Those two times Christmas bit me...

He is not as sweet as he looks...

Christmas is the most LOVING cat in the world. I am his mommy, he is my baby, and he knows it. When we look into each other’s eyes, we have a connection. All you animal lovers out there know what I’m talking about. Those of you without animals… you probably think I am crazy. But the point is, he’s a wonderful little boy and I love him as much as a human can love a cat without it being creepy. (Okay, maybe it is a little creepy.)

Would you believe it if I told you he bit me twice? Not just “nipping” bites, but bites that broke the skin and forced me to go to the doctor for treatment. I have scars.

Allow me to tell you about those two times…

It was after school on a Friday. For some reason, I was in the process of cleaning out some old boxes of keepsakes. I came across a birthday card with a cat on it. It was one of those musical cards, and when I opened it up, a cat started meowing Happy Birthday.

Christmas and Jelly immediately came into the room and starting hissing. They were hissing at each other and hissing at me. It got very "National Geographic" in my dining room for a minute. I of course closed the card immediately.

“We have to throw this AWAY!” I told Paul. We laughed that the cats were flipping out. I handed him the card and he threw it away.

At least, he was about to throw it away. I walked into the kitchen (where Paul was) and he opened the card to hear the meowing one more time. He closed it really quickly, but before I knew what happened, Christmas ran up behind me hissing, and then I felt the most horrible pain I ever felt in my life (besides the time I got my wisdom teeth out and ended up with dry socket). It was like someone stabbed me in the back of the thigh.

I screamed bloody murder. I thought Christmas had scratched me. Paul shouted at me to calm down and relax, because my screaming got the cats hissing again. Everything was chaos. I limped out of the kitchen, bawling.

(In Paul’s defense, the only reason he yelled at me to be quiet is because he didn’t know how badly I was hurt and was worried about the cats flipping out.)

I looked at the damage. You could see 5 huge claw marks on the lower part of my leg, and then 4 puncture wounds in the back of my thigh. It was bleeding pretty badly. I still thought I had only been scratched. It wasn’t until the next day that it dawned on me that maybe I was scratched AND bit.

It all made sense. The 4 puncture wounds were from his teeth. I know enough about cat bites to know I had to go to Urgent Care. Cats have SO much bacteria in their mouths. I mean, Christmas licks Jelly’s butt, for crying out loud. The last thing I needed was an infection in my leg from Jelly puhp.

I went to Urgent Care on Saturday morning. When I was there, I had to fill out an animal bite report on Christmas. It was sad. He was officially a criminal. The doctor fixed me up with some antibiotics. He told me the reason it hurt so bad when I got bit is because not only is there the breaking of the skin from the bite, but the squeezing together with the teeth. Oh my gosh it hurts again just thinking about it!

Needless to say, I recovered from my bite, have a pretty awesome scar, and had the pleasure of the Department of Health calling to tell me Christmas had to be quarantined for 10 days to be sure I he didn’t have rabies.

I forgave Christmas, of course. He heard that meowing from the birthday card and thought there was another cat and FLIPPED out. It was his animal instinct. He couldn’t help it. I was a little weary of him for a couple days after that. I was scared he would flip out again, but he didn’t.

UNTIL HE DID AGAIN!

  

This bite was the scariest because I still can’t figure out WHY he bit me. I knew why he bit me the first time, but the second bite still is, and always will be, a mystery.

I was home alone with the cats. Paul had left with his friends to go to a bachelor party. I had just refilled their food bowls in our bedroom. Christmas and Jelly both came into the room, and then suddenly, Christmas turned into a wild animal! He hissed at Jelly. Jelly hissed and got the hell out of there. Then Christmas set his sights on me. He had a HORRIBLE look in his eyes. He chased me and I jumped onto our bed (standing up). He jumped onto the bed too. I was screaming. I was scared to DEATH because he is a HUGE cat with HUGE teeth…

See!? You would have screamed and cried like a baby too!

He stared me down for probably only a split second while we were both on the bed. He was making horrible wild noises and then bit me on the front of my thigh. It hurt like HELL. He ran away. I ran into the bathroom, closed the door, and bawled. I called my mom bawling, called my husband bawling, and then I called my friend who was a vet tech and bawled. I was so distraught because I had no clue why Christmas attacked me! I mean, he CAME AFTER ME. I didn’t want him to suddenly be a dangerous cat and have to put him down because I loved him with all my heart!

I washed the bite as well as I could and went to Urgent Care the next day. I was so embarrassed to have to admit to them that I got bit again but the same cat in less than two months. The doctor was really understanding and told me she has a 90 year old patient whose cat bit her like once every two weeks and she just kept coming back for antibiotics.

Great. That is totally going to be me in 60 years.

I filled out another animal bite report on Christmas (now he’s a criminal x 2) and got the official call from the Department of Health again.

I was of course wary of Christmas for awhile and started keeping him in the bedroom during piano lessons. I couldn’t have a wild cat around the students that come into my home. But after several weeks with no issues, I let him hang out during lessons again.

He has never bit me, or anyone else since. It’s been at least two years now. I hope he never bites me again!

I still don't know why he bit me that second time. I do have two awesome scars. I am glad. It's like I'll always have a piece of Christmas, even when he's gone! I know, it is creepy how much I love my cat. I don't care.

Here are a couple cute pictures of Chrissy!

Bay window beauty.

Demanding food.

Cuuuuuutie!

Bathing in the sunshine!

Have you ever been bitten by an animal?