# Has anyone ever been mauled to death by a domestic cat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 15, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-mauled-to-death-by-a-domestic-cat/690854 "2014-06-15T21:42:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![protoboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@protoboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/protoboard)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-mauled-to-death-by-a-domestic-cat/690854/1 "2014-06-15T21:42:05Z")
I could imagine situations where that could happen, like if they scratched your throat or something. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-mauled-to-death-by-a-domestic-cat/690854/2 "2014-06-15T21:52:19Z")
[Yes](http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pet-health-information/article/animal-health/wounds-cat-bite-injuries-to-humans/63). Strictly speaking, deaths from cat bites aren’t from being mauled (blood loss, shock, etc) but from infection. I personally know someone who spent a week in hospital, and could well have died, because of a cat bite. She probably would have been if she hadn’t gone to the ER. She was on IV antibiotics for weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-mauled-to-death-by-a-domestic-cat/690854/3 "2014-06-15T21:57:03Z")
Yes. [cite](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0780.html) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-mauled-to-death-by-a-domestic-cat/690854/4 "2014-06-15T22:31:47Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > Strictly speaking, deaths from cat bites aren’t from being mauled (blood loss, shock, etc) but from infection. Well, yeah: if somebody died from an infected spider bite, I wouldn’t describe them as being mauled to death by a spider. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-mauled-to-death-by-a-domestic-cat/690854/5 "2014-06-15T22:59:57Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Well, yeah: if somebody died from an infected spider bite, I wouldn’t describe them as being mauled to death by a spider. True, but the [definition of mauling](http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/maul) is fairly loose. And if the proximate cause of death is being bitten or scratched by a cat (as opposed to an arachnid) leading to lethal infection, then I would count [cat scratch fever](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_scratch_disease) and [lethal sepsis in humans](https://sites.google.com/site/rucmicro/home/spring-2013/how-bacteria-in-a-felinescanines-oral-cavity-can-cause-infection-such-as-sepsis-through-a-bite) from cat bites is well documented. ---
**Author:** ![SpeedwayRyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@SpeedwayRyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpeedwayRyan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-mauled-to-death-by-a-domestic-cat/690854/6 "2014-06-16T14:35:40Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > And if the proximate cause of death is being bitten or scratched by a cat (as opposed to an arachnid) leading to lethal infection, then I would count [cat scratch fever](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_scratch_disease) Cite: Nugent, Theodore Anthony. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-mauled-to-death-by-a-domestic-cat/690854/7 "2014-06-16T15:43:51Z")
It happened (literal mauling by house cat) once in an episode of The Avengers, but there was more than one cat, and they were trained to kill. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-mauled-to-death-by-a-domestic-cat/690854/8 "2014-06-16T17:43:28Z")
My sister once got mauled by a cat, and it seems likely that she would have bled to death were it not for first aid and medical attention. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-mauled-to-death-by-a-domestic-cat/690854/9 "2014-06-16T18:57:30Z")
Kirk was mauled by Cat Kirk on “The Gilmore Girls” but he lived.