My heart's racing. My cat just scratched my daughter, and her eye

[jobycom]

started bleeding. I got chills. She claimed she couldn't see out of the eye.

When I had wiped away enough blood, just before I was about to head to the hospital, I had her other eye covered, and noticed she was tracking me with the eye she said she couldn't see out of. So I flicked my finger at it, and she flinched.

The cat had scratched her eyelid literally on the very bottom lip, the part perpendicular to her eye. It went to the very edge of her eyelid and stopped before it reached the eye itself. I can't see how it missed.

I'm still weak over it.

[AwakeAtLast]

1. OOOHH! That hurts!

I had the same thing happen to me only with flying glass, not cat claws. I ended up with a lot of stitches (this was a long time ago). The doctors said the only reason I did not lose my eye was because the bones around my eye deflected the glass. This could have happened in your case, too.

I hope her eye will be okay. I remember that pain, see if the doctor will let her take pain medication.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. Get caps on kitty's paws

and maybe the blood blurred her vision and she wasn't fooling with you at first.

Just be thankful everything is OK. If I recall she's pretty young still and was hooked by the shock of the scratch and wanted sympathy.

I'm glad you are ok..and good thinking on the vision test thingy, little bro :loveya:

[jobycom]

8. She was scared

I don't think she was sure if she could see, and was afraid to open the eye. She wasn't trying to fool me. She's barely five, and not only did she have the pain and fear to deal with, she felt betrayed by the cat, I think. She didn't really know what I was asking.

She's fine now. She's calmly watching tv. The scratches (there was one next to her eye, too, where another claw punctured her a little) are barely noticeable.

Thanks, sis.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

11. That's what I thought...that and just the shock of it

Inspect it closely for infection the next few days ...Love ya ;)

[Droopy]

3. If it were me

I'd be getting that cat declawed in the immediate future. That would be too close for me. I'm glad your daughter is okay.

[Jack_DeLeon]

5. Thats mean...

to declaw cats.

If the cat is a problem just make it an outdoor cat or get rid of it.

I wouldnt declaw a cat.

[jobycom]

6. Normally I'm against it

I'm against a blind daughter a bit more.

But for now I'll just watch the cat. He was playing, not trying to attack her. It might even teach her a lesson we've been trying to teach her. He's less than a year old, and a bit playful, but not aggressive, so I'm not worried much about it recurring. So far.

[Jack_DeLeon]

12. Maybe...

but if your daughter was already blinded by the cat then declawing it afterwards would just be revenge.

If you definately feel the animal poses a danger to your family then you should get rid of it.

Since you are willing to wait I assume that you think it was just an accident and that the animal doesnt pose a threat.

I personally wouldnt keep an animal around that I didnt like. I also wouldnt declaw any animal that I liked.

Well anyways hopefully it doesnt happen again and everyone learns a lesson.

[jobycom]

16. Getting rid of a cat

usually means giving it to a pound that will put it to sleep. I won't do that to any animal I've raised. I've never declawed, either. Probably won't here, either. But if I had the choice, declawing would be better than the pound. I am quite attached to my animals.

[Flaxbee]

18. Declawing is not good...

you're right, jobycom. My sister is a veterinarian and really, really does not like to do it; the cat's front-arm muscles atrophy if there are no claws to flex.

Anyway, though, one of my other sisters simply had the little kitty claw caps put on her cat (and once the cat gets used to it, it's pretty easy for the owner to do, too). Simple flexible plastic caps, much more humane than declawing. That way, my nieces were safe from inadvertent scratches, and the cat wasn't declawed and the furniture didn't suffer -- an added bonus!

[jobycom]

19. Good advice. But with four cats

It's too late for the furniture. That's why I've never invited you all to my house!

[Droopy]

7. We had ours declawed

and it hasn't hurt her one bit. She's 13 years old now and still healthy as the day we got her. I think making a cat stay outside all the time is a lot worse than declawing it. It gets down close to zero in the winter time here.

[jobycom]

10. That's not a concern here

It gets down close to fifty sometimes, I guess.

Coyotes are a bigger threat.

So far, no drastic changes are needed. Just a playful kitten. Actually, he looked as scared as any of us.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

14. Like I said..if it's an indoor kitty, take him to the vet

and they can put caps on the claws..he could still poke her in the eye but so can everything *best mother imitation* You're gonna poke your eye out with that!

[Jack_DeLeon]

15. Similar here I guess.

There arent any coyotes in my neighborhood, but they arent uncommon in this area.

Our cats are indoor and outdoor cats. We just kind of let them come and go as they please.

[Spinzonner]

4. I would still be concerned about the possibility of infection

Since the skin has been broken.

Make sure you wash it out thoroughly.

Since the eye or near it isnt any place to be putting general antiseptics, I wouldnt use anything except water.

Keep a close watch on it if you dont plan to got to the hospital. Call the doctor in the morning unless your medical plan has a call-in evaluation service (like Kaiser).

Though its not exactly the same thing and may not work out, If I wanted advice and couldnt find it on the net, I'd consider calling poison control.

[murielm99]

9. I scratched my daughter's cornea when she was about four

years old. I did it with my thumbnail, by accident. She was sitting next to me in a chair. I went to put my arm around her, and she turned her head.

I took her to the emergency room, and they cleaned it, and gave us an antibiotic. They referred us to an opthamologist, for follow up the next day. I figured that was safest, and there would be less risk of infection.

I would take her to a doc, to avoid infection.

We have cats, too. Teach her to avoid having the cat near her face, or put the cat outside.

That is pretty scary. I am glad she is all right.

[jobycom]

13. I'm hoping

that the cat just taught her that lesson himself. But we will monitor the two for a while.

I'm a little worried her eye is scratched and I can't see it. The claw went right up to the eye. I may go to the doctor in the morning.

[jobycom]

17. Thanks, everyone.

Felt better talking about it. Great advice from all, and it helped calm my nerves.

[Justitia]

20. suggestion: have cats claws trimmed more frequently?

You may already do this, but maybe you can have kitty's claws trimmed more frequently. We get our cat professionally groomed (includes nail trim & file) every other month - it makes a huge difference!

Hope your baby girl's eye heals fast. I've scratched a cornea pretty badly once, it hurts plenty. On the upside, the eye usually heals pretty quickly (I agree w/ointment antibiotics, just in case).

I've seen a lot of small children approach petting cats the same way as petting dogs - they tend to stretch their hand over a cat's face to reach the top of it's head (like scruffing the top of a dog's head back and forth affectionately). Any hand reaching toward a cat's face will make it nervous (and usually reactionary). They prefer that a human hand approach from the side or the back of the head, not impeding their vision. Also, some kids with dogs only don't understand that a cat only likes it's fur rubbed one way (stroking motion versus rubbing back and forth).

Best of luck!

[jobycom]

22. This didn't involve her approaching the cat at all

He's a lurker, and hides under furniture to lunge at your feet. Normally it's very cute, and he doesn't really scratch. This time my kid was laying on the floor, and he lunged out from under a rocker at her, and happened to catch her eye. Like I said, he was as frightened by her reaction as any of us were, and he hung around just outside our little circle as we looked at her. You could tell he was concerned.

[TheWizardOfMudd]

21. Lose the cat

[SoCalDem]

23. Please take your daughter to the doctor..

Kitty's feet are in contact with Kitty litter, and the stuff in the cat pan.. The claw probably did no lasting damage to the eye, but an infection is very possible..

The claw caps are a good idea ...or trimming the kitty's claws..

My brother fell and ended up with a stick...sticking out of his eyeball.. I was only 15, but the "calm-in-an-emergency gene" called upon me.. I tied his hands behind his back with a wet tee towel so he would not pull the stick out (and damage the eye further).. My mother fainted when she saw him with a stick in his eye (it was about the size of a pencil), so I even drove to the hospital.. There was no 911 back then.. I was kind of hoping that a cop WOULD stop us, so he could take over.. My mother's wailing started my brother off and both of them were hoarse by the time we got to the hospital..

The dr just pulled the stick out, squirted some antibiotic in, put a patch on his eye, and he was fine..

[Selwynn]

24. Time for cat to become the other white meat!

Seriously though, that would have given me a heart attack. I'm glad it looks like things will be ok.

[REP]

25. My Father Cut My Eye Open When I Was 18 Months Old

Should we have had him killed?

I do remember it, but in the way that could be interpeted as an alien abduction - people with strange, mouthless faces holding me down on a cold metal table and hurting me. Having my eyes examined *still* freaks me out, over 38 years later!

[JCMach1]

26. Lose the cat or the claws