This is another one of those “I’m too scared of my cat stories” which seem to be emerging from online news media these days. When I read them one word comes to mind “pathetic”.
This is a transcript of a telephone conversation between Mr Mohammed Lokman and the police from whom he sought help to get back into his house!
- 911 operator: What’s the problem?
- Lokman: The problem is my cat is getting too aggressive. I was inside and she attacked me, and she scratched me in my leg and bite me. So me and my wife, we come outside and now we cannot go in the home like for three, four hours.
- 911 operator: Okay, you said a cat?
- Lockman: Yeah.
- 911 operator: where is the cat?
- Lockman: In my home.
It appears that his cat had recently given birth to a kitten and was in defensive mode. His cat was okay until Mr Lockman changed his clothes; at which point, his once friendly female cat, weighing about eight pounds, attacked him. He probably threw his clothes onto the floor or something and his cat became frightened that a missile was being thrown at her. Cats can be frightened by what they see as large solid objects which are not solid or heavy. That’s just a guess but it seems eminently possible.
As it happens he and his wife eventually got back into their home. What is bemusing is that he was unable to deal with the matter himself. Let’s not forget that, on the face of it, he is the author of his his own problem in allowing his cat to breed, and it was certainly a problem he could have dealt with himself without calling the police.
He just needed to calm things down a bit. He needed to create a calm atmosphere and keep out of the way of his defensively aggressive cat while she calmed down. He shouldn’t have left his home. He should have moved into another room and kept quiet and then gently interacted with his cat at a distance. This should have gradually returned things to normal. It is highly unlikely that this cat is mentally disturbed and inherently aggressive. This is a temporary state and fixable. Although you may remember the cat “Lux” who Jackson Galaxy implied was mentally disturbed.
The incident does question the sort of relationship that he and his wife had with their cat. The cat may have felt the environment to be stressful, which triggered their cat’s aggression when defending her kitten. I don’t think all female cats automatically defend their kittens against their human owners.
This isn’t just about a mother cat defending her kitten. There is another aspect to this story which in my opinion made this cat more sensitive to the need to defend her offspring which implies that the environment in which she lived was not ideal.
I don’t like these stories because they paint a bad image of the domestic cat (and human!).
Source: Terrified man calls 911 after four-hour feud with cat …..
I blame the owners, they clearly know little about cats or have a bad relationship with their one.
Even the 911 call handler sounded bemused at a grown man being kept out of his home by his own cat and expecting the police to remove her for him. (No mention by Mr. Lokman of what the police were then expected to do with the cat.)
I agree with others, it’s very unusual for a young and healthy cat to give birth to just one kitten. I do hope that they took her to a vet for a health check just to be on the safe side.
May be just me, but I can’t understand why any human wouldn’t be able to subdue a domesticated cat. And, too the extent that they had to call the law shows me that they need to rehome the poor girl. It would be laughable if not so sad.
Eva brought up an idea that makes a lot of sense. Since the cat only had one kitten, it is possible that others were inside, possibly dead, and causing her pain and discomfort. From what is written though, I would lean towards an unpleasant relationship with her humans. They sound like they have no business with cats, especially if they are afraid of her. When my cats ever got enraged like this, I would take a light-weight towel, shirt, washcloth, etc. and gently place it over their head. They almost immediately calmed down without doing too much damage to my skin. Once calm, we worked out whatever set them off.
If the human in this story whom is owned by this cat _ had a more nurturing relationship and a peaceful environment, Then it seems the mother cat would have not attacked them not matter the situation.
Of course we can not rule out illness or injury of an unknown origin? In light of the fact that he was not in tune with his pet. A cat does hide pain from illness, injury and sometimes [Abuse].
This would be one concrete explanation for the cats hostility?
So,I will go a bit over the line in this case to say that this cat may have been abused by the person in question. You read that right_I am not blaming the animal. Eva
That was pathetic and ridiculous. You’re right, Michael, there had to be a reason why that mom cat decided to defend herself and her babies. I’ve lived with female cats and their kittens and the mommas never attacked me. I don’t like these stories either. There’s always more going on, and it’s usually due to the thick-headed humans involved.
Last year whenever I sat and watched tv Samirah would always try to chase me out of the living room when she was rageful. I figured if I left she would get the wrong idea, so I used a hint from Jackson Galaxy: put a barrier between yourself and the cat, something like a sturdy piece of cardboard to protect your legs. I used the clear blue lid from an underbed storage container. That might not have been the best thing, because Samirah couldn’t understand why she could still see my legs but she couldn’t touch me. That made her even more angry. She tried going around the lid to get at me, but all I had to do was move it so it was still between us. After a while she’d duck back into her kitty condo and sit there glaring at me. I always told her to back off in a firm, clear voice but I never hit her with the lid.
Michael, I so agree with you!! and, yes, these *people* (I use the term VERY loosely) are pathetic!!!!!!!!! I agree that this “mom” and her baby are not in an ideal situation to begin with also. . . very sad. . . I can understand a mom cat wanting to protect her offspring — that is VERY natural if the anipal feels threatened in ANY way — which obviously this cat does. . . (excuse my language) ASSHOLES!!!!!!!!