Our Leashed Grey Got Into A Fight With A Cat On The Sidewalk.

[Guest SpicyMom]

As the devoted roommate of 3 cats and 2 Greys, I completely agree that it was the cat owners responsibility, even if you live in the country. We don't. We live smack dab in the city, albeit in a pretty "suburb-y" part of D.C., where houses all sit on separate lots, with lots of gardens, trees, etc. This however gives some folks the idea that they don't really live in the city and thus are free to let their cats roam. Hel-lo! If you have streets with stoplights, you DON'T live in the country. Every week someone new posts on the community listserve about a missing cat, usually about our adored, beloved companion X who didn't come home from his evening walk... Hmmm, we also have coyotes, maybe THAT's where all the missing cats go...if the speeding cars didn't get them. And yet, there are "flaming" battles on the listserve about the need for cats to wander and the rights of their owners to let them.... My grey almost got a neighbor's cat - we were only lucky that my poor nanny who was walking her didn't get hurt (dragged/thrown to the ground), the cat didn't get killed, and my dog didn't get hit by a car (when she chased the cat across the street). Luckily, the cat learned and has never wandered over to our yard again and sticks to her front porch. My cats get to be outside all day - in the backyard, protected by a cat fence (a net extension on the top of my regular fence). So simple, yet apparently rocket science to many folks...

[seeh2o]

I'm glad there weren't worse injuries. We nearly had that happen as we were heading out for our walk. I live on a long narrow walkway and a neighborhood cat was walking in as we were heading out. The cat froze, we stopped to let it get away, the cat charged us. Fortunately, my dogs just watched it and it didn't jump on anyone. It scared the crapola out of me, though. Good thing no one was hurt, it belongs to a neighbor known in the 'hood as Satan. He's a dreadful excuse for a human being, as you can imagine by his name.

 

If you dog needs to go to the vet, I do think the cat's owner is on the hook. The cat was loose, afterall, and your dogs were leashed.

[Guest burgerandfrey]

How is Zeke today?

 

Thanks for asking. We thought Zeke was doing fine. Our vet (who fortunately lives down the street) took a look at his scratches and she did not think they looked bad or that he needed antibiotics. But the day after this incident with the cat Zeke started letting out yelps of pain if his leash got tugged or if he tried to scratch his ear. It only seemed to bother him when he did something to hurt it, but towards the end of the walk he was holding his head funny and walking carefully. We figured his neck may have gotten injured when my wife tried to pull him away from the cat. He seemed much better the day after that and didn't yelp at all, so we thought it was just soreness that would go away. Then yesterday he started yelping again when he gets up or lays down, tries to scratch, leash gets tugged, etc. He eats from an elevated bowl just fine, but when my wife gave him a cookie this morning he dropped it on the floor and didn't even try to pick it up. So his neck seems to be getting worse. She is calling the vet now to have his neck examined.

 

Poor guy.

[Guest burgerandfrey]

I'm glad there weren't worse injuries. We nearly had that happen as we were heading out for our walk. I live on a long narrow walkway and a neighborhood cat was walking in as we were heading out. The cat froze, we stopped to let it get away, the cat charged us. Fortunately, my dogs just watched it and it didn't jump on anyone. It scared the crapola out of me, though. Good thing no one was hurt, it belongs to a neighbor known in the 'hood as Satan. He's a dreadful excuse for a human being, as you can imagine by his name.

 

If you dog needs to go to the vet, I do think the cat's owner is on the hook. The cat was loose, afterall, and your dogs were leashed.

 

Wow... sounds like one mean cat! I agree that the cat owner is responsible for the incident (which would not have happened if the cat was indoors or properly controlled/contained). However there are no laws about keeping cats contained or leashed in our city, so all I can really do is ask the cat's owner to pay.

[racindog]

Yeah, my words to the lady would have been: My dog's been scratched on his face and near his eye by your loose cat. I'll have to have him checked out by our vet...when would be a good time for me to deliver the bill to you?

 

If she gave me a hassle, my next call would be to Animal Control. Your animal was restrained, her's was not.

 

Ditto.

[mychip1]

So sorry to hear that Zeke is not feeling well. Is it possible that there was a scratch or puncture in that area that has gotten infected. Even your vet might have missed a small puncture - and those are the worst for infection as they don't bleed (thus they do not clean themselves out). I know you describe it as something that sounds like a "pull", but an abcess could cause that as well.

[Guest burgerandfrey]

So sorry to hear that Zeke is not feeling well. Is it possible that there was a scratch or puncture in that area that has gotten infected. Even your vet might have missed a small puncture - and those are the worst for infection as they don't bleed (thus they do not clean themselves out). I know you describe it as something that sounds like a "pull", but an abcess could cause that as well.

 

Our vet thinks this is exactly what the problem is. Zeke's temperature is a little high, and there is some slight swelling on the left side of his neck near the base of his skull. It's kind of on the underside where you can't really see it, but you can feel it. If you put pressure on it Zeke yelps. He thinks a claw might have gotten in there but there was no bleeding. He put Zeke on antibiotics and Rimadyl (anti-inflammatory). He thought about trying to lance the swollen area, but since it wasn't swollen enough to keep Zeke in constant pain he wants to just see if the antibiotics will clear it up. If the swelling is worse by Friday morning he might want to drain it, but he said he's confident that the antibiotics will clear it up. We'll keep our fingers crossed!

 

I wish we had done as someone else here suggested and just asked the vet to prescribe antibiotics last Friday as a precaution.

[rschultz]

Yeah, my words to the lady would have been: My dog's been scratched on his face and near his eye by your loose cat. I'll have to have him checked out by our vet...when would be a good time for me to deliver the bill to you?

 

If she gave me a hassle, my next call would be to Animal Control. Your animal was restrained, her's was not.

EXACTLY!!!!

[gracegirl]

I flippen hate outdoor cats!