Pyewacket Mixes With Wrong Raccoon

#juan

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Aug 30, 2005
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Our cat Pyewacket, had a battle yesterday with a raccoon and it looks like she came off second best. She has a long, open cut above her left eye. She has a puncture wound right next to that eye and the eye is swollen almost shut and her nose has been bleeding. This is a cat that was known for chasing large dogs out of our yard. There doesn't seem to be any infection so but we will take her to the Vet tomorrow morning. The Raccoons don't seem nearly as cute as they once did.



 
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talloola

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Nov 14, 2006
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Oh that's terrible Juan, it's very upsetting when anything bad happens to our animals.
I hope she can heal OK from this wound.
racoons do look so cute, but yes, just a reminder that they are a wild animal, and
have that 'other' side.

I have dealt with many unhappy events throughout the years with my animals.
Many years ago my daughters and I were driving around in Surrey, and I noticed a 'smell',
and it became stronger, we went home, I opened the hood, and our neighbours cat was cooked
on top of the motor.
When I was a little girl, our big black persian was lying outside in the yard, and couldn't
walk, hind legs just split apart, she couldn't stand on them, vet said she had broken pelvis,
"try keeping her in large box with rug on bottom", we did that and she healed just fine.
One of our own cats, was making a mournful sound outside one morning, I went to check her
out, and she had a huge 'slit' right across her side, she had been sleeping inside of our truck,
where the motor is,
and when my husband started it up, it obviously slit her wide open, she must have vacated
the truck unbenounced to him, but, the vet had to put her down, too severe.
One morning in surrey, years ago, I saw our beautiful orange persian, slumped down in our
front yard, picked her up, took her to the vet, she was drizzling white substance out of her
mouth, she had been poisened, had to put her down.
We were camping at nicola lake many many years ago, my husband went on his motor bike to
the store, and we didn't notice our lab leave and follow him, and he was run down by a
car on the highway, he came back to the camper badly injured, had to take him to kamloops and he was put down. (I still feel guilty about that one, after 40 years).
My husband and I drove into the driveway a few years back, and our tabby cat ran out as she
always did, but something didn't go quite right, and she ended up under the wheel, she died
in my arms about an hour later, we both cried watching her suffer.
I was tube feeding new born puppies, (new at it), and I mistakenly put the tube into its lung,
instead of stomach, died instantly. Never made that mistake again.
Two dogs during our life just dissapeared, never saw them again, and the same with two
of our cats, one cat disappeared for 3 weeks, came back very skinny, and slept for 3 days
straight, just waking up to eat and drink.
When we were very young we weren't responsible with our dogs, didn't take long to
smarten up, and make sure they 'stay' in the yard, or house.
Our dogs haven't left our yard without us for many years.
 

scratch

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May 20, 2008
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Had a cat years ago named Dark who tangled with a raccoon and came out on the really short end.
Hopefully yours is on its way to full recovery.
Raccoons are mean and tough.
rgs
 

#juan

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She hadn't been eating since the fight happened but this morning she ate a whole bowl of the dry food we give plus a half a can of tuna so I think she is feeling a little better.
When we first got her we lived on Gabriola Island. At the time I wondered if we should get too attached to her because she is absolutely fearless. She would back down the neighbor's hundred pound German Shepherd. I don't think she could do much to that big shepherd but the dog probably thought it was just not worth the effort to get close to that spitting, clawing cat. One of our neighbors saw the fight and said it was like a cartoon with the two animals going round and round. He said the raccoon was more than twice her size. I rather think(hope) that the raccoon didn't get off completely free and probably has some of it's own wounds to lick.
 

karrie

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Jan 6, 2007
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I rather think(hope) that the raccoon didn't get off completely free and probably has some of it's own wounds to lick.

That's the neat thing about cats Juan. They really only need to land one bite, and even if the raccoon comes out 'on top', the infection that will set in from a single cat bite will probably finish it off eventually. Cat teeth deliver some nasty, nasty, infections. 85% of bites turn septic according to the doc that treated mine.

I hope your kitty heals up juan.
 

#juan

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Talloola

I see you've had more than your share of pet problems. Ninety eight percent of these problems could be solved or avoided if dogs and cats could just talk.

Scratch

Did your cat survive the raccoon encounter?

Karrie

I didn't know about the septic bites. What I do know is that that raccoon lost a lost of fur in the battle because it was all over the side of our yard.
 

Nuggler

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Feb 27, 2006
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8O Woo, that's one gutsy cat. Hope it's ok.

My old uncle who grew a lot of corn, had a personal hate on for coons, and would kill them without mercy; trap and hunt with hounds.

One of his favourite sayings was: "Takes a good dog ta kill a coon" I've seen them in action, and he was right. They is tough buggers.

Lucky your cat is alive.

Tell it to stick with mice.

;-)
 

#juan

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8O Woo, that's one gutsy cat. Hope it's ok.

My old uncle who grew a lot of corn, had a personal hate on for coons, and would kill them without mercy; trap and hunt with hounds.

One of his favourite sayings was: "Takes a good dog ta kill a coon" I've seen them in action, and he was right. They is tough buggers.

Lucky your cat is alive.

Tell it to stick with mice.

;-)

Probably a good idea. I't funny though because the cat has been around raccoons for five or six years without a problem. I don't know what caused this.......There are no young around this time of year. The neighbor says that he saw the cat asnd the raccoon circling each other in our yard before the fight got going. Maybe the cat was feeling a bit territorial or something, who knows.
 

Twila

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Mar 26, 2003
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There doesn't seem to be any infection so but we will take her to the Vet tomorrow morning

Cats often abscess because they heal from the outside in. They have such odd healing abilities that they will heal around the dirt/bacteria and then it festers.

Hopefully she's up todate with her rabies shots....she's a beautiful cat. Torties are known for their craziness...any dog should be concerned when it comes to cats...they aim for the eyes!
 

#juan

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Cats often abscess because they heal from the outside in. They have such odd healing abilities that they will heal around the dirt/bacteria and then it festers.

Hopefully she's up todate with her rabies shots....she's a beautiful cat. Torties are known for their craziness...any dog should be concerned when it comes to cats...they aim for the eyes!

That is interesting Twila, thanks. Jan has been putting cat antibiotic ointment on the cuts at the suggestion of the vet. We will keep an eye on her.

She's had all her shots for Rabies, etc. I suppose I could go and shoot the raccoon if I knew where he/she was.............:roll:
 

Praxius

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Dec 18, 2007
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Probably a good idea. I't funny though because the cat has been around raccoons for five or six years without a problem. I don't know what caused this.......There are no young around this time of year. The neighbor says that he saw the cat asnd the raccoon circling each other in our yard before the fight got going. Maybe the cat was feeling a bit territorial or something, who knows.

That'd probably be it.... the raccoon was probably continually entering your cat's territory each night to either get a look at your garbage cans/bags or to see if there was any food lying around to snag. Besides my timid encounters with my friendly neighborhood raccoons, I've seen a video on Youtube where someone was feeding their cat on the patio and then out of the bushes came a big raccoon, walked right up to the cat and the dish and just stuck his head in to grab some food. The cat beat the living crap out of it (Or at least tried) but he just stood there taking it all as he grabbed what he could and then sauntered off to eat his stolen grub.

I hope you put some disinfectant on your cat's wounds as soon as you could like a cleaning gel or peroxide. Your cat could be just fine, but if the raccoon didn't run away from being challenged in an area not his territory, there could be a chance he had rabies or something similar. If your cat hasn't been eating like it normally does (Even though it ate something later on as you said) there could be an infection, and if the eye is swollen as you said, you best double check and make sure you're cat's ok with the vet.
 

Praxius

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She's had all her shots for Rabies, etc. I suppose I could go and shoot the raccoon if I knew where he/she was.............:roll:

Well I wouldn't go that far.... they were both doing what they were ment to do.... however if the raccoon comes back and gets in another fight with your cat or you notice its back in your yard and being a little piss ant with your cat again, then yeah.... get the shotgun out.... your pets come first and they're in your territory..... that's how I feel about insects in my house. :p (Yeah, that's right.... I use a shotgun for them pesky fruit flies. :twisted: )
 

Twila

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Mar 26, 2003
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or you could borrow a humane trap from a local wildlife centre or possibly even a vets office and trap the raccoon...move him off to another location where he won't fight with your cat....
 

#juan

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Thanks Gopher. That rifle is just what I need. Overnight the raccoon(s) got into the garbage can and spread it over the back yard yet again. For the last while we've been keeping them out with a bungie cord stretched between the handles over the lid. They got by our bungie so we have put two tighter ones crossed over the lid. If this doesn't work, a trap is next.
 

#juan

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or you could borrow a humane trap from a local wildlife centre or possibly even a vets office and trap the raccoon...move him off to another location where he won't fight with your cat....

Another location.......Algeria sounds good...............Just kidding....I think...;-)
 

Praxius

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Dec 18, 2007
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Thanks Gopher. That rifle is just what I need. Overnight the raccoon(s) got into the garbage can and spread it over the back yard yet again. For the last while we've been keeping them out with a bungie cord stretched between the handles over the lid. They got by our bungie so we have put two tighter ones crossed over the lid. If this doesn't work, a trap is next.

Want a sure fire way to make them leave your garbage alone? Do what my dad did and keep all your scraps in a plastic bag out of your garbage and when you put everything out, put the scraps and stuff in a plastic dish nearby.... they clean all your scraps and leave your garbage well alone.... it's worked for my dad for a number of years now. They've been tearing apart out garbage for years until he did that and instantly they stopped once it was all out in a dish away from the garbage.... they don't smell it in the bags, it's right in front of them, they eat it and leave.... no hassel.

Try it once and see what happens..... you might be suprised.
 

#juan

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Want a sure fire way to make them leave your garbage alone? Do what my dad did and keep all your scraps in a plastic bag out of your garbage and when you put everything out, put the scraps and stuff in a plastic dish nearby.... they clean all your scraps and leave your garbage well alone.... it's worked for my dad for a number of years now. They've been tearing apart out garbage for years until he did that and instantly they stopped once it was all out in a dish away from the garbage.... they don't smell it in the bags, it's right in front of them, they eat it and leave.... no hassel.

Try it once and see what happens..... you might be surprised.

One of these oversized rodents messed our cat up pretty bad. I'm not going to feed the basta rds. That will just ensure they come back again. They are going. One way or another.