Very recently, two attacks by two iconic American wild cats on domestic cats have taken place in California. In both instances the domestic cat survived. But I have since decided that this appears to be all hype or the reporting is misleading. Read on please.

CBS reports a mountain lion attack on a domestic cat in El Granada. The cat was found injured last Friday afternoon. Although no one saw a mountain lion in the immediate area, a veterinarian determined the wound was caused by a mountain lion. How does he do that, do we know? Might it have been a dog instead?

It is said that the attack occurred “in the 400 block of Bridgeport Drive of the Clipper Ridge neighborhood,…”

Two thoughts come to mind. Firstly, I hope people don’t overreact to this. The vet could be wrong. If mountain lions are left alone they won’t harm people. It is just trigger happy hunters who like to find an excuse to kill one that I personally dislike so much.

Secondly, the domestic cat escaped and survived; an indication of the resilience and survival instincts of the domestic cat.

The other attack was by a bobcat. But wait a minute…this is the exact same place and the same website reports it.

Therefore I have come to the conclusion that CBS have double reported the same story but have altered it so that in one instance a mountain lion attacked and in the other a bobcat attack a domestic cat.

In this version the domestic cat is said to be a Bengal cat (probably a Bengal mix).

What appears to be the same veterinarians is quoted as saying that the Bengal cat was viscously attacked by a bobcat. How do we know as no one saw the attack?

We are told that game wardens are on the hunt for a bobcat or is it a mountain lion? May be they should look for a stray dog instead!

Veterinarian Laurie McKinney must have been misquoted in the mountain lion attack story because in this one she said:

“Anything larger than that, in the first place would have much larger holes, and Bengal would not be here, he’d have been taken,”

The fact that the reporters have muddied this up indicates that this is media hype and the most likely attacker was a dog. How can a vet tell the difference between a large dog and bobcat bite wound on a domestic cat. Can someone tell me in a comment?