# How many kitty cats would it take to kill a person? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 26, 2025, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418 "2025-09-26T16:45:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LegendHasit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/legendhasit/32/8246_2.png) [@LegendHasit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LegendHasit)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2025, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418/41 "2025-09-27T09:56:18Z")
even half of one, kitten-size ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2025, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418/42 "2025-09-27T13:03:11Z")
I came here to post this šŸ¤£ ---
**Author:** ![f.coli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eada6e/32.png) [@f.coli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/f.coli)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2025, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418/43 "2025-09-27T13:46:21Z")
What is a higher ratio - an elephant to a lion, or a human to a housecat? Lions will prey on elephants, but only the very young. If a pride attacked a full grown elephant, as soon as one lion got stomped, the rest would go looking for gazelles to eat. Of course, some humans might hesitate to stomp their cute little puddy cat, but probably would if a swarm starting clawing and biting them. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2025, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418/44 "2025-09-27T13:49:24Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Well, this turned out to be shockingly timely. If those evolving super kitties really want to subjugate humankind, they better evolve hands with opposable thumbs alongside self-awareness and cleverness. Not sure how that kitty was holding the Glock šŸ˜ ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2025, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418/45 "2025-09-27T14:00:45Z")
> [@f.coli](#): > > Lions will prey on elephants, but only the very young. so we really should be considering house cats versus a baby. Yeah, Iā€™m going to go with just 1. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2025, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418/46 "2025-09-27T19:39:22Z")
Just stay on their good side and keep an easy open can of wet food nearby. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2025, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418/47 "2025-09-27T20:07:47Z")
Carni\*- thanks. My goal in life is to not die at the paws of my pets. If that takes pampering and over treating, Iā€™ll do it. Iā€™m just nice like that. šŸˆ šŸ˜» (\*nickname) ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2025, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418/48 "2025-09-27T20:24:34Z")
I have a semi-feral beast who must weigh almost 20 pounds. She is an indoor cat who spotted a strange animal out on the deck one summer and freaked right out. I stepped in between her and the screen door (to pull the glass door shut before she knocked the screen right out of the track). She lunged in a fury, trying to get at the strange animal, and my leg was in the way. I had claw marks and bruises from my upper thigh to my ankle!ā€¦ā€¦.Another cat I had bit me when I touched his sore paw. I spent the next day in the ER hooked up to an IV of antibiotics, had an x-ray, sent home with super-antibiotics that hurt my stomach for a week. And later a visit from the health department to see the cat and show them her rabies certificateā€¦.None of this has impacted my fierce love for all felines in the slightest. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2025, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418/49 "2025-09-27T23:44:12Z")
> [@solost](#): > > If those evolving super kitties really want to subjugate humankind, they better evolve hands with opposable thumbs alongside self-awareness and cleverness. Just wait till the polydactyls develop the muscular control to use those thumbs. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2025, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418/50 "2025-09-28T01:33:42Z")
Dorothy L. Sayers has a short story where an unscrupulous heir buys dozens of cats to terrorize a cat-phobic old man until heā€™s dead: MAHER-SHALAL-HASHBAZ A Montague Egg Story > **[Hangman's Holiday](https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20200631)** > > 4 Lord Peter stories; 6 Montague Egg stories; and two others. > > Hangman's Holiday is a collection of short stories, mostly murder mysteries, by Dorothy L. Sayers. This collection, the ninth in the Lord Peter Wimsey series, was first published by... ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2025, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418/51 "2025-09-28T12:15:51Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > a typical cat canā€™t deliver a killing bite to the throat I was once bitten in the hand by a cat who really meant it. I think his teeth met in the middle of my hand. I couldnā€™t use the hand at all for days. I strongly suspect that a cat who delivered a bite like that to the right place in the throat could kill. The cat who bit me wasnā€™t trying to kill me. He was trying (quite successfully) to make me let go. > [@wolfpup](#): > > I didnā€™t know about that incident, but I was going to say that cat bites in general tend to be much more infectious than dog bites. Iā€™ve had a few dog nips that required nothing more than a bit of Polysporin and a bandaid Iā€™ve had a whole lot of cat bites (and scratches) and none of them required any more than that. Not even the one described above. I wonder whether lifelong exposure to cats trained my immune system, though. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2025, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418/52 "2025-09-28T14:33:28Z")
A kitty cat can [make you let go](https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=-ubQxtEukvw), all right, [I know a cat that will go for your eyes first, without any warning!] but the point is that they will have a tougher time crushing your trachea or breaking your spinal cord. I suppose dying of septic shock in a few days counts, but it is not what the cat is going for with a killing bite. Perhaps some sort of lucky freak bite?.. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2025, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418/53 "2025-09-28T15:57:07Z")
Or the attack precipitating a subsequent catastrophe, like tumbling down a flight of stairs. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2025, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418/54 "2025-09-28T16:28:48Z")
Iā€™ve been very sick, twice from cat bites and claws embedded deeply into my arm. Ouchy! Iā€™m more careful nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418/55 "2025-09-28T16:43:48Z")
Once when I was remodeling, one kitty got over a closet which would give her access to the ceiling. I did not want to try and get her out of the ceiling so I carefully coaxed her close to me and grabbed her. This startled her and she grabbed the nearest thing for support. My lip. Her claws went all the way through my lip but I had to bear it until I got her down and pried the claws out. Hurt like hell but no infection that I remember. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2025, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418/56 "2025-09-28T16:53:20Z")
I find most cats donā€™t like being grabbed up. Even for their own good. They donā€™t realize this and donā€™t appreciate you tryna to control them. This is why we say cats are so much more independent than your average dog. I have to say as many times Iā€™ve been bitten by animals the worst I had was a stray dog bite. That required surgery. And loads of meds. And a round of rabies vax. Not pleasant. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418/57 "2025-09-29T00:23:52Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > they will have a tougher time crushing your trachea or breaking your spinal cord. Or one could sink its fangs into your carotid artery and rip it wide open when you reflexively tried to yank it off you. Youā€™d bleed out in a few minutes. If the cat got your jugular vein instead it wouldnā€™t be as fast but youā€™d still be a goner without prompt medical help. On a lighter note, my normally friendly cat got annoyed at my vet and suddenly knocked her glasses off with one swipe of the paw. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418/58 "2025-09-29T00:56:08Z")
View some of Dante Veteriners videos. Hes on facebook, from Turkey, I believe, but those cats are vicious. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418/59 "2025-09-29T11:47:53Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > On a lighter note, my normally friendly cat got annoyed at my vet and suddenly knocked her glasses off with one swipe of the paw. Yeah, I brought a nice cat to the vet for a vaccination who decided he was not that into it and got loose, trashed the room, and put an assistant out of work for a few days with severe lacerations. Not a particularly large cat, mind you. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418/60 "2025-09-29T11:51:41Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > In early Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, house cats were infamous for being able to do an average 4 points of damage if their two claw and one bite attacks all hit, whereas the typical commoner serf or townsperson had maybe 3 health points. So a standard cat could one shot a standard human. [QED](https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0780.html). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kitty-cats-would-it-take-to-kill-a-person/1023418.md?page=4)