by my cat…
I’m pretty sure I’ve shared a few times my love for animals on the ol’ blog. I’ve volunteered at Humane Societies in different periods of my life, only have adopted shelter animals, and have also done some fostering. I even set up at donation fund to the Humane Society in lieu of wedding gifts.
So you see, I love them.
Until this happens:
When animals attack
Lovely right? (PS I cannot believe I’m posting this horrible photo….meep!) Anyway, let me set the stage for you a bit.
It was a typical Friday night in the summer of 2009 (just a few months after my wedding). The bestie and I jetted home from work and popped open the vino while catching up on our DVRed shows of the week. Usually around 7p, my hubby would come home and her hubby would come over and we’d all do dinner.
All was going well and Ilya (the bestie’s hubby) asked if he could bring their dog Lola over. Bestie and I had always understood that Lola at my place would not be a good idea due to her “love” of cats and insatiable energy and wiliness. But for some reason, in a moment of weakness, I said yes, go home and get Lola.
Meet Lola, the Springer Spaniel
As it turned out, we were right. Lola does truly love cats, especially loves chasing them. We all got a good chuckle of them racing around the house. My larger cat Myko can hold his own and simply jetted. Neci, however, was paralyzed in fear.
Meet Neci, the 10 lb tabby
Neci is a skittish one. I originally was his foster momma in LA when he was a kitten. The only reason I now “own” him is because they were going to put him down and I couldn’t have that happen! So for reasons unbeknownst to me, he’s a major fraidy cat that spooks easily and has an irrational fear of dogs.
As you may be able to predict: Lola + Neci = Bad news for Shanna’s face
After several laps around our home, I began to feel sorry for Neci hovering behind me on the couch, growling in fear. I decided to pick him up and take him to upstairs so he could cower under the bed. In doing so, I walked past Lola in an effort to show Neci that Lola was harmless.
Bad idea.
Lola is harmless. But she’s also a dog. A dog who gets very excited by creatures smaller than her. So she leapt. At me. Holding the cat.
And Neci does what any cat would and tries to get the heck outta my arms.
But in his fear, he went a little crazy and bit me all over my face. I liken the biting action to eating corn on the cob. I literally could hear his fangs crunch on the bones on my face. Ow.
I immediately let go of Neci, grasped my face and fell to the couch. When I finally took my hands away, blood was streaming down my face as if I’d been in a car wreck. I rinsed if off and that’s when the first photo was taken. I’m laughing because I’m slightly delirious and also buzzed on wine. But my face was already getting puffy, my nose was swelling, and the bleeding wouldn’t stop.
Did I go to the ER? Nope 
I went to bed. Duh.
The next morning my hubby dragged me to the ER where I got some shocked and worried looks (come on don’t they see way worse at the ER??? ). Apparently cat bites are only second worst to human bites so the doctor was quite concerned. That concern resulted in a tetanus shot! But thankfully no stitches. Oh and did you know, you should never use peroxide or alcohol on face wounds? It delays the healing — mild soap and water are best.
So yeah, all that happened and I was supposed to go to SF to see Wicked that night.
24 hours later, pre Wicked
Now if you’ve ever been to San Francisco, you know that it’s an eclectic city and anything really goes. But when you have a girl walking done the street in a dress and heals with a mangled face, even the homeless quip in and say “Girl why you have those scars on your face..does your husband beat you?”
Scary face (but cute shoes)
Crazy enough, my face was 99% healed within about 10 days. I still have scars and a little bump on my nose, but it’s all good. I couldn’t deny this face even if I tried 
The face of innocence
Have you ever encountered an animal attack???
Do you have pets? What kind and names?
