Seemingly friendly stray cat bit me??

Hi so there's a cat that's nearly always outside my house. She nearly always hides and keeps herself hidden from humans but when she sees me she'll either start meowing so I can find her or she'll run up to me and then start purring all over me. She constantly meows but when she sees other humans she'll keep quiet until they move along.

Last night she meowed for me to find her and I did. I was petting her for quite some time and she was meowing as always when suddenly she just turned around and bit me out of the blue.

It's a pretty hard bite too, I bled (very slowly) for about 30-45mins after washing and it's still sore now because it's actually pretty deep.

My question is what did I do to agitate her? I'm really confused. I've never cared for a cat before.

Go see a doctor. Lots of bacteria in a cat's saliva.

It sounds like she got overstimulated with the extended petting. This is not uncommon. When you go back to petting her which I assume you will try petting her for shorter periods of time or maybe from the shoulders up.

hexiesfriend said:

It sounds like she got overstimulated with the extended petting. This is not uncommon. When you go back to petting her which I assume you will try petting her for shorter periods of time or maybe from the shoulders up.

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thing is i heard that happens only when you're like stroking their body etc. i was only petting her head :/

Hi @anita467 and welcome to TCS!

She sounds as though she has a pretty tough life and it's difficult to know what would cause her to bite you..  you can't know the 'triggers'.  Hexiesfriend is right.. try for shorter periods and look for any signs.. a twitching tail is often a good indicator.

And I hope you cleaned the bite wound really well and applied antiseptic.  Do keep an eye on it.

This girl sounds like she's chosen you.. I wonder whether she has an owner and if not whether your could consider adopting her? 

Mani said:

Hi @anita467 and welcome to TCS!





She sounds as though she has a pretty tough life and it's difficult to know what would cause her to bite you..  you can't know the 'triggers'.  Hexiesfriend is right.. try for shorter periods and look for any signs.. a twitching tail is often a good indicator.





And I hope you cleaned the bite wound really well and applied antiseptic.  Do keep an eye on it.





This girl sounds like she's chosen you.. I wonder whether she has an owner and if not whether your could consider adopting her? 

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Unfortunately my dad is allergic to cat fur and generally doesn't like animals so I can't adopt her. I really want to though! This cat really chose me out of the blue! It was just one random day I saw her and she came up to me and started purring and what not. I'm kinda worried though. I backed away from her when she bit me 2 nights ago, and ever since then she hasn't been there anymore and another cat which is a little fatter and a lot scarier is there now. :/