TheBanyanTree: What Would You Do?

[Pat Martin]

My cat is sixteen years old.  He's getting senile, and his behavior leaves much to be desired.  His eyesight is going, it must be because he arches his back at shadows, and he's cautious and reticent when things in the house are out of place.  I wonder if cats get Alzheimer's.

Kitty used to be docile.  For the most part, he still is, but he has also become aggressive at times when it isn't warranted.  He has attacked the legs of people walking past him and occasionally bites for no apparent reason.  In the past, I have overlooked these bizarre behaviors but today I'm a little less forgiving. 

I was on the phone this morning, legs propped on the chair next to me, when he jumped onto my lap and settled in.  I was stroking him when he suddenly became cranky and sank his fangs into the soft flesh of my inner arm, a couple of inches up from my wrist.  The bite was deep enough that I immediately pondered seeing a doctor.  Instead, I wiped away the blood, there wasn't much, and cleaned it up with hydrogen peroxide. I didn't want to be a sissy and waste a doctor's valuable time.

Awhile later, I decided to go outside for a walk in the crisp fall air.  By the time I returned home, infection had set in. A large area around the wound is red, swollen and very painful.  I called emergency for guidance and they advised me to come in.

So I've been put on 10 days of strong antibiotics to stop the infection and told I might have to go on intravenous if the antibiotics don't stop the red line that is traveling up my arm.  

Damn cat!  What would you do with a cat who bites for no reason?  Put up with him or put him down? 

Pat Martin