Confirmation cat is a threat to an average person

[zoroaster100]

I don't mean to make light of the actual real life incident, but when I saw this article on CNN, I thought of the various threads here in ENWorld about how the stats for a cat and a commoner mean that a cat can kill or seriously threaten a commoner:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/11/cat.bites.ap/index.html

 

[Delta]

My grandfather was in the habit of somewhat taunting animals for fun (not too bad, but still, he'd call it "teasing"). When he started to get frail, he poked our cat once, and it took one swipe at him, and he bled bad enough he had to go to the hospital for stitches.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Why do cats only attack elderly people?

I heard about an old man who was cornered in the shower by his cat, and there's the (in)famous story of the elderly farmer in Kenya surviving a mauling by a lion.

I think the cat would win if it has the advantage. It's stealthy enough to sneak up on a 1st-level commoner, the vast majority of whom won't have Combat Reflexes, so the cat's reach disadvantage wouldn't be as huge. If the cat wins initiative, it can get a full-round attack on the commoner too, basically resulting in instant death.

 

[Firebeetle]

My grandfather was in the habit of somewhat taunting animals for fun (not too bad, but still, he'd call it "teasing"). When he started to get frail, he poked our cat once, and it took one swipe at him, and he bled bad enough he had to go to the hospital for stitches.

Stories like that are very common. Any abused animal (with respect to your grandfather, "teasing" in this case was most likely abuse) has the potential of turning on someone. Anybody who abuses an animal is creating a dangerous situation. This applies to both domestic and wild animals. Animals abused in captivity can turn on any available target as their abuser may not be available. Recent examples include dolphin attack and there are a great number of dog attacks every year.

Cats can do a lot of damage. My grandfather tried to befriend an alleycat and lured it, over many days, close to his house. He finally managed to lead it into the house with food and then shut the door after it. The cat went beserk and tore up the house for the next two hours. Lots of property damage and several lacerations later the cat was expelled from the house and my grandfather forbidden from making friends with strays anymore.

 

[Klaus]

Back when I was moving from my last apartment to my current one, I locked my cat in the balcony while the movers were disassembling my bedroom. Once they did so, I picked my cat up and started taking it to the bedroom, so he'd not be bothered for the length of the packing.

Of course, just as I was walking by with a 14-pound cat in my arms, one of the moving morons ripped out a piece of bubblewrap. My cat was so scared it started running while still in my arms. The gashes bled copiously.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Once I accidentally caught a kitten's leg in a door handle while walking past the handle. Naturally the kitten was upset and stuck it's claws into my arm. Good thing it was a kitten and not an adult! Alas, the claws made it difficult for me to extricate the kitten's leg (due to having to put my face within reach of its claws to free it).

I actually had to leave it for a minute, hanging from the door handle, trying to get help, but no one around me had ten seconds for me *sigh* I still freed the cat, and am plotting revenge on the lazy humans.

 

[frankthedm]

Wow, rage and whirling frenzy... messy.

This cat is more of a danger to those who lift him up.
http://www.theconservativevoice.com/ap/img/704208b0-f726-4140-8d73-725b406ff985.jpg

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

Of course, just as I was walking by with a 14-pound cat in my arms, one of the moving morons ripped out a piece of bubblewrap. My cat was so scared it started running while still in my arms. The gashes bled copiously.

At least your cat let you pick it up.

My brother, in one of his more foolish ideas, picked up our mother cat, who did not like being picked up.

Then a coal truck rumbled by.

As you might imagine, the cat freaked and left him with several interesting scratches.

Which got infected.

To this day, the idea that one of us would have to get a shot, but not both, was one of the happiest memories of my life.

Brad

 

[+5 Keyboard!]

Cats are, IMO, shifty, untrustworthy animals. I'll never, ever own one. When I was growing up and living with my mother, she had several over the years and it seemed like there was something mentally off with every one of them. She was attacked by one of them in the backyard. It left some pretty bad cuts on her legs and it was a pretty scary incident.

 

[kenobi65]

This cat is more of a danger to those who lift him up.
http://www.theconservativevoice.com/ap/img/704208b0-f726-4140-8d73-725b406ff985.jpg

Hey, a Huttese cat!

"Hooo, hooo, hooo....this veterinarian is my kind of scum, fearless and inventive!"