AM I CRAZY?????

[REO]

I was sitting here at my desk at 2 AM sewing on an order of show bows. I'm a total crazy cat lady so when I heard a baby kitten start mewing outside on the porch, I got up and started outside. It was crying out desperately by the time I got to the door. In cat a shelter I'd made for winter shelter on our porch, a mom cat had had kittens and only 2 were left and they were old enough to start walking out and about, though still tiny. I got out there and found one of them being attacked (to be killed) by a skunk! The skunk had that baby! My brain registered it and without thought, I reached out and stuck my hand into the attack, grabbed that skunk by the tail, whirled and flung it! It flew through the air and hit the porch post and fell. You'd think it would have fizzed up it's tail in fright and waddle away. NOPE! That !%$$ came at me! I started yelling at it to *bleep* off and get away from me and that kitten! I picked up a big heavy cushion that was there and hit it with it, knocking it away! It came at me again! RIGHT AT ME. I was yelling at it. I wasn't afraid but I was MAD! How DARE it attack a kitten!!! I saw Karrel come to the door to see what was going on and I said get the gun! It was almost to me (18" away and coming fast) so I reared back and kicked it hard! It flew through the air and hit the porch post again. It was a little slower but here it came again! That was when Karrel came out having gotten the gun. I yelled shoot it and ducked. It was only 2 feet from me when K shot it!
What in the world was wrong with that thing???? It didn't look rabid. Took a while but I found the kitten, it had run away. It's shoulder was wet but I didn't see any blood. It has a slight limp. So I'll keep my eye in it. It was shaking of course. She would've been eaten right there if I hadn't gone out.
But where is the other one? We'd had huge storms and high nasty winds all the day and no idea what happened to him

Bottom line, do NOT mess with my animals, I don't care WHO you are!
I can't believe I grabbed a skunk by the tail and flung it and then kicked it like a football!
I'll have to keep watch on that kitten.


Went out after daylight to check the kitty. As soon as I got it with my hand the poor thing started to scream in fear! I petted her and she knew she was safe. There is no wound at all but she has a slight limp. I think she'll be just fine.
I don't know where the other kitten went

 

[Helicopter]

Holy smoke!!!!!!!!!

Some people do have exciting lives.

Glad kitty is OK.

 

[jacks'thunder]

Wow! Your an awesome kitty mama!! Can't say I would ever grab a skunk, but if it was killing/trying to kill a baby I'd be all over that fight just like you!

I remember one time my mom and I were out for an evening walk on this path buy our house when I was in my teens. We came across a skunk that was a few feet off the path. We turned right around and started speed waling out of there, skunk followed and started gaining on us! It was like something out of a creepy movie!! LOL!! Finally we got up to a jog and lost him, but gosh it had to be a good half mile he was following at a good clip!!

Good, fearless, job!!!!!

 

[Shes My Style]

What a frightening situation and the lengths we go to save our beloved animals.

Since you shot the skunk is there any way you could have the authorities take it and get it tested? Even if it did not look rabid - that is not normal skunk behavior and I would think it much safer for you and the kitten to get it tested. It takes about 3 days for the results to get back and your kitten should be qurarantined during that time just in case.

 

[REO]

The kitten is very small and still nursing on her mom and not eating food yet. I'll just have to keep checking her. I'm not sure what hubby did with the skunk. He took it away. Does it cost to have a skunk checked?

 

[Riverrose28]

Please tell hubby to go get the carcas, call the health dept. in your area they will advise you where to take it, rabies also has a passive form and you can't tell just by looking at the animal, but that is not normal behaviour.

 

[Shes My Style]

It may depend on the state/county but I'm pretty sure around here you can have them checked for free since its a serious public health concern. They don't want the cost to deter testing of potentially rabid animals.

 

[Boss Mare]

Oh no! Glad you're okay, but I would highly recommend getting the skunk checked.. And isolating the kitten and family until results.

I saw a raccoon in the day light, fairly sure it was rabid! - attack and carry a full size barn cat up a tree. He dropped her and tore her paw up very

bad. Without thinking I grabbed the saliva covered cat.. Vet visit; tetanus and rabies booster.. Antibiotic for the wound. Never was able to trap the raccoon.

I expressed my concern to my personal doctor and health department and they stated how I wasn't at risk because I would've had to have gotten bitten or scratched by the raccoon to be in danger.. Something about how rabies dies on surfaces so even cuts on my hands and the saliva on the cat wasn't a threat. I was worried and wanted the rabies shots anyways and they said no. :-/

 

[anoki]

Yes, you are crazy.....but I'd probably do the same. Up here if we find an animal we think might be rabid, we can call the CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency), which are the federal vets, they will take it and have it checked. I think I'd be having that one checked out...that doesn't seem like 'normal' behaviour for a skunk.

I have my own skunk killers here

.... the herd of corgis....

~kathryn

 

[bevann]

In my area State Dept of Ag will check animals for free.Call around to an extension office maybe they can tell you where to take carcass.they have to cut head off and check brain.that is not normal behavior for a skunk.they usually go away from humans.You were smart to pick it up by the tail.They have to have hind feet on the ground to spray so I'm told by farmer man here.When he was a kid on the farm he and brothers would sneak up and catch them by the tail and kill them for the pelts which were big bucks for a poor farm kid.Amazing what we can do when adrenaline kicks in if something is after our critters.

 

[REO]

The other kitten is back! He must have run & hid! The lil girl is fine. Not limping and not a scratch on her! It was a teen sized skunk so wasn't very big.

I'll ask hubby what he did with the skunk. The kitten is dark colored and so are my shoes. Maybe it was coming for my shoes. I threw it pretty hard twice.

I didn't know what I'd done til it was all over. I just reacted to save the kitten. Afterward I thought about it and was all, holy crap! LOL

 

[KanoasDestiny]

I'm glad this had a happy ending for both you and the babies. It's amazing what someone will do at the spur of the moment to save their 'loved ones'. When I was 12, a big black chow was trying to rip into my elevated rabbit cage and get my two bunnies. Without hesitating, I ran and grabbed a broom and tried to hit the dog. When he came at me, I beat him to my backyard which thankfully had a fence. He went right back to the rabbits, so I turned our house on full blast, left the safety of the yard and went within feet of him. He did NOT like getting his fluffy fur soaked and hightailed it out of my yard. A neighbor was able to trap him in her fenced yard. We called Animal Control, who were already on their way because apparently the dog had already killed another neighbor's rabbits.

 

[Carolyn R]

Please have the skunk tested. This just happened to a friend of the family with a raccoon. The raccoon attacked the cat on the porch, then was trying to attack the screen door to go after the owner when she came running. Her and her husband had just filed divorce papers but were under the same roof. She told him to shoot it, he refused and tried to shoo it away, it bit him. She got the gun and shot it.. The ex wouldn't go to get the shot series until he knew what the results were. CDC (pa center of disease control)rushed the results and it was positive. The ex finially went to get shots, thankfully the results were rushed. The cat had to be euthanized, it was severely injured.

 

[dutchhollow]

Skunks are the main carrier around my area, so yes, call the state and have them come out and get it and test it. Check the kitten over very carefully for puncture wounds, they are very hard to find, but they will abcess, and if skunk is positive you are going to have to know. Glad the other kitten showed up, and you did not get bitten!

 

[Lil Eowyn]

Wow! Did the skunk spray? Glad you saved one kitten--I hope you can find the other one.

 

[REO]

Did find the other kitten the next day

So far they are both fine.

That's what was weird, the skunk did not fuzz up, lift his tail or try to spray even after I threw him, hit his with a cusion and kicked him hard. Thank goodness!

 

[rockin r]

Geeeeeeeeeeeez! Im glad it did not bite you! And your babies are okay. No your not crazy, just protecting your youngins..

 

[REO]

It woulda had to catch me first! Yeah I don't think, I just react if "mine" is in danger. The kittens are still fine!

 

[LittleRibbie]

Good Lordy you crazy girl..."put a boot in your Ars' its the American protective mothers way" is more like it!! Good for you!!

 

[SampleMM]

OMG---Robin!! I would never EVER grab a skunk tail. I am scared to death of skunks and I would have ran 90 miles an hour the other way. I guess I'm a bad mom but I know that I would have high tailed it out of there. Glad you are okay but do think you better have it tested for rabies. Is that normal for a skunk to keep coming after you? It just doesn't sound right.