Directed at those who are saying essentially "it's just a house cat" you obviously have not seen how freaking berserk a cat can get.
Their claws and teeth are very sharp and they can do real damage. Years ago there was a stray cat that we were trying to help. We'd been taking care of it for a few days and it seemed to be warming up to us. It suddenly went crazy when it heard a loud noise, and freaked the hell out on my mom who was nearest to him. He let out some horrible unholy screech and lunged at my mother, and jumped at her and wrapped itself around her leg with all claws and teeth buried into her flesh. She cried out in agony as the blood OOZED out in thick flows as my brother and I tried to get it to let go. Finally, grabbing at the scruff of it's neck while my brother got enough of it's claws out that it finally let go and ran off. We eventually opened all the doors and windows and waited for it to find it's own way out while we had to sterilize and bandage my mom's wounds. You would not believe how much blood there was.
I've been around pets and especially cats all my life. We lived out in the country and many of them happened to find their way there over the years and we adopted some and simply cared for some while homes were found for them. I've seen angry cats, I've seen scared cats, I've seen anti social cats. It's rare for them to use their teeth in self defense. In fact I've never seen another cat actually attack with them, at most just warning nips. Many cats are very emotional creatures. If they feel threatened or angry they can inflict nasty wounds - especially when you're not willing to use lethal force to stop them. That's really the key point. They are really fast and ferocious when they feel the survival instinct kick in.
A cat CAN mess you up good. They have the tools to do it. They are predators after all.
Their claws and teeth are very sharp and they can do real damage. Years ago there was a stray cat that we were trying to help. We'd been taking care of it for a few days and it seemed to be warming up to us. It suddenly went crazy when it heard a loud noise, and freaked the hell out on my mom who was nearest to him. He let out some horrible unholy screech and lunged at my mother, and jumped at her and wrapped itself around her leg with all claws and teeth buried into her flesh. She cried out in agony as the blood OOZED out in thick flows as my brother and I tried to get it to let go. Finally, grabbing at the scruff of it's neck while my brother got enough of it's claws out that it finally let go and ran off. We eventually opened all the doors and windows and waited for it to find it's own way out while we had to sterilize and bandage my mom's wounds. You would not believe how much blood there was.
I've been around pets and especially cats all my life. We lived out in the country and many of them happened to find their way there over the years and we adopted some and simply cared for some while homes were found for them. I've seen angry cats, I've seen scared cats, I've seen anti social cats. It's rare for them to use their teeth in self defense. In fact I've never seen another cat actually attack with them, at most just warning nips. Many cats are very emotional creatures. If they feel threatened or angry they can inflict nasty wounds - especially when you're not willing to use lethal force to stop them. That's really the key point. They are really fast and ferocious when they feel the survival instinct kick in.
A cat CAN mess you up good. They have the tools to do it. They are predators after all.