Cat attack statistics are collected thru many years, and some of the studies show interesting numbers nationwide as well as worldwide. Cats are specific animals that can easily attack for no reason, mostly because of their temperament or fear.
There are millions of households in the United States that own a cat and by increasing the number of adopted cats there are more attacks that sometimes can be left wound on human skin. Do you know the approximate number of cat attacks in a year?
Even if cat attacks are not serious compared to dogs, and usually are not fatal, there are many people that seek treatment and needed surgery. If you’re interested to find out how many people visit emergency centers because of cat attacks and all the statistics and facts about cat attacks, keep reading this article.
5 Cat Attack Statistics & Facts
(Editor’s pick)
- Around 10 to 15% of all emergy visits are because of cat attacks.
- Approximately 400,000 cat attacks happen every year in the U.S.
- Around 50% of young children tend to get an infection from a cat bite.
- According to stats, two-thirds of cat bite victims needed surgery.
- Statistics show that 85% of cat bites occur on the wrist or hand.
11 Newest Cat Attack Statistics
Around 10 to 15% of all emergy visits are because of cat attacks
According to statistics, around 2% of all emergency room visits in the U.S. are for animal attacks. Around 10 to 15% of those attacks are from cats.
Serious injuries from cat attacks are rare, but if there is redness and pain, or difficulty moving the hand, it is recommended to seek medical care because it might be a sign of a serious infection.
Source: minnpost.com
2. Approximately 400,000 cat attacks happen every year in the U.S.
Statistics show that for all worldwide emergy room visits, from 2 to even 50% are related to bites from different animals. Comparing Italy with the United States, there is an incidence of cat-related injuries 18 on 100 0000 people, while in the U.S. there are 66 000 visits every year.
Even if the number of cat attacks can’t be exact, according to reported attacks, as well as those who needed hospital emergency, around 400,000 cat bites happen every year in the United States. In most cases, cat bites are not series and won’t leave any health consequences. In most cases, victims will have a scar.
Source: legalmatch.com
3. Around 66,000 cat bite victims requested medical care
From a whole number of attacks every year, which is around 400,000, around 66,000 of them are reported as hospital emergencies. This included different infections, because of wounds. Fortunately, in most cases, cat bites are not fatal.
Source: legalmatch.com
4. In 2009, there were 300 reported rabies
One of the most dangerous thing that can happen when a cat attacks or bite a human is the risk of getting rabies. If the human is not vaccinated or doesn’t get a vaccine in a short time, the cat bite can be fatal. Fortunately, most of the pet cats are vaccinated against rabies.
According to cat bite statistics, there were 300 rabies cases. Comparing it to dog attack and rabies cases, in the same year there were only 81. We can conclude that cats were three times more likely to be rabid than dogs.
Source: legalmatch.com
5. Around 50% of young children tend to get an infection from a cat bite
Cat is most likely to attack children, usually because children don’t know they aggressively hold them which can make cats really angry. According to statistics from 2018, bite infection in children, because of cat attacks, occurs in about half of all cases.
Usually, the skin becomes swollen or discolored. Infection can easily spread to another part of the body and cause blood poisoning, so it is important to react quickly and go to the hospital.
In most cases, infection will not cause death but there are many reported cases that unfortunately ended fatally.
Source: healthline.com
6. According to stats, two-thirds of cat bite victims needed surgery
A cat bite can cause serious infection which can result in hospitalization and also has a lifelong effect. Studies show that most cat bite victims, precisely two-thirds of them, required surgery to remove all the infection from wounds.
Source: healthline.com
7. In 2013 research, Pasteurella was the most common organism isolated from cat bites
In the cat’s mouth, there are tons of dangerous bacteria, that can be easily injected deep into human skin if cats bite you. One of the most common bacteria, according to research from 2013, is Pasteurella. It is the bacteria that can cause infection no matter if the dog bites or scratches a human.
Source: healthline.com
8. Infection from cat bite may set from a few hours to 10 days to start showing symptoms
Depending on the type of attack, if it’s only a scratch or a bite, an infection can set in a few hours and take up to 10 days to start showing symptoms. CDCTrusted source revealed that the incubation period because of rabies can last weeks and even months.
Source: healthline.com
9. According to a 2016 report, cat bites can cause nerve injury
Not that only cat bites and scratches can leave wounds on the skin, and leave many other consequences, there are cases, according to a 2016 report, where cat bite injured nerves. Symptoms include extreme pain as well as numbness and paresthesia. Fortunately, those cases are very rare.
Source: healthline.com
10. Around 85% of cat bites occur on the wrist or hand
Even if the cats can bite on every part of the body, according to cat bite statistics, about 85% of all bites occur on the wrist or hand. The reason why cats bite the hand or wrists of humans is movement, especially when they want to pet them.
Cats can see the hand as some type of attack and easily bite. This is most usual for children which don’t know how to access the cat’s mood so they easily ended with wounds.
Source: minnpost.com
11. From 2013 to 2020 there has been more than a 120% increase in the number of cat bites
According to the state Health Directorate statistics, the number of people that suffered from cat bites and sought treatment increased by around 128% till 2020.
Comparing only a few last years, in 2017. there have been 160,785 people that sought treatment because of a bite. year after, the number increased to 175, 368. In 2018 the number of people that suffered from cat bites is more than 200,000, precisely there were 204,625 cases. 2019 continue with an increase and was 216, 551 reported cases.
Though cat bites or attacks are not as dangerous compared to dogs, we can conclude that every year number of cat attacks increases. The number of attacks can be connected with an increasing number of cat adoption.
Source: minnpost.com
To Sum Up
Comparing all cat attack statistics, we can assume there is an increasing nUmber in the last 5 years nationwide. Over 400,000 cat attacks are reported in the United States every year. Most of them don’t request medical care, but at least 60,000 needed surgery or hospitalization because of a blood infection. Cats can easily infect humans’ blood because of bacteria so it is important to quickly react if there are any symptoms. Most attacked humans are children, especially those at a young age, which usually don’t know how to recognize access cat’s mood and easily get attacked.
