Hello,

I'm new here...glad to see there's a group full of so many cat lovers!
Perhaps you can help me with my dilemma.......

About a week ago, my father brought home a scrawny little female tabby
(every bone was visible).  He said she'd been wandering around his
workplace for 2 weeks, and he finally decided to bring her home - she
was so thin, and he works in a truckyard with trucks coming & going
24-7.  He was afraid she'd get hit.  She has a mangled ear, almost
looks like it's been burned or chewed up by machinery.  It's all
healed, but it's left her with a deformed ear.

I have 7 cats of my own, and so sequestered her in my master bedroom,
so that she'd pose no risk to my other kids.  She seemed very sweet,
just untrusting.  I've given her plenty of food and love, and I thought
she was coming round a bit.  She obviously does not like other cats, to
the point where she growls, snorts and hisses.

Yesterday morning, something horrid happened.  I have a perch on the
window of my bedroom, so the kids can look out into the yard.
Apparently, one of my kids was out in the yard, playing (the yard is
fenced-in and inescapable).  He hopped up on the ledge of my closed
window, and little Bones kitty started hissing and snorting, waking me
out of a sound sleep.  I got out of bed and began speaking in a
soothing voice to her, when she leaped from the perch and came straight
at me!  I threw my hand up in defense of my face and she latched onto
my hand, clawing and biting.  My hand began to bleed profusely.  I
grabbed her with my other hand and dropped her to the ground, and she
ran at me again, wrapping herself around my left leg and tearing a
chunk out of it.  My leg also began to seriously bleed.  I slung her
off my leg, and she again ran at me.  This time I threw my bed
comforter over her, ran from the room and shut the door behind me.  My
blood was in pools all over the floor...I got the bleeding stopped
finally, but I'm now very sore and my left hand is very swollen, it
hurts to sit here and type.

She calmed down within a few minutes, but now I'm quite afraid of her.
She seems to be so frightened of whatever, that she's lashing out
aggressively at anyone who approaches her one minute and docile and
purring the next.  I was going to try to nurse her back to health and
find a good home for her (as I've done countless times before).  But
now, not only am I afraid to be near her (she sometimes growls and
hisses when I try to pet her now) but I don't know what kind of future
she's got.

I can't adopt her out when I know she's potentially dangerous around
other animals (and sometimes even not around other animals), but I know
that if I take her to one of the local shelters, they'll euthanize her
whether I tell them the truth or not (the local shelter would consider
the ear deformity a reason to euthanize).  I feel the need to turn her
over and be truthful, though, as I don't know of any other options for
her.

Feedback, anyone??  I'm at a loss as to what the right thing to do
is...I'm thinknig that the 'right' thing to do would be euthanasia, but
I'm open to other suggestions.  PLEASE HELP.

Michelle