Our Lovable, Dangerous Pets: An Exploration of Cat and Dog Injuries
⌚️ read time: 5.1 minutes
Because most people have such a strong opinion on this topic, it’s possible this article will end up being entirely useless.
But I do actually feel fairly qualified to weigh in.
After years and years of seeing hundreds (thousands?) of injuries caused by animals…just in case you find yourself deciding between the two…. let’s talk about whether you should get a dog or a cat!
Based on the injuries they are likely to cause you, of course.
The spectrum of injuries
The number of injuries I see from either household dogs or cats astounds me. Quite frankly, it’s been one of the more surprising things about a career in orthopedics.
With all these injuries either coming into my clinic, or ones I’m called about from the ER, you would think we collectively have a bunch of wild animals running through our yards and living in our homes.
(Maybe we do?)
Anyways, the injuries from household pets typically fall into one of two categories. The Bites. And all the Rest.
I’m not going to get into more medical-type issues like allergies, ticks, etc. Just orthopedic injuries today.
(PS, I do love pets, despite how this article may feel 😀).
The Bites
Let’s start with the bites. These can be truly awful, or just minor annoyances.
Or minor annoyances that turn into a big deal a week later (ie, when they get infected).
Dogs
I don’t know about you, but my preconceived notions told me that dog bites would be the worst offenders of all. Maybe it’s because you hear the horror stories, or because most dogs are bigger than most cats.
And trust me, there are some awful dog bites out there.
In contrast to cats, dogs are the only household pets that can maul faces, bite off appendages (in fact, I once re-attached a child’s thumb after the thumb had been rescued from the dog’s stomach — we literally had to soak off the stomach acid), or remove large swaths of tissue.
When they’re bad, they’re the worst.
But let’s take the standard dog bite. The one where they are fighting another dog and you try to separate them. So then the dog accidentally bites your hand/arm in response.
By the way, I can almost recite this story verbatim when these patients come in. This happens all the time. If you’re in this situation at a dog park or elsewhere, use your feet to separate the dogs, NOT YOUR HANDS.
Ok, there’s my soapbox. Back to my point.
In these injuries, patients will typically get 3 or 4 small-ish bites. These will certainly bleed a fair bit, and often prompt a trip to the ER.
But you know what’s nice about these bites? Dog teeth are relatively blunt. Of course, they’re sharp enough to do damage. But relatively blunt. Meaning they tear your tissue, rather than puncture it.
This may sound bad, but it’s usually good because the wounds they leave behind are broad-based and remain open by nature. And that means that allll that nasty bacteria in their mouths…has a way to escape.
This is why dog bites almost never get infected. While the tissue damage they cause can certainly be severe, it is rare for me to have to surgically intervene to relieve a dog bite infection.
Can you imagine recovering from the trauma of a dog bite on top of a subsequent infection? Terrible.
I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve had to do that.
Cats
As you may be able to tell from the leading way in which I’m writing this, cat bites are a whole different ballgame.
Yes, it would be rare to be mauled by a cat. They rarely attack faces. They don’t bite off thumbs. All great, of course.
But they do bite. And they bite a lot. Heck, I’ve treated one patient for four different cat bites. This year. From the same cat.
And the anatomy of their teeth is a setup for disaster.
See, in contrast to dogs with their relatively blunt teeth that tear tissue, cats have long, skinny, razor-sharp teeth.
Those long skinny daggers take nasty cat mouth bacteria and drive them deep into your tissue. But because the entrance hole is so skinny, the body easily closes up the skin layer over top. Trapping that bacteria deep down inside with no way out.
Let the festering begin.
Unlike dog bites, cat bites get infected all the time. These frequently land patients in the hospital on IV antibiotics, and on my operating room table for surgical clean-up of the infection.
Not to mention that those sharp teeth cut tendons, ligaments, and just about everything else they contact. It all gets very complicated, very fast (ie, how do you repair a cut tendon that’s bathing in cat bite infection?).
This whole scenario definitely ranks among my least favorite phone calls to receive from the Emergency Room docs.
The Rest
Bites are the primary offender here with household animals. At least in terms of what I see walk into my office (or the ER).
But there’s one more surprise I’ve encountered in my career.
At some point, I should go tally up the numbers. Because this next activity might actually outrank mountain bikes, scooters, skateboards, skis, or even dirt bikes as the most dangerous thing you can possibly participate in. The mother of all extreme sports.
Walking your dog.
Probability-wise, maybe not. But sheer volume? I’d put money down right now that it takes the cake.
My clinic is a constant stream of:
My dog saw another dog and pulled me to the ground (broken wrist -> surgery)
My dog saw another dog and the leash was wrapped around my finger (dislocated finger -> surgery)
My dog ran in front of me and I tripped over the leash (broken leg -> surgery)
I was walking my dog in the winter and I slipped on ice (broken elbow -> surgery)
My dog was tied to my stroller and I lurched to save the stroller, but my thumb got caught… (torn thumb ligament -> surgery)
I’m telling you. I wasn’t prepared for this. It’s wild.
And I’m sorry to all the dog lovers out there (myself included). I have yet to hear one single comparable story from our cat lovers. Nobody sustains these mechanical injuries from their cat.
The closest I’ve had are a couple of “I tripped over my cat on the stairs” stories. These stories definitely exists.
What to do, what to do
I don’t know that there’s a true way to weigh all of these potential downsides against one another.
Initially, I would have said the severity of cat bites far outweighs anything else. Those infections are nasty…and they’re frequent. Definitely not to be messed with.
But I will say that the race appears fairly neck and neck to me. The sheer number of injuries I see from folks walking their dogs is just too large for me to ignore.
So while we are all prone to ignore the facts and think, “Oh that would never happen to me,” my goal today is to help you think about the downside of owning those lovable fur balls we all let into our homes.
Maybe with a small adjustment, you can save yourself a trip to the ER.
I already know that one reader recently used his foot (rather than his hand) to break up a dog fight after I mentioned this tip in a previous article. Cross that $80,000 hospital bill off the list…
Takeaways:
Cat bite injuries appear less severe but have worse outcomes compared to dog bite injuries, primarily due to the risk of infection.
The sheer number of injuries I see from people walking their dogs is astounding. Be careful out there!
While each is lovable, owning either a cat or a dog can result in some serious injuries that you will want to know about before choosing between the two for a new pet.
I’ll chalk this topic up as one I never thought I’d be an expert in.
But here we are. Life is a funny journey. As always, I hope this helps you understand your musculoskeletal health better so you can make the decisions that feel right for you.
