Attacked by a Ferrel Cat - Puking Now!
 

Hi All - Another call out for advice. The day before yesterday, my Italian Greyhound and my two Yorkies were out for a stroll when a large Ferrel cat appeared out of nowhere and attacked us. First it went after my Bengal Chaos who frequently walks with us. When Chaos broke free and ran it came after the smallest, my little Willy at which point my 12 year old Italian Greyhound Vixen went after the cat with a vengeance. Considering my options in a split second I decided to drop Vixen's leash and let her scare the cat away. She's the biggest and loudest of my pack. No such luck - the cat attacked her. Now she has 15 staples in three different places. Thank God she's recovering, although in a lot of pain. I've examined my Yorkies Willy and Coco from head to toe and could only find a single small scratch near Coco's ear - She's been to the vet and OK.

The problem is that Willy, the youngest and smalls at 3.5 lbs. has been throwing up since the incident. I took him to the vet this morning who advised me not to feed him all day, but to give him 1/2 teaspoon of syrup to keep his blood sugar up 2X day and bring him back tomorrow morning. I can't figure out what could be wrong with him or if this is even related to the attack.

Our dogs eat Nutro Ultra - Small Breed. They've all tolerated it well for quite some time so I'm pretty sure it's not food related.

Does anyone have any experience with an episode like this? Your wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Mommy Diane - Coco Chanel, Willy Wonka & Vixen

I am so sorry to read about this attack. The first photo OUCH that looks so painful poor brave Vixen. I would think they might be suffering from post traumatic stress as they are so very in tuned and sensitive. I hope every one feels better. Sending prayers and best wishes.

Are you in a wooded or rural area? It is very very unusual for a ferrel cat to inflict that kind of damage. I am actually wondering if this was in fact a bob cat.

I am so sorry this happened to you. I'm glad you got them to the vet and checked out ok. I hope your baby gets his appetite back soon.

Do ferel cats just walk up and out of the blue, take on a "pack" of dogs???? I would be terrified the cat had rabies.....I am with Willy....I would be vomiting too! I think I would be vomiting if I were YOU!!!

No usually cats do not attack unless feel threatened or she has babies around. I would be concerned. . . I have cats both house and feral. I would contact the animal control.

Geez, that sounds like a wild cat! What did it look like?

I too would be concerned about rabies. Creepy. I would definitely call animal control and speak with them.

poor baby, I send good thoughts for healing quickly

Your poor pupsters! Wishing Vixen a speedy recovery. Brave girl. I hope Willy is feeling better this weekend.

I too would be concerned this was a rabid animal, or a small bobcat:
http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/species/graphics/bobcat_1.jpg

I had no idea!

Oh my goodness, how very scarey for all concerned! I think the first thing I would go with is nervous tummy from that attack! You might want to try some dry crackers to see if it helps to settle his stomach.

I trust all your pups are up to date on Rabies, as well as your own cat.

It is so hard to make the tough decisions, your poor brave greyhound. Despite the injury to your greyhound I think you made the right choice for your pack.

I too wonder about if it was more than a wild feral ordinary cat...I do hope you report to animal control to see if there is something they can do.

Wow, how scary and traumatizing!! I'm glad that everyone is (somewhat) okay and hope everyone feels better soon. Poor little Willy...in addition to throwing up, does he seem to be cowering/shaking/scared? If yes, I think some of it would be due to trauma.

Is this a brand new bag of food, btw? If so, I'd wonder if something was wrong with it.

Personally, I'd try giving him a little bit of bread or cracker to try and absorb some of the nauseous juices and bc carbs can help settle the stomach a little. Can the vet prescribe something for the nausea too?

A feral mamma cat attacked Prince in our backyard once. She didn't do any damage...but she had a hold of his but while he was running towards the house.

I wonder if OP's bengal was the cause of the attack??

If the owners cat was taking a walk with them and happened to wander into the feral cats territory, especially with kittens, it could totally instigate an attack. Cats can be very territorial. I think that the fact that the feral cat went towards the bengal first is a tell tale sign of who the attack was intended for....and once the bengal got away, the feral cat, still in attack mode, lashed out at the next thing closest to it.

Has anyone seen this video...

Cat saves boy from dog attack - video | World news | theguardian.com


That cat was fearless when it took on that big, aggressive dog. He could have looked at the boy as part of his pack/family and protected him when he heard the boys cries.

I watched something on Animal Planet the other night about big cats(tigers, mountain lions etc) catching canine distemper. Apparently it makes them fearless of humans and it has triggered an increase in big cat attacks across the planet. Even if the cats aren't anywhere near a dog, they can catch it from other carriers. They showed videos of some of the big cats who had it...and they were out of their minds. I wonder if it does the same thing to a domestic cat?? If it does, perhaps that is the cause of the cat acting out abnormally.