOTE] That’s a 15 year old girl? Damn, she’s led a haaaard life. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easier-opponent-girl-or-cat/422394/15 "2007-10-12T00:40:50Z")
When I was working with feral cats, I got a call from a lady who had somehow managed to get a feral cat and her kittens into her bathroom. She was able to get the kittens without injury but Feral Mama had let her know in no uncertain terms that this was WAR! I went in with over the elbow thick leather falconers gloves. Feral Mama bit me through the leather. She was only able to barely break the skin - there was too much leather in her mouth - but I had a bruise for two weeks. I did manage to get her in the carrier and get her spayed. She was released in the lady’s backyard where she would be fed. I am so glad I never had to deal with that one again; if looks could kill I would have been SO dead. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easier-opponent-girl-or-cat/422394/16 "2007-10-12T00:45:51Z")
[QUOTE=you with the face] Pretend that the only rule is that you can’t bring any weapons except the ones you were born with. The goal is to restrain is your opponent with sustaining the least amount of injury to yourself. Hurting them is incidental, but okay. [/QUOTE] I hope you’re not using this thread to prove some sort of point in that thread, where the goal is to subdue a 15 year old without injuring her. But I’ll play. I take the girl. One quick roundhouse kick to the head and we’re done. The cat might dodge. The girl won’t. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easier-opponent-girl-or-cat/422394/17 "2007-10-12T00:58:51Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] I hope you’re not using this thread to prove some sort of point in that thread, where the goal is to subdue a 15 year old without injuring her. [/quote] No I’m not. I promise. But I am amazed that people think a 20 lb fur-covered hiss machine would be easier to conquer than that sack of skin and bones in that video. > [@Rubystreak](#): > > I think the teenaged girl’s attack might hurt more in the moment but the cat’s bites and claw wounds would get infected and could cause more harm in the long run. They’ve got that bartonella bacteria in their mouths that is pretty toxic, poop on their claws, etc. Also, it seems like cats just know how to fight, whereas most teenage girls could be fended off by someone larger while inflicting minimal damage. Good point, too. Your average cat has biological weapons in its mouth that your average teenager does not. Plus, they have canines like needles. A girl has an omnivore mouth. Gimme the girl any day. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easier-opponent-girl-or-cat/422394/18 "2007-10-12T01:07:57Z")
[QUOTE=you with the face] But I am amazed that people think a 20 lb fur-covered hiss machine would be easier to conquer than that sack of skin and bones in that video. [/QUOTE] Well cats are good at being both predator and prey. Humans are automatically predator when it’s cat vs. human. Where does this fight take place? A football stadium? Cats are great at being prey. If it were me and my little girl-cat in a pitched battle and she had places to run and hide, I’d starve to death before I ever caught her. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easier-opponent-girl-or-cat/422394/19 "2007-10-12T01:17:42Z")
[QUOTE=you with the face] Plus, they have canines like needles. A girl has an omnivore mouth. [/QUOTE] A mouth full of exceedingly nasty bacteria. Human bites are quite nasty. And a human is much more likely to have a disease you can catch. After a quick google I got [this :](http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic1033.htm) > [@](#): > > Approximately 10-15% of human bite wounds become infected, and this considerable infection rate is multifactorial. Patients often wait until infection is established before presenting late in the course of their injury, thus necessitating medical attention. Wounds evaluated earlier are frequently more extensive than estimated on initial examination by the inexperienced observer and are frequently managed inadequately. > > The bacterial inoculum of human bite wounds is rich in oral flora, as saliva contains as many as 100,000,000 organisms per mL, representing as many as 190 different species. Moreover, most of these injuries occur on the hands, and hand wounds of any cause have a higher infection rate than similar wounds in other anatomic locations. > > The possibility of transmission of disease through human bites must be considered. Human bites have been shown to transmit hepatitis B, hepatitis C, herpes simplex virus (HSV), syphilis, tuberculosis, actinomycosis, and tetanus. Evidence suggests that it is biologically possible to transmit HIV through human bites, although this is quite unlikely. > > \< snip \> > > - Prior to the era of antibiotics, up to 20% of hand bites required amputation of a finger. > - While amputation is necessary only in extreme cases today, bite wound infections are common and may result in permanent functional and/or cosmetic impairment. Personally, I’d go with the cat. If for no other reason that the cat is rather less likely to have a hidden knife or gun, or a large unpleasant friend who’ll come up from behind and cave in my skull. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easier-opponent-girl-or-cat/422394/20 "2007-10-12T01:29:08Z")
[QUOTE=Der Trihs] A mouth full of exceedingly nasty bacteria. Human bites are quite nasty. And a human is much more likely to have a disease you can catch. [/quote] See [here](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3225/is_n2_v52/ai_17281981): > [@](#): > > Cat and dog bites most frequently involve the upper extremities. Dog bites on the head and neck are usually seen in young children. Large dogs can exert a pressure greater than 450 psi, which is enough to penetrate light sheet metal. Since dogs have large teeth designed specifically for tearing tissue, bites usually result in lacerations, avulsions, puncture wounds or crush injuries (Figure 1). Because of the extremely fine, sharp teeth of cats, bites usually present as deep puncture wounds. \*\* Approximately 30 to 40 percent of cat bite wounds become infected\*\*; the incidence of infection in persons with dog bite wounds is 15 to 20 percent. The infectivity of cat bite wounds is more than twice that of human bite wounds. Your average girl is not going to have TB, hepatitis, or syphilis swimming around in their saliva, so I would take my chances with them over the cat. Furthermore, an animal is more likely to give you rabies, the most lethal disease known to mankind. Gimme the girl any day. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easier-opponent-girl-or-cat/422394.md?page=2)