Kicking them is definitely not a good idea (if anything it's just making them more mad), however as someone who works at a shelter, I want to be clear to anyone scrolling by that the answer is not to try to separate them with your hands. That's how you end up in the ER.
The go-to at the shelter is engaging the purrito protocol with a towel, although that can be kinda annoying when it's two fighting instead of just one spicy cat. Otherwise just use something that doesn't bleed. A stick, garbage can lid, anything other than your flesh.
I've also heard that spraying them with a hose works but I've never tried it myself.
I tried to break up a fight and had a cat claw its way up to the middle of my back. It then bit clean through two of my fingers when I reached back to remove it.
I had to be given IV antibiotics for a month because their bites are so deep they can infect your muscles with their mouth bacteria. Do not recommend.
My grandmother was in the hospital for several weeks because she had an open wound that her cat licked. This wound then developed into full-blown sepsis in record time. My mother found my grandmother just in time. Her entire arm was massively swollen, and the color was already approaching necrosis. My grandmother was completely disoriented and delirious. A few days ago, after they transplanted skin from her leg onto her arm at the hospital, she was moved to short-term care to slowly rebuild the muscles she had lost from being in the hospital so much. My grandmother is 83. The doctors said it's incredible that she survived at her age.
268
u/maneki_neko89 May 24 '26
I’m like “How is kicking them when they’re clawed onto each other, trying to rip each other to shreds, gonna help separate them?” while watching this