Yes, you do need to remember one of the purposes of that rough tongue is to
remove the last bits of meat from bone.

Jo

Assuming the hypothetical giant cat had the same personality as a
domestic one, I would trust Clifford (RB) and Mr. CLark. Clifford, for
example, trusted me enough to jump from a tree into my arms. Both were
completely calm when I held them for veterinary procedures.

But if they had a true tiger personality, probably not. A lion or
cheetah might be more of a question, since they are social animals.  
Probably out of print, but Helen Martini's _My Zoo Family_ is a classic.  
The wife, in the fifties, of the curator of big cats at the Bronx Zoo,
she was among the first to hand-raise orphaned big cat cubs. They
clearly imprinted on her. The biggest (literally) problem was Dacca, a
rather fat tigress who believed, at full size, she remained a laptiger.

No question about the wolf -- and I have known some like that. Remember,
they are bred naturally as pack members, and fiercely defend the members
of the pack. The major danger would be to strangers.

Anyone remember the movie from the 50's "The Incredible Shrinking Man"?
When he gets down real small, he has to hide in a doll house and use a
sewing needle for a sword to defend himself from his cat. There are
some great scenes of the cat looking in the window of the doll house
and putting his paw in trying to catch his little man.

a definite no on that one.  Possum fancies himself a mighty hunter and
has brought home a few kills.  Tygra is no slouch either, and has a good
eye.

Kristy

Absolutely not!

Oscar's an indoor kitty, but I've seen the eviscerated mice in the gutters
growing up ...

<shudder>  Yeah, that's what gives me nightmares!  Can you imagine Sammy
stalking her "prey" and pouncing to take a bite out of my neck if she were
bigger than me!!!  It really is like those Purina commercials claim -
there's a "big cat" living inside every kitten and they instinct is to hunt,
run down, and kill their next meal!

Hugs,

CatNipped

---------------------<snip>----------------------

Thanks for the input, Howard.  When I said the skin was broken, that's
all it was.  I  was putting  isopropyl alcohol on it literally within
seconds followed by an antibiotic ointment and a bandage.  Several
months ago, when I was bitten severely by a feral cat who made his way
in through a temporarily open door, it was a real puncture.  I was at
my doctor's for a prescription within hours -- full recovery.

Thanks anyway,
O J Gritmon

[[> I got my question answered today in a very graphic manner.  Lady Jane

Just a first aid note -- many antiseptics do more harm than good.
Hydrogen peroxide is more of a cleaning agent (with a limited shelf
life), and Betadine (povidone iodine) is gentle to tissues.

Thorough washing with lots of running water is most important.  If it's
an open scratch, antibiotic ointment containing some combination of
neomycin, polymyxin B, bacitracin, etc. (e.g., Neosporin) may help, but
I wouldn't bother for a bite -- it's just not going to penetrate the
puncture.

Really, while it may seem overkill, any deep cat bite should probably
get a week or two of oral antibiotics.]]

I got bitten by a friend's cat once when I was catsitting for her for a
few days. I'd gone to her apartment to clean his litterbox, replenish the
food and water, and provide some dote time for her cat, who was and is an
utter attention sponge with any human he's gotten to know.

By this point, he was already well aware that Auntie Donna would
cheerfully make a major fuss over him, so he was happy to see me come in.

But what surprised me (and later, my friend, when I recounted the story to
her) was that he suddenly turned territorial when it came time for me to
handle his food/water dishes and the litterbox. THAT, apparently, was
something that only his Meowmy was supposed to do. I could only think that
by touching those items, maybe in his kitty mind I was trying to take over
his Meomy's job as alpha cat of the house, and it set him off.

SOMEthing sure set the little guy off, because he went from being a
purring, adoring fuzzball one moment, to hissing and giving me a REAL bite
on the hand a moment later as I was scooping the litterbox contents out.
And then after I was done seeing to the food/water/litterbox, he went
directly BACK to being a purring, adoring fuzzball.

Anyhow, two or three of his fangs broke the skin. After a day or two of
washing my hands and the bite marks regularly, everything but one fang
mark was healing nicely. But that one fang mark wasn't improving much...
it seemed to be slowly worsening, if anything.

I figured I'd try one more thing before heading to the doctor. I went and
got a bottle of that yellowish/brownish iodine ointment that the Red Cross
anoints the needle site with beofore you donate blood. THAT worked. The
last puncture wound went away after I started applying that to it.

I hasten to add that if there'd been anything more than a MINOR annoying
wound on my hand, I'd have gone straight to the doctor instead of waiting.
Ditto for if I hadn't seen any improvement after using the iodine. Cat
bites are no joke.

Donna, all better now :o)