Miley Cyrus keeps a menagerie at her LA home. I don’t even know how many animals she has, but it’s a lot. More than I could handle. Going by this list Mashable did last year, I think she currently has six dogs, four cats, a pig, some fish, horses and probably a lot more. It’s also being widely reported that Miley and Liam Hemsworth are back to living together, and he’s probably brought his animals (he has two dogs, I think?) back into her home. Meaning, it’s like an animal farm in Miley’s house and there are probably a lot of confused pets.
Well, yesterday Miley posted these photos of the scratches one of her cats gave her (photos below). Miley didn’t identify which cat – Lilo, Kiki, Shanti Om Bb, Harlem or some other kitty we don’t know about yet. Some of you Team Dog people might be like “this is why cats suck!” But I’ve had these kinds of scratches before. One of two things happened. Either Miley was playing with her kitties and the kitty was like “PLAY TIME IS OVER, I’M GOING TO KILL YOU” or Miley surprised one of her kitties by leaning down and kissing them and the cat freaked out because the cat was scared, or a dog surprised her or whatever.
I’ve never been scratched like that on my face, but I’ve had similar arm wounds after playing with my mom’s cat Opossum Kitty. Opossum loves to play with me and stalk me and he has been known to – no joke – attack my boobs. He doesn’t realize that he has sharp little kitten claws and sharp little kitten teeth and he really thinks he’s going to “get” me.
Anyway… Team Dog.
Photos courtesy of Miley’s Instagram, WENN.
I am in love with this title.
Me too! Gave me a good chuckle.
Maybe he heard her music.
Ha! You win!
Hahahahahaha
Lol
Ok, that last one looks like it hurt.
Yah that last one is no joke. That must have been one FURIOUS cat! She has animals but that doesn’t make her a good pet parent.
I don’t trim my Bengals claws so she has some protection from the local cats if they mess with her..but sometimes she will leave a scratch like that just inadvertently ..
So it could be that it was not as deliberate as it appears…
Though my puss does sometimes swipe me on the head if she is trying to wake me up to feed her!!!
The worst was when she was a kitten and she thought my legs were climbing toy…!!
Maybe she was trying to give one of her cats a bath. Or it was just over her trying play with it anymore.
Yep, I had one just like it on my leg when I thought I could brush a knot out of my cat’s fur without assistance and I think I got too close to her no-no area. It could also be that she was trying to tend to one of her cats and it felt threatened because of the bazillion other animals in the house.
#TeamAnimals don’t matter if you like cats or dogs or pigs or snakes better, the most important is to respect all animals.
And as a person who happens to be owned by cats (with them is never the other way around), scratches are very very common.
Thank you! #TeamAnimals here as well.
(preface: this isn’t directed towards you, Kaiser, because I know you were just joking)
But I HATE the Dogs Vs Cats battles. They’re both awesome so why do we have to chose?
I grew up with cats and I have cats now, but I lose my sh*t when I hang out with my brother and his girlfriend’s Bull Terrier because she is SO cute and sweet and fun.
I hate this assumption that because you love cats, that you must hate dogs or vice versa.
I’m with you too. I’ve never chosen between them. Dog or cat, both make wonderful, loving pets.
Kitten, ITA with you. I love cats AND dogs. I had dogs when I was a child but had cats as I got older, and I have owned cats myself. That doesn’t mean I dislike dogs, just that right now I prefer cats.
One day if I ever own a home (instead of my current 1 bedroom apartment) I might expand my fur-family and get a dog too. They’re both awesome, even with cat-scratches or whatnot.
I’m a cat person not a dog person but that doesn’t mean I hate dogs. I’m still team cat in the perspective that I’m a cat person.
Totally agree. I love both. My cat jumped off the headboard of our bed and clawed my eye and almost severed my cornea, btw. Still loved her.
I’m a cat person too, always had them, always will. Never owned a dog, they’re a lot more work and I’m simply not home enough to properly care for one, but I still love dogs. We had one at work for a long time, still miss her!
I’m an animal lover of all kinds and have a cat and dog right now. My little dog thinks my bigger kitten is her baby. I have had horses, fish, a bird, rabbits, Guinea pigs and a squirrel family that lived in my yard. The mother would hang out with us when we were outside.
I grew up with pets and don’t differentiate between them. It’s more about where I live and my lifestyle not about type.
Wow, her cat went HAM on her. I’m laughing so hard right now. I know it makes me a terrible person, but I can’t stop.
My dog owns me too. All 4.5 lbs of her. I’ll give her kisses until she gets annoyed enough to growl, which is equally hilarious because like I said, 4.5 lbs. Of fluff.
I don’t like the teams either. I’m an animal person, period. Also, you can have a lot of pets and not really be an animal person. We recognize our own.
That said, damn that cat was PISSED! Or terrified. My husband got scratched like that once when he had to grab our kitty to prevent her from going through the crappy apartment window screen to do battle with the neighor cat. Brave man, she howled like a banshee and drew blood on his face and arms.
Here is a fellow team animal lover with a strong preference for cats but I have provided temporary shelter for stray dogs too. I don’t like when people has to take sides over animals, we have to respect all the species without distinction, I think that it will make us better as humanity.
I’ve been scratched very badly in the past but is it either because the cat was in distress or has behavioral problems. Miley’s scratches look very very bad .
It’s very unfair to judge this cat when we have no idea what happened here. Cats usually act in specific ways for specific reasons. As an owner of several cats, I can assure you that this situation has nothing to do with the cat and everything to do with the situation it found itself in and that’s on Miley. Ps I love dogs too. Why does it have to be a competition? I can’t stand when “cat people” and “dog people” are pitted against one another, or dogs and cats themselves. Wtf? Can’t we have compassion and love for all animals and the people who love them?
YES! Said the same above.
People do that to define themselves, which annoys me. Cats and dogs are living breathing animals with their own minds and personalities. But they get reduced down to accessories or extensions of people’s personalities and traits.
I have a sign above my front door that says “My dog lets me live here.” I may assign traits to my dog, but she definitely has her own little personality. I don’t force her to do anything (well, except a few kisses, and regular bath time, which she loathes with every hair on her fluffy little body).
It’s clear to me, judging by the wounds, that the cat was trying to get away from Miley for some reason. Miley was holding the cat, so something happened to startle or anger it, and it leaped out of her arms, scrambled up her face onto her head, and jumped from her head elsewhere/anywhere else that was away from her and/or whatever had annoyed/terrified it. She probably tried to hold on tight to it when it got scared too, which only made the struggle worse and more injurious to Miley. To be frank, those look like “I ain’t gettin’ no bath” wounds or “who the f brought that huge, random dog into my domain?” I guarantee that cat gave her fair warning before it left her in shambles.
–TheRealPinky
I had a cat tear me up pretty good. I now have a nice scar from my hand down my wrist from her trying to climb my arm to escape me. I grabbed her to trim her nails. Had I been paying attention, I would have noticed that she was staring intently at something and already aggitated so grabbing her startled her and she climbed my arm to escape and bit down on my finger. It was pretty gnarly and hurt so much!
I didn’t really have any warning because she was suddenly startled. It all happened so quickly. It was so out of character for her. However, I wasn’t paying close enough attention before I grabbed her causing her to be startled. Other than that day, she was the sweetest, laziest, most laid-back cat I’ve ever known. Miley may not have had any warning either. It happens.
RIP Phyllis Neffler! I will always have my scar to remember you by.
That’s what they look like to me too. Cat claws are sharp as hell and even if you trim them regularly it doesn’t take much pressure to gouge a deep cut in your skin. I’ve got a few from “hell no I ain’t taking the nasty medication” and “I need to go fight that cat outside”.
^Not today
Totally agree. We have 3 cats and rarely do we get scratched. Cats tell us a whole lot with their body language–ears, tail, etc., because of this their behavior can be quite predictable.
So who knows what was going on prior to this cat taking Miley to upsidetheheadtown.
I have three kitties and they never ever scratch anyone. Abe did scratch the shit out of very drunk people though (not his mumma tho)but he is sadly no longer with us.
Rip Ables
Exactly. I have 2 that came to me completely feral. After 2½ years of hand feeding them, they’re mostly pretty docile. My little boy doesn’t leave my side, so he’s always cuddled up next to me sleeping. I have had several instances where he was sleeping deeply, and I touched him and he went insane. He once jumped straight up in the air, scratched the crap out of my arm, knocked down a super heavy vase behind us and ran off. She most likely went to kiss her kitty while it was sleeping, and it freaked out.
I rescued two feral kittens who were living in my garden, poor things and had to trap them. They were terrified and proved it with scratches. But we were able to tame them in time and my friend adopted them. I wouldn’t let them be homed separated.
Something surprised that cat or it was tired. I have had cats around all my life. They only time I’ve gotten scratches like that is because the cat was frightened. So, team cat – love my babies!
Me too – I did have a freak out the other night because old kitty (she’s like 16ish we have no idea, we got her because the previous home owner decided to leave her to us because she was a moron) decided it’d be a good time to walk across my face in the middle of the night and almost scratched my eye when I woke up with a start. I had a nice scratch beside my eye – but she panicked as well, so that’s that.
Chubby kitty decided to legit jump from the night stand directly onto my husbands back in the middle of the night. She left a nice scratch on his back. We forgot about it – and he works in a grimey job (he’s a plumber) next thing you know he’s got a golf ball sized lump by his hip. Apparently the cut that we’d forgotten about got infected, and we thought he was dying. He essentially had cat scratch fever – but that was only determined because the ultrasound tech was sensible enough to be like “Soo… do you happen to own cats? Could you have gotten a scratch and it gotten infected?”. Which – was such a relief to hear while we sat in the ultrasound room on Christmas eve morning trying to figure out if he had a tumor or something.
But other than that – I’ve never had a problem with cats. Kittens almost always leave some minor damage when they’re playing rough, but I won’t ever give up the catlady life.
Wow about your hubby! I always am concerned about cat scratch fever with the itty bitties around. My youngest grandchild loves to pick up my one cat and sometimes not in a good way. Luckily the cat if very laid back and lets her. My two love to start fighting at one in the morning, right on top of me!
It’s kind of scary. I used to think it was just one of those things my nan would go on about – but wasn’t really a thing, ya know? But nope – he throws off a lot of body heat and the two cats always try to forcibly sleep with him at night whether he wants them to or not haha. They often win. They often battle at the foot of the bed as well, with the dog sleeping in her crate whining over the conflict haha.
But now he’s extra scared of any scratches or anything – I’ve always grown up with cats and never had a problem. I think it was just an unlucky fluke / a perfect storm of germs. It’s hard to keep a torso wound super clean when you’re in such a dirty job, and sweating from physical work. He’s still team cat, thankfully haha. I made sure to do a good job converting him – to the point that he was the first of either of us to cave and pick up a rescue kitten who apparently repaid him with cat scratch fever.
Cat scratches get infected really easily, you don’t even need to go out and get dirty. They have bacteria under their claws and in their mouths that infect the wound immediately. That’s why cat battle scars are always so nasty.
One of my cats I had long ago LOVED to play with my hair. and by ‘play with’ I mean, if I moved my head the wrong way at the wrong time my head or face could wind up looking like the above photos. Cats are evil- which of course is why I love them 🙂 I’ve had ferrets that were convinced that they could scoot right up my bare legs like they could when I had pants on. I’ve had parrots who convey EVERY emotion in one of two ways- screeching or biting. I have a dog now that if you scritch her belly in the right way will bite you because it tickles. Pet ownership is incredibly rewarding in many many ways- including having fun stories and ‘battle-wound’ photos to share.
I’ve had a cat. If the cat has had to go through the trouble of picking up it’s paws to “hand you your ass” it has been my experience that the human in the situation had done something incredibly stupid or frightening. Team cat.
I’ve had cats the past few years (only had dogs prior), and I completely agree. I’ve been scratched, and most times it was avoidable on my part.
I think she may have put her head down close to the cat as she tried to hold it down, to have scratches where she does.
Right? I always know when Bitey McBitester is going to start in on me and it usually happens when he’s sleeping and I come over and rub his belly. Sometimes I just let my younger kitty scratch and bite my hand because it’s play time for him–he’s just getting his aggressions out and it’s nothing personal.
My older kitty never bites or scratches, but she LOVES to lick. She’ll lick your face, your hair, your hands, anything.
My cat gets his play time and removes (ha) his aggression by having a carnal relationship with his blanket 2-4 times a day. You can hear him purring all over the house.
I thought I was the only one who had cats that like to lick! Both of mine do!
My Bengal was a lick machine. My newish kitty, who is huge just likes to flop all over me. I do miss the grooming affection sometimes.
My sister’s cat attacked my brother when he was two & he did nothing to provoke it. He was sitting next to me on my bed & I was reading him a book. So cats can sometimes attack for no reason.
Wow I see the animal police + hypersensitive internet is making an appearance in this post. “Why are we pitting dog ppl and cat ppl against each other” severe eyeroll
All animals can be feisty and can be loving depending on the mood, circumstances, good day, bad day, or the way they are! I lived for 6 months with a cat who did NOT like humans, except for maybe 2 people, so he was a sweetheart to them and a horrible cat to other humans. Whatever.
Agree 200%
We had a cat once who would purr and purr while you petted her, then suddenly bite the bejesus out of you. I read that touch can turn from pleasurable to almost painful in a cat for some reason. I don’t know why. But usually if an animal attacks you, it has a reason that makes sense to the animal. They don’t have as many options as we do for communicating. I like that – purr. I don’t like that, stop it – bite.
I’ve had a cat like that too. We had to learn to pet him in short bursts. Usually his tail would start whipping around, but he would still be purring and flopping all over like this was the best thing ever. It was hard to stop petting him because he was so happy, but he would take a chunk out of you if you didn’t. It became too much for him. So we had to learn to recognize the signs. And sometimes, he just surprised us.
I wish ours had swished her tail or something, but it was purr purr purr chomp.
Well, I had a dog that was kind of mean to every one else (he was supposed to be guarding the house anyway) but rather sweet and calm around the owners. One day I walked past him when he was eating something disgusting and he almost ripped my toe out of my foot. Needless to say I couldn’t bear walking by him for weeks, it was super scary.
But the next day he was same as always. So I’m not going to suggest Miley did something to piss off the cat, it could have been anything unfortunate, really, animals are unpredictable. But Lady Internet must blame it on Miley who provoked the poor cat and got what she deserved.
Oh my God, when I was little, I had to go get my siblings from our neighbors’s house. They had this old dog and when I came up to their porch, he would growl. It was horrible because I would get in trouble if I came back without them but I was terrified of that dog. Usually I just stood there about to cry until somebody noticed me and asked me what I wanted. I’m sure he was harmless, but I will never forget that warning sound.
I am picturing the dog trying to play with or agitate the cat and Miley trying to separate them.
I only saw her forehead scratches yesterday, so this is worse than I thought! I’ve had cats on and off for all of my 40+ years and luckily, I’ve never been scratched by any of them. my current kitty hates to be picked up so going to the vet (3 times a year) is very hard but even when she’s trying to fight off being picked up and stuffed unceremoniously into her carrier, she never digs in or scratches. I feel her nails but she instantly retracts her claws as soon as they make contact with my skin.
I have a very large, (20lbs) sweetheart Siamese cat who gets to be sedated before he goes to the vet. He doesn’t like going to the vet. He went in unsedated (?) once, and the patrons of the restaurant next door all heard Frodo’s objections to being at the vet. His name on his chart has been changed to Pyscho Cat by the vet staff.
Thanks for making me spit out my coffee! My vet did say that I can come by the day before the appointment to pick up something to sedate her so I may consider it. She’s fine at the vet, but picking her up, putting her in the carrier, and the car ride is a torture. I have separate clothes for picking her up – she doesn’t scratch but the last two times she’s taken to peeing on me. Once she’s in the carrier, she howls and barks like a deranged dog-wolf. Then after I’m changed and we are in the car for the 20 minute ride, she scares me by opening her eyes and mouth wide and doesn’t move, AT ALL. No blinking, no closing mouth, and not a peep. Then she’s sweet and adorable at the vet. I wish I could skip the vet but gotta get her biannual checkup and annual dental cleaning so 3x a year, we all must suffer 🙂
That is too funny!
Don’t know if this would help Psycho Cat, but Bach’s Rescue Remedy can be quite calming. Our old vet recommended it for any feline first aid kit (was first concocted to deal with shock) and suggested administering it before stuffing kitty in a carrier. The vet would pop some into her patient’s mouth before starting the exam (and she would use it on herself during a hectic day…). I’ve found it pretty effective except when the cat really doesn’t want to calm down (usually because the serious provoking situation continues). It can be diluted on a dropper bottle and popped into kitty’s mouth, placed on a paw, shot at her from a distance, or rubbed on the inside of her ear. Just don’t let the bottle get contaminated by kitty saliva.
I even figured out a schedule of dosing with Rescue Remedy to turn off heat symptoms if you are unfortunate enough to be in close quarters with an unspayed kitty when she goes into heat. After nine hours of unrelenting chirping, kitty started a stressed yowl so I just automatically popped some Rescue Remedy in her mouth. Then I called the vet… While on the phone, I looked over and found kitty no longer acting as a Happy Hooker but like a calm normal cat interested in normal things. The vet was surprised, but I kept it up, dosing her again whenever the effect wore off. Kitty still wasn’t ready for spaying by the next heat (physical and emotional/social difficulties) but as soon as I saw the first symptoms- I started dosing her and she ate and slept normally throughout that heat (I think she hardly slept or ate during the first one). How long the effect would last before another dose was needed depended on the stage she was in. I used water as the carrier instead of the usual alcohol/water solvent (for preservative purposes) to make sure kitty wasn’t just responding to the booze or risked becoming a kitty alcoholic. The effect was reproducible with a friend’s cat and with someone off in cyberspace who saw my description of the technique.
Look, it’s possible that Miley was petting her cat the exact same way she has petted him for years and he just suddenly decided he didn’t like it anymore.
This is perfectly normal cat behavior.
Team Cat and I have had my ass handed to me by a couple of my cats.
I trap strays and get them fixed with the help of the Humane Society. These cats are then either re-released or some get vetted barn homes. Some can be tamed and given away, some you want to stay 200 feet from. More than a few have left their mark, and some have put me on antibiotics.
What great work you are doing. I live near a big farm and dead end road that is apparently a pet dumping site. I have several adopted pets and a couple of wild cat visitors as a result.
I wish responsible pet ownership would be more common than what it is.
Some shithead dropped a small terrified orange cat in my yard in the middle of the night, 2 nights ago. I finally got close enough to check him visually and he is pretty beat up. He looks like he has been in more than a few fights and he looks so scared. I own 5 cats, & I have a pair of strays that I have been homing for a few months and i cannot have another cat. I just can’t. My own cost me almost $1500 over the last 4 months and I’m on disability. I just cannot have another cat. I hate people sometimes.
FYI, you are an awesome person Christin. Props for caring.
You are awesome for doing that, TNR really does work. Hope you or someone is able to help the one that just showed up.
I HATE when people dump animals. Happened a lot with cats where I grew up, and we luckily were able to find homes for them. A pet is for life.
You are doing such wonderful things. I wish more people would stop dumping pets. It is cruel and irresponsible. At least take them to a no kill shelter for a chance to be homed. 🙁
The little orange cat sounds like it needs a lot of experienced attention and might be better off recovering in a home with just itself as the only non-human. Does the Humane Society have anybody on their lists that can do that? Or are there local vets who are up on such things? Sometimes a kindly vet knows a lot of people ready and willing.
Whhhy was the cat’s name Opossum Kitty? I feel like there’s a story there.
Those look painful! Be careful, Miley.
or maybe it was a giving the cat a pill or trying to crate it. my daughter has a gnarly scar on the inside of her wrist from trying to put our normally docile kitty into his carrier for a trip to the vet. it looked like a messy suicide attempt for a while. he now gets snuggly wrapped before going in the crate.
Oh, the carrier freak outs. I now try to hide the carrier behind a couch (just seeing it freaks mine out). The carrier is placed facing upwards, so I can just lean over and gently drop the kitty into it, snap the door and off we go to the vet.
The snuggly wrap sounds like a good extra step.
I’d suggest using a never seen before blanket as a wrap and then hide it when the ordeal is over. An old tee shirt works too. That way they don’t expect it the first time and something that is already familiar and comforting isn’t now associated with a bad event. I accidentally did that to my now deceased cat and I felt (irrationally maybe) awful that she was now afraid of her favorite blanket because I just scooped her up in it one day and shoved her and the blanket in the carrier and she went off to the pet hotel when my family went away for a week. I thought the blanket would be comforting while she was boarding, but I was wrong. She needed something to come home to like we did.
That makes sense, that there was suddenly an association with a negative (to them) event. I try to pick up little blankets at the close of each winter season, so I will make a point of using one they’ve never seen.
My kitten loves her carrier and even sleeps in it at night when it’s cold. I take her back and forth from home to the office every day so she’s used to it, it’s never been associated only with the big bad vet visits. When she’s ready to go home at night she’ll climb in it and wait for me.
I’ve heard keeping the crate on the floor in a room they frequent will get them used to it and it won’t be something to fear.
Something definitely happened to set the cat off to cause it to scratch like that. Also, yikes, maybe it’s time for a nail trimming. I always know when to trim my cat’s nails by how serious the scratches are.
The article I read on this stated that the cat she was handling was a wild one.
I have a cat and the only time I got scratches like that is when I wouldn’t stop trying to play with him after he’s decided that playtime is over.
And why don’t people clip their cat’s nails? Not declaw, obviously, but trim the sharp tip with a nail clipper. I do it to my cat every once in a while and I’ve got way less scars on my arms now.
My friend’s daughter gets her cat’s nails tipped. I haven’t seen it yet but she described it as plastic caps that get fitted over the cats claws, and prevent scratching of skin, furniture, curtains etc. It costs about $15 each time and only the front paws need doing. Saves the poor cat from getting declawed (and disfigured).
Yeah, I’ve been torn up by a cat a few times but I still love them.
I’ve never been bitten by a dog. I’ve had a couple threaten to eat me alive though.
They weren’t my dogs.
I adopted an older cat once and she hid under the bed the first couple of days.
I couldn’t coax her out with food or anything and I was worried.
I reached under the bed to pet her and bring her out and got buzz-sawed.
My arm looked like hamburger.
Well, she turned out to be a very sweet kitty after a little while and I had her for years.
When I was a kid, I had a Siamese that I’d dress up and put in a doll carriage. Whatever!
One day my buddy came by with his Basset Hound and my cat climbed me like a tree.
My bad.
The Cat was probably sick of her ugly tats.
I don’t even see if for cats that way but RN I’m team cat All the way, let’s put it this way, if the cat had an IG or Twitter, id be stanning for Kitty right now, like a Beehive person
There’s a thing called “redirected feline aggression.” The cat can’t get to what it wants to attack so it goes for the nearest living thing that gets into its space while it’s in that frame of mind. We found out our cat had it when I leaned down to see what she was growling at through a bottom screen door at night. That was a trip to the ER and 12 stitches in my face and four in my hand. It was totally not her fault, and people were (and remain) horrified that we didn’t get rid of her. She’s a terrific kitty, and was freaked out by what turned out to be a feral cat on the porch.
PS A couple of days before my face got decorated, we’d rescued a kitten that had been beaten up by the ferals and had him in protective custody from the adult cat, because introductions. After the attack, we were worried about whether she’d accept the little guy. Long story short, we took things slowly and now they’re besties.
My Bengal was like that. Very territorial. She would pace the windowsills growling and clacking like crazy. I had to stop feeding the ferals within sight of her. Once she escaped and was intent on going to war.
My brother was visiting at the time and he had to run her down to catch her, no mean feat either. She went bananas and scratched him to shreds, but he held onto her and tossed her in the door quickly. She slept for a day after.
When she recovered she went back to perching on his shoulder as he walked around and never went outside unaccompanied again. She was leash trained and not once did she freak but I was scared for a time to take her out.
It was a lesson learned.
This is why I keep my cat’s nails trimmed.
After a lifetime of being owned by animals (dogs & horses) this I know: injuries are inevitable, LOL! It happens for a variety of reasons. Animals generally live in the moment and just react. They typically don’t hold grudges. As humans we have to discern how our own actions unwittingly may have caused the animals to react as they did and adjust our behavior accordingly. Admittedly, there are some animals that are naturally aggressive or just plain vicious but in my experience, that’s very rare.
Whenever I’ve gotten injured it’s usually been accidental — my horses mistake my finger for a carrot; dog jumps on the couch or the bed and lands on my stomach, etc. The worst injuries occur when I attempt to play referee and break up fights between the animals. Miley’s pretty spunky and devoted to her menagerie, I doubt she’ll let this affect her.
Maybe she was trying to bathe the cat.
Cat’s normally give warnings that any cat owner knows, means you have about 5 seconds to apologise and move away slowly, so my guess is she got some sort of one, especially given how nasty they look, and ignored it.
One of mine likes to sit in a box on a bookshelf, I looked in at him once and got a furry 1 inch Bruce Lee punch in the eye
I’ve been a cat owner/lover my entire life. I like other people’s dogs, but would never want one of my own. I’d say that my preference for cats developed mostly as a result of bad dog owners with extreme entitlement issues. Dog people who violate public rules because heaven forbid they aren’t without their dogs for more than 5 consecutive minutes each day. If a park or restaurant doesn’t allow dogs, or if someone has a dog phobia and would prefer not to engage with your animal, then for chrissakes don’t make it about you and how unfair the world is to your dog.
My dad took in my sister’s obnoxious shih tzu after she decided that she didn’t want it anymore. My sister’s an idiot, but at least when the dog was with my sister she was disciplined to some extent. With my dad it’s a different story. When he goes to other people’s homes, he doesn’t ask if he can bring the dog, he just does. He also insists that the dog sit AT the dinner table, often to the discomfort of those whose company he’s in. He takes the dog to work and is personally insulted when a new client doesn’t like the dog jumping all over him/her. I remember my dad telling me that he once had a Muslim woman come to his office who didn’t want to interact with the dog, and he kept insisting that she interact with the dog. Apparently she said that she was worried about cleanliness, and no joke, when my dad was recounting the story to me, he ended it with and huff, and said,
“The dog is way cleaner than THOSE PEOPLE!”
So yeah, unfortunately my dad and his creepy relationship with his dog has kind of put me off canines.
Whoa. He has taken it way too far.
I guessshe didn’t heed the warning signals. Ouch.
i have a lot of accidental (but deep) cat scratches from where they push off me and in the process, their hind leg claws swipe me. Literal scars. Gotta keep those talons trimmed! But i still love ’em
I used to be Team All Animals all the way, but the crazy dog people on the internet have kind of turned me off dogs with their constant cat bashing in favour of dogs. I’m now very #TeamCat. but I’m sort of sad about how it all ended. I hope to one day be #TeamAnimal again
That happend to me on easter. I tried to break up a fight between my dog and my cat. As I was holding the cat he got scared and bite the shit out of my finger, hands, head. Had to go to the ER.
I can relate (my cat tale of woe above). Our 15-year-old Shepherd mix went to the Big Dog Park in the Sky in November, and she was 13 when the first of our current cats arrived and 15 when the kitten showed up. (All three were street finds). We just got a puppy, and boy, is it a different ball of wax! We’re working on “NO TOUCH KITTY!” with her, and so far, she’s handling it well (she’s crated if she’s not being completely supervised). We will probably keep water bottles well within reach when they’re at the point where we can trust them together, because, as you so eloquently illustrated, you just never know what’s going to set someone off. Hope you’re feeling better.
Could have been attempting a bath. My cat George was a nightmare to bathe. My dad had the bright idea of putting the cat in a mesh bag up to his neck. Still managed to claw the crap out of both of us.
And some cats are just special, George was the best cat I’ve ever had, but the little bastard would run in and spray/pee on me when I was sitting trapped on the toilet then he’s run like hell :p
He was also the most loving pet I’ve ever had 😀
A vet told me to place a window screen sideways in the tub with one end touching the bottom and the other up the side of the tub. It gives the cat something to sink their claws into and a little stability, which helps calm them. It works for mine and it’s easier to keep them in the tub. He also stressed not filling or draining the tub while the cat was in it.
I’ve always had a fear of cats. As a child, I was walking to school and a cat jumped out in front of me and hissed at me. I was scared to death. Since then, I can’t even be in the same room as a cat. I just don’t like them. They also can carry some gross parasites (as other animals can as well). I don’t know, I just hate cats and I’m pretty sure they hate me too lol. I’m just not a “pet” person, plus should humans really have messed with nature? Cats and dogs are “man made” creatures. Who told humans to do that lol?
Dogs have been oddly bred by humans but most people live with cats who are definitely cat-made. Cats have been voluntarily hanging out with humans for at least thousands of years – they pretty much domesticated themselves because their favorite prey goes after human collections of such things as grains. They aren’t at all subservient, which is part of their charm. And even when humans “train” a cat, the cat only does the trick when the cat is in the mood and really wants to for its own purposes. Pleasing us is not really on their radar, although they will do us favors as equals sometimes.
Anyway, you have to approach a cat quite differently than a dog. Dogs are pack animals and need to be part of a pack and want to have a job, so they will accept a human as an alpha in their pack. Cats are all alphas by definition and have no overwhelming need to have a job. Their hobby just happens to be useful to us in pest control. They don’t usually even consider humans as threats to their territory, they put us in a very different category. They treat us kind of like kittens, accepting a lot of breaches of feline etiquette from us because we don’t know any better. Doesn’t hurt that we provide safe places to sleep and lots of food and water… But that doesn’t obligate them to do anything for us.
No matter what you have to be careful and responsible when you have a pet at home, even more when you have several like Miley. Anyway I would never blame the cat, I’m sure she did something wrong (like, playing too rough or scaring him) so..
lol you don’t have to do something “wrong” to get scratched by a cat.
I have hand raised many rescue kittens that were days old, at a certain point all they are is tiny sharp teeth and claws that want to EAT NAOW!!
Someone up thread mentioned they have a cat that was purr purr purr CHOMP
I’ve had a couple of those over the years.
One of my current cats likes to sleep on my feet, but god help me if i happen to shift in my sleep she will bite the shit out of my feet.
I had one cat who would randomly take a bite out of my toe like a little tomato, no reason to do it except my toe was hanging out of the covers.
Also my cat George who I mentioned upthread would actually hold a grudge, if I didnt let him eat my turkey, chicken ect. He would go hide somewhere high like my bookcases and would wait, sometimes for hours, to jump on me and bite me then run off.
I didn’t play rough with him, I didn’t tease him, some cats are just jackasses
I find those also have the best personalities and are usually the most loving too
He also played fetch with q-tips.
I have one that beats the crap out of my feet about once a month and occasionally bites them as well. Who knows why, but it’s not my favorite way to wake up. I also have one that plays fetch with a mitten. Loves mittens, hoards them when he is done playing. Just takes off with my mitten. I had one slash the top of my head. He was hiding on top of the cupboard. He hit me so hard he lost a claw in my head. He’s going to be 5 soon, and has never repeated that action.
Cats can mess you up at bath time. Also, if you’re trying to rescue them because they got caught or stuck in something or if kitty gets startled because someone else just opened the door and rushed into the room while you were holding them. (Both of these things have happened to me).
I’ve had a few bad scratches from my kitten. She’s grumpy when she’s tired or cold and will usually take it out on one of her toys, but she also likes to play rough when she’s in that state. She also likes to pinch with her front teeth if she doesn’t get her treat in a timely manner. It’s pretty funny when she does it. She’ll search out your hand like she wants to be scratched or pet on her head but when you try and pet her she’ll pinch your hand instead. It makes me laugh every time.
I got scratched by a cat when I was five and still have a thick white scar on what is now my right boob–just plain old chest back then. I was anti-cat for years and always had dogs. But I saw the cutest cat in a shelter a few years ago and now we’re a dual-pet family. Of course, our cat doesn’t like any of us. LOL We have all had some battle wounds. But I think it’s because she’s more of a hunter–likes to be outside and isn’t really a ‘people cat’. We were foster parents not long before that for an older cat in her last weeks and she was so sweet–probably why I was receptive towards Kylie in the shelter–and would sit on our laps and purr. That’s what I was hoping Kylie would be but we still love her. 🙂
The wounds look like either kitty was not pleased with a probably necessary maneuver by the human such as grabbing the cat to get it away from a dangerous situation (my sweet elderly cat tore up my arm with his claws when I needed to clean off his backside after some litter box difficulties – hey, we share a bed – but ten minutes later was purring and trust-blinking at me) or a sudden external event happened while Miley was holding the cat or resting next to it, causing the cat to react by using her as a stepping stone to exit fast or climbing her to get further away from the threat. Miley didn’t have to do anything to provoke the behavior and there may have been no warning on a human time scale. Cats are hair-trigger reactors, goes along with being Nature’s perfect little predator. They can forget in the heat of the moment that we are not inanimate stepping stones or ladders and we have more delicate skin than they do, even if ordinarily they make allowances for our relative wimpiness, and then they really dig in their claws not as an attack but to get a good grip. If you live with cats, keep a good stock of bandaids.