While her daughter was stroking the long-haired white and orange tabby in the living room, the feline leisurely walked downstairs.But when Mickey emerged from the basement-area of the home, it was “ ... a different animal ... it looked as though it was possessed.”
Ears flat back, hair standing on end and eyes bulging, Mickey lunged across the dining room and attacked her daughter, biting through her jeans and slicing into her leg.
When the cat released its grip, it continued coming at the girl, shrieking and hissing.
What do they have in the basement, a pharmacy? Besides, naming a cat after a mouse has got to inflict severe emotional trauma.
The orange cat theory ping.
Ping
That cat got into something. If rabies and previous head injuries were ruled out, it's gotta be chemical.
It wasn't smart of them to test only for rabies. If the cat ingested a toxic substance, they'd be better off knowing if it is something they have inside their house. Especially with a child living on the premises. A vet or an animal control officer could have caught or sedated the cat, and caged it for testing. It's done all the time.
Sudden onset of that type of uncharacteristic behavior sounds far more like the cat was poisoned, seriously injured or partially electrocuted than it does anything else. Shooting the animal in the chest wasn't a solution, it was a failure of human intelligence.
"...the feline leisurely walked downstairs."
"But when Mickey emerged from the basement-area of the home, it was “ ... a different animal ... it looked as though it was possessed.”
"There was a concern the animal could get lodged in the crawl space of the home, which was under partial renovation."
Like other people here, my first guess is that the cat consumed something in the basement. The cat could have had strychnine poisoning, but I think the cat ate some kind of toxic fluid or material containing lead being used in the renovation of the house. I remember reading the warning label on a large container of material used in construction, it contained lead.
Some symptoms of Strychnine poisoning are agitation and excitability.
Some symptoms of lead poisoning are fits, excitation, and hysteria.
The bizarre ordeal began when the family’s 12-year-old daughter arrived home from school Wednesday evening and fed the feline, ‘Mickey,’a sugar cube that the nice man by the fence gave her.
They didn't have to do all that to get rid of their cat...
Boys Eat Cat That Stole Christmas Dinner
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/812630/posts
I wonder if the owner had a gun. I wouldn't have waited for the police. He'd have received a hollow-point between the eyes. Done!
He saw a ghost. End of story.
snip
The officer shot the cat square in the chest with his Beretta .40-calibre handgun.
“Even after he shot it, that cat was so hopped up — we’re talking about a little, eight-pound cat — Mickey ran down the hall into the bathroom and jumped into the tub,” the husband recollected. “He didn’t die for at least five minutes ... he was all nerves and adrenaline ... he wasn’t in his right mind.”
Sounds like this cat got into some really powerful stuff (drugs). Someone should run some drug tests on his blood.
Psycho cat PING.
It must have wandered down to the Pet Semetery
In ancient Egypt and Siam, cats were used to guard temples. They had little ledges just inside the doors where the cats would perch and if anyone but the priests would come in, well...Let's just say that my wife used to have a Siamese cat who could corner people in a room. I have great respect for a cat that has come "unstuck" like this.
Who said demon possession still doesn't happen?
Maybe a stroke or similar medical problem. Sad but necessary killing.
Basement? Eat a bad spider?
My cats loves spiders. Every now and then he gets hold of a bad one. He is sick for a few days. The funny thing is that we know when he had one. His face balls up.
Cat Whisperer?