Hospital visit via kitten attack

Daddy mischief · Aug 27, 2021

So just earlier tonight my 9 week old male rag doll named mischief viciously attacked me to the point where I needed an ambulance due to deep lacerations on both of my hands and face.
What provoked the attack is I had told him no in a raised voice and hissed my air can at him due to the fact that he was attempting to chew on a plugged in extension cord.
He then promptly arched his back hiss/yowled at me and jumped for my face.
I managed to get my hands up just in time to stop him from landing full on my face at which point he set about trying to turn my hands and face into shredded meat.
I then threw him away from me and onto the bed and kept yelling "No mischief Shame on you" as I tried to slowly back away.
He then pounced on me again hiss/yowling and latched his teeth into the base of my left index finger and proceeded to rip my left forearm open with all 4 paws.
I ended up needing 14 stitches in my left forearm 4 stitches in my nose and 7 stitches in my left hand as well as 3 stitches to my right palm.
What the hell do I do about this? I have a 2 year old daughter and I can't risk having such vicious behavior from him.

Natalusky29 · Aug 27, 2021

If you do some research you’ll find out that ragdoll cats (especially kittens) needs another partner.
As a general rule every cat no matter their breed should have a friend in order to avoid this “attacks” ...your cat want you to get him some attention even if your reaction is bad or screaming.

You need to entertain that cat asap (with another kitty mainly) or playing at least 1 hour a day or training him so that his mind is being stimulating.

Don’t trying to be mean but that breed needs a lot of attention and if you can’t handle it...

di and bob · Aug 27, 2021

Raising your voice and using that air can frightened him so badly he went out of his mind for a while. He was not vicious, he was fighting for his life. Hissing is a threat to a cat, it means run or attack, he chose to attack. I would doubt it would be repeated with your daughter if she does not frighten him so badly. One question? A 9-week old kitten is very tiny, around 3 pounds, usually, you could grab them by the skin on the back of the neck and hold them still. You might keep that in mind. One suggestion is NEVER frightening a cat with an air can, a spray bottle of water, or hitting them with anything. They are not a pack animal like a dog and can be frightened into submission. It is much better to distract a young animal. I have a couple of kickeroos around, a long cat toy found on Amazon etc., and throw it towards them when they are getting into trouble. I keep one 'steeping' in a plastic bag with dry catnip too to keep one fresh. I would definitely get him neutered ASAP, it reduces their aggressive tendencies by a lot. I'm so sorry this happened to you, it sounds so extreme. I have been bitten and clawed by feral kittens, but never to that extent. I hope everything turns out alright.......

ArtNJ · Aug 27, 2021

This is very very abnormal and I disagree with the above posts. I would surrender the kitten, this isn't an appropriate pet for a house with a 2 year old. At this age, the kitten can rehome in a home without young children easily.

The airhorne may have been a bit over-the-top, but a loud no is a fairly normal and routine training method. Sometimes they may not respond as much as one would hope, but I've never had or heard of a young kitten attacking the human like this because of it. A loud no is how I've trained every cat and kitten I've had.

All of that said, your response to the attack wasn't great. There is no way a 9 week old should be able to / allowed to do so much damage. You should have picked the kitten up and carried him to an isolation room, quickly stopping any additional damage. With an older cat, a towel can be very helpful, but a 9 week old shouldn't cause any great problems.

Natalusky29 · Aug 27, 2021

ArtNJ said:
This is very very abnormal and I disagree with the above posts. I would surrender the kitten, this isn't an appropriate pet for a house with a 2 year old. At this age, the kitten can rehome in a home without young children easily.

The airhorne may have been a bit over-the-top, but a loud no is a fairly normal and routine training method. Sometimes they may not respond as much as one would hope, but I've never had or heard of a young kitten attacking the human like this because of it. A loud no is how I've trained every cat and kitten I've had.

The problem is that you must know how to treat a cat how to handle it before you adopt/buy that cat...irresponsible owners does mean “bad” cat

ArtNJ · Aug 27, 2021

Natalusky29 said:
The problem is that you must know how to treat a cat how to handle it before you adopt/buy that cat...irresponsible owners does mean “bad” cat

I challenge you to find one other post on here were a very young kitten has deliberately injured a human via hostilities rather than an accident in play or a bizarre sequence of events. This is a super rare event. I agree that its quite possible that the training method used could have been a problem, but a loud noise is not automatically an inappropriate method, so we can't know for sure whether it was a problem. Regardless, kittens just don't normally react this way, and they have a 2 year old. I do think there is an inexperience component here, but I don't think a kitten able and willing to do this is a good match for a house with a 2 year old.

mani · Aug 27, 2021

This is so difficult D Daddy mischief . I do understand how traumatising this must have been. It may be that you don't wish to continue with this kitten, but I would like to suggest that you give it more time.

This could have been a situation where the cat was so scared and just went into fight mode as defence. Sometimes, however, there can be deeper issues and they would become apparent. I do agree with A ArtNJ that this was an extreme reaction.

9 weeks is very young for a kitten to leave it's mother, and that, in itself, can lead to issues.. the mother teaches the kitten behavioural patterns up until about 12 weeks, which is why that's the usual time for breeders or rescues to find homes.

How long have you had him and did you get him from a breeder?

Daddy mischief · Aug 27, 2021

Let me clarify a few points.
1. It was not an air horn it was a can of air which is used for cleaning computers key boards etc. And I've used the combination of loud voice and air can as aversion training on him for the last week and this was the first time he has gotten agressive.
2. I suffer from multiple sclerosis and have problems often with muscle weakness and balance amongst other things which requires me to use a walker.
3. I do have another cat a 5 year old female calico by the name of sunshine and yes she is spayed. Her and mischief often play together though sometimes she will hide from him.
I also have used the loud voice/air can aversion method on her her whole life and never received an aggressive response.
4. I do have plenty of toys out for him including the Flippy fish toy that flops around.

Daddy mischief · Aug 27, 2021

Mani I did not get mischief from a breeder my uncle found him hiding under my front porch along with several other kittens that we assumed were his litter mates. I had heard scratching sounds coming from under my porch for several days and had asked my uncle to see what was up as I am unable to due to my multiple sclerosis. We promptly took them to the vet and had them checked etc given shots etc (the vet estimated them at about 8 weeks old approximately) and my daughter wanted one so we kept mischief as he was the one she wanted. And we have had him about 10 days.

goingpostal · Aug 27, 2021

Canned air freaks my cats out completely, it doesn't really surprise me at all to hear of a kitten attacking after one especially since it sounds like this kitten is unsocialized and has been repeatedly scared by this and yelled at since joining your household. Aversion training for what? Kittens are going to be into stuff, it's our job to have their area safe and small to start out with, I can't even imagine punishing or yelling at an animal so young and tiny tbh. I agree this kitten should be rehomed but I feel the issue is this "training" you are doing. If you are constantly aggressing at the kitten this way how are you shocked when you get aggression back?

Daddy mischief · Aug 27, 2021

Goingpostal. It was the training my my vet recommended. And mischief was chewing on an active extension cord as he frequently attempts to do. I did state that in my original post if you bothered to read it.

Daddy mischief · Aug 27, 2021

At this point I am going to ask that if people do not have ADVICE to give me on this issue please do not post a reply. Especially if you can't be bothered to read the entirety of my original post.
I came here for advice and help NOT to be insulted or attacked or to be made to be the bad guy.

mani · Aug 27, 2021

Daddy mischief said:
Mani I did not get mischief from a breeder my uncle found him hiding under my front porch along with several other kittens that we assumed were his litter mates. I had heard scratching sounds coming from under my porch for several days and had asked my uncle to see what was up as I am unable to due to my multiple sclerosis. We promptly took them to the vet and had them checked etc given shots etc (the vet estimated them at about 8 weeks old approximately) and my daughter wanted one so we kept mischief as he was the one she wanted. And we have had him about 10 days.

D Daddy mischief that's a whole different thing. It's very unlikely that the kitten is a Rag Doll, which is why I was confused. He could well be feral.
To be honest, the others are right, although you're not to know as you were following your vet's advice. I'm really surprised they suggested punitive measures as it's pretty well known they don't work for cats and can lead to issues. I'm sorry you're learning all this the hard way!
I'm going to move this to our Caring for Strays and Ferals forum as members there will have more experience with feral/stray kittens.

ArtNJ · Aug 27, 2021

D Daddy mischief - what I took from your update is first that you did nothing seriously wrong. I mean, yes, training via a loud "no!" or similar should probably wait until a kitten is bonded to you, but you are correct that its a normal training method. I've used it on 6+ cats myself. Second, you are not physically capable of dealing with an attacking cat, which is a problem if you are the protector of a 2 year old and have a cat with issues.

Since kittens can be readopted easily, and this one has displayed a very abnormal reaction to discipline (there is a difference between a kitten being very scared of something and visciously attacking a human) I'd rehome him. The two year old comes first.

Daddy mischief · Aug 27, 2021

Mani. My vet is the one who told me he is probably a rag doll (I've attached a picture of him)
But I do not know for sure if he is hence my reliance on my vets expertise.
I regret that my vet gave me bad advice...I thought I was doing the right thing because of said instructions from my vet and the fact that it's worked with sunshine whom I did get from a breeder when she was 14 weeks old.

Daddy mischief · Aug 27, 2021

ArtNJ. I completely agree my daughter will always come first. I just don't want to break her heart by taking mischief away if there's a way to overcome this very problematic and dangerous issue.

mani · Aug 27, 2021

He's not a Rag Doll.. no idea why your vet would have told you that.
I think you have a little feral boy, and there's things that you can do. Hopefully the members who know about such things will be along soon. In the meantime, have a look at this.. if you look at the different options you'll find bits that address your needs:

Hospital visit via kitten attack

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