Killed by housecats?

[MrWhitman]

I've just had a conversation with a teacher of mine, that CLAIMS that a housecat could kill off a human if it had the right disposition. This made me curious to find out if ANYONE has EVER been killed by a housecat. I've done some searches for any recorded incidences and I found out about a number of odd deaths by pets, even one death by a rooster, but nowhere did I find one about housecats. So I'm asking you, do any of you know of a confirmed fatality by housecat?

[crocoduck_hunter]

I expect that pretty much all death-by-house-cat cases were caused either by infections or by tripping over the cat while going down the stairs in the dark.

[Dr. Winston O'Boogie]

That's just what they want you to think. They're a sneaky bunch.

[Beachlife!]

A close friend of mine was in a coma for several days and came close to death due to an injury from his cat.

[diddy]

Without any proof whatsoever (I am not a cat or pet owner), but I am willing to bet that any death by cat story is pretty indirect. I feel that cats might try to wake an injured (unresponsive) owner by licking them. Their tongue’s are abrasive and could cause wounds to open up and then they taste blood and well, thats that.

The only other thing I can think of that sounds plausible is that an elderly owner that might get attacked by multiple cats while attempting to feed hungry and possibly aggressive and they can overwhelm said owner and kill them accidentally. Wouldn’t want to picture that.

[Saitaina]

My youngest keeps trying to rip open my wrist veins, but no, I have never heard of a domestic cat (pet or feral) that has attacked and killed a human.

They COULD however do it, given their teeth and ability to pierce flesh, but a human could also back hand them into a wall given their size (I have had to push said youngest off my arm many times and had no trouble freeing myself).

[thorny locust]

I think this falls into the category of 'theoretically possible but highly unlikely to actually happen.'

Sure, a cat is physically capable of, for instance, delivering a bite that opens a major artery. But the chances of one actually trying to do so are quite minimal; we're far too large and too dangerous to be prey, and far too dangerous to attempt to kill out of aggression, unless the cat's entirely insane. Cats do sometimes seriously bite or scratch people, but they're not trying to kill the person, they're trying to get the person to Go Away and Leave Me Alone, or more likely to LET GO!!

And the chances of the cat succeeding even if it did try to kill a human must also be minimal. Unless the human is extremely sound asleep or incapacitated, any adult human or older child who's desperate enough to do so, or who just doesn't care how badly the cat gets hurt in the process, can stop an attacking cat.

There have probably been some cases of humans contracting rabies from cats, and maybe some cases of people with poor resistance to infection dying from cat-inflicted infected wounds, but I don't think that's what MrWhitman is asking about.

[Lainie]

People with poor resistance, and perhaps also people who don't seek proper treatment.