Dog vs cat - help for a friend

[MissTyc]

Question from a friend - she said her dog and a strange cat got into a fight on her patio . Dog is mongrel - lab sized with a mix of breeds, pointyish nose. Apparently the cat was "attached like a leech" to the front of the dog's face. Cat was hissing and spitting, but otherwise no noise from either of them. She had to run out to split them up but couldn't tell who was latched onto whom as they separated when she approached. Cat bolted and disappeared into hedge.

Now the question - dog's nose and mouth had quite a lot of blood. She said she can only find a small scratch on the nose so is worried the blood is from the cat. Cat was white & tabby and she said there definitely wasn't any red in evidence and also no blood splatters on the pavings or anywhere the cat ran. She was wondering how much a scratch to nose/mouth should bleed and if there's any chance of it only being the dog that got hurt.

Feel for her. We both got our rescue dogs at the same time and have done a lot of training and playing together. She's quite upset as never thought her dog would go for a cat (unlike mine who, unfortunately, does not go out unsupervised for that exact reason). She doesn't know who the cat belongs to as never seen it in the garden and it's a busy residential suburb.

 

[fallenangel123]

I have a big poofy tabby cat, aptly named Gannicus who is a serial dog attacker. He is unafraid of anything including our great Danes who are totally terrified of him! Could be that the cat in your friends garden is also a dog mugger and started the fight? Cuts to the nose always bleed very well though and cats claws go deep too.
She can't do much more than keep an eye out for cats when she lets the dog out in future and see how he acts after all he may just have gone to say hi and been pounced on!

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Apparently the cat was "attached like a leech" to the front of the dog's face. Cat was hissing and spitting, but otherwise no noise from either of them.

Especially the red part makes me think classical cat attack. I've had cats longer than I've had dogs, and based on the little that your friend knows about what happened, I would put my money on the cat as winner and say that there is a possibility that the cat was unharmed. To be on the safe side, I would perhaps take a look outside the garden to see if I could find the cat, perhaps also asking the neighbours if they've seen or owns the cat, but even just a scratch on a nose can bleed a lot.

By the way, cat claws and teeth are known for being able to cause bad infections if they bite or scratch someone, so even though it just looks like a small scratch, I would first clean it rigorously and then I would clean it some more, and keep a close eye on it for a few days, in case the dog still needs to take a trip to the veterinarian.

E.g. right now I have one bitch that is very friendly and interested in saying Hello to any other animals that lives in or visits our garden, and she definitely doesn't understand that all cats doesn't like dogs. So in your friends shoes, I think I would give the dog the benefit of doubt, be careful for a while and watch how the dog reacts next times they see or meet a cat, and take it from there.

 

[Luci07]

My experience with the numerous cats in my street is that they never make the mistake of going into either my garden or any neighbours who also have dogs! Not had one near miss so do wonder if the cat decided to attack the dog..