Cat Attack: Et tu, Lunchbox

WARNING: This post will contain a graphic image of my injuries. Recently I was attacked by my cat. I don’t know why. I don’t know what set him off. But this is a lasting event that will leave me scarred and here’s the story.  This is kind of long winded, but bear with me.

What Happened?

Sunday September 21, 2014.  I was sitting on my couch with Winston and Lunchbox and as the show I was watching changed to an episode I’ve seen before, I got up with the intention of going into the bedroom to get a laundry basket.  I needed to switch our laundry in the garage. A few days prior, I used some cleaner on the floor coming from the hallway into the living room to clean up some poop courtesy of Winston. This left that patch of our hardwood floor overly slippery. I had socks on and, of course, being klutzy I managed to slip on the floor. I reached out and tried to catch myself on the door frame and slammed my arm into the wall. Unfortunately that didn’t work to catch myself as the momentum was already there so I fell to the floor and slammed my knee into the floor.

There was enough time for me to consciously think “Ouch, well, that hurt” and start to get up. But before I could get up off the floor, Lunchbox attacked my head. I tried to get him off of me but I couldn’t; he kept coming back. I finally screamed out for Dominic since he was in the bedroom and had already gone to bed. My brother Damian in his room had actually heard me hit the wall & was slowly getting up to see if I was okay, but put more pep in his step when he heard the cat and my screams.

It feels like my brother and Dominic both got to me at the same time. Damian said he told Lunchbox to get off of me and he finally got off of me. There was so much blood it was pooled in my ear and dripping down my face. I knew I was in pain but I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t see how bad it was. My husband set me up and my brother went to get water & paper towels to clean me up.

Dominic helped pull my shirt up over my head and look for where exactly I was hurt and assess how bad it was. Dominic had been a nursing student for many years and worked in nursing homes so I was very thankful he was there to fix me up.

Am I Okay?

It’s crazy, even in my injured, bloody state, it was selfless things that ran through my mind. I thought all of these thoughts before thinking “Am I okay?”

• I’m sorry to wake Dominic up cause he’s felt sick all day.
• I’m sorry my brother has to see me in just my bra, let alone a leopard print one.
• I’m sorry I won’t be able to get the laundry done before tomorrow.
• What hospital do you even go to when you have Blue Shield?
• Ugh how much will THAT cost?
• This is what I get for not cutting Lunchbox’s nails on the regular.
• At least I’ve seen this episode of Forensic Files before.
• I hope Dominic doesn’t hurt the cat for hurting me.
• This shirt is a loss and my fairly new bra is probably ruined.
• Wow I’ve never bled this much before.
• What’s in my ear?  Oh, blood.

I read an article a few years ago about why women don’t put themselves first, even in danger.  I wish I could find it, but I did think that my injuries were a weird social experiment in thought at the same time.  Dominic freaked me out for a minute when he said my ear was bleeding because my earring had been ripped out… which is a HUGE unnatural fear of mine!  Turns out he had confused which ear I have the cartilage piercing in, and what was bleeding was just a deep scratch. Dominic got me into the shower and helped me rinse most of the blood off of me, out of my hair, and grabbed my body wash and basically showered like normal from the neck down.

The Injuries

My right knee hurts from where it hit the hardwood floor.  The scratches on my hands hurt.  I have a bruise on the underside of my left arm that hurts, and there are scratches on the outside of my right arm and elbow that hurt when I bend my arm. My toes on my left foot hurt when bent, which I’m guessing is from the fall.  And then, of course, all the cuts, punctures, and scratches on my face, head, and ear.  Half a dozen scratches and punctures on my scalp, which hurt whenever I emote too much, the scratch on my right eyelid that resulted in the black eye, the two huge scratches on my forehead above my left eye hurt the most.

Lasting Effects

For the first couple of days, I was very leery of being anywhere near Lunchbox.  My own cat, whom I’ve had since he was a kitten for his entire 10 years as my kitty Lunchbox.  I don’t know what provoked him since I don’t remember him being anywhere near me when I fell.  So for the first couple of days, I just steered clear of him.  It was Tuesday before I was sitting on the couch and suddenly realized it was Lunchbox snuggled up to my leg and not Muse.  I was going to shoo him away, but I let him stay.  He’s acted normally ever since.  A few friends have asked what I’m going to do about him now that he’s attacked me.  Nothing… for now.  He’s never attacked anyone like this, and even his swats at Winston when he bumps into him have never resulted in blood.  I am adopting a forgiveness policy with him for now.  As long as I don’t get attacked again, or he doesn’t threaten any attacks like Sunday, he’ll stay.

I did go to see the doctor on Monday night and she prescribed me some antibiotics and gave me a tetanus shot.  Which makes my left arm hurt like a sonofabitch!  My eye was only really swollen shut for about a day and it’s still painful to the touch and purple, but I can open it and see just fine.  The punctures on my head are more annoyances now since they’re scabbed over and I can’t see them, making it nearly impossible to brush my hair.  The most painful thing is still my ear, which is fine as long as I don’t accidentally hold the phone up to that ear or touch it, and the forehead scratches, which still hurt a lot, but I’ve been icing to cut down on the swelling.

I couldn’t really work for two days – Wednesday afternoon was the first time I wasn’t in so much pain that just sitting in one spot was painful.  I do want to give a shout out for my awesome co-workers at Snow Consulting for sending me a Get Well Soon bouquet 🙂

This is easily the most injured I’ve ever been, and that’s saying a lot considering I’ve been hit by a car while riding a bike TWICE!  I suspect I’ll have light scars on my hands and for sure on my ear and my face – which is a real bummer.  I already have beauty issues – the last thing I need is two honking scars on my face.  But I’ll live.  I have a follow-up appointment next Monday with the doctor to see how the healing is progressing. I guess I’ll post another update then.  Cross your fingers for me that I’ll be able to brush and wash my hair sometime before September ends!

Side note: I Googled Cat Attack looking for some generic images to use.  Don’t do it!  Horrible 🙁