Are there any guidelines regarding the muzzling of greyhounds? On Saturday my cat was asleep just behind our garden fence and was attacked by a greyhound whose owner just seemed totally oblivious to what was happening.  The cat's leg is broken and she has to have surgery today to pin in, fortunately there are no other injuries.  It seems the owner doesn't even live in the area as i saw her from a distance this morning after her walk putting the dog in a car and driving away.  I am so angry because she just didnt seem to care about what was happening and just went on her way and also we have a huge vet bill to pay.  The vet did say that greyhounds should be muzzled but i don't think this is law. Irresponsible owners have a lot to answer for.

I too am sure this is not the law and the law regarding cats is not strong anyway you do not even have to report an incident. Had you been able to contact the owner of the Greyhound you could have asked for compensation but as it is I am sorry to say it will fall to you or your insurance to deal with this poor cats injuries. Do hope it is soon on the mend.

Yes, I agree there is no law, however depending on what kind of area you live in, if there are a lot of residential houses with cats, around a common/park etc, it may be worth contacting the dog warden and asking if they could have a word. The problem is many dogs will chase a cat but a Greyhound will catch it, so it is not unreasonable IMO if in a highly populated area with lots of cats around for a Greyhound to be advised by a dog warden to be muzzled if this were to become a problem.

Next time you see her take down the car reg number if you are not close enough to have a word, but it will depend on where you live. Unfortunately dogs will be dogs and it was not breaking the law, just more of a moral issue, though that is no comfort whatsoever to us cat owners.

Hope that your cat is soon recovered, I would be very upset too, and not wish this to ever happen again.

I am assuming your cat was off your property for the dog to reach it. 

Things like this can happen very quickly and the dogs owner may not have been aware of anything or seen the cat until too late. 

I assume the dog was off lead in an area where this is allowed? 

If not then they can be fined for having a dog off lead on a public highway, it's £500 in the neighbouring councils area and up to a £1000 here.

Irresponsible owners have a lot to answer for.

I'm really sorry about your cat (and the dog owner should at least have checked the cat was alright), but it works both ways -it's just as irresponsible to allow a cat outside your property unsupervised. Animals are animals and a dog isn't going to know the difference between somebody's pet and a wild rabbit. The breed is incidental, it could have been any dog. I had a cat attacked by a dog in the late 80s, so I've never let a cat outside again without having a fully enclosed run. That way I know they are safe.

I appreciate what you are saying but it's not practical to keep a cat in a run all the time.  On this occasion she was about 2 feet behind our garden, in her usual sunbathing spot. All the neighbours know she is likely to be there and keep their dogs away.  This owner and dog aren't local. I know it's instinct for some dogs to chase cats but in this area where there are thousands of rabbits as well, i think the owner should have muzzled the dog as greyhounds are renouned for chasing small animals.  It's what they are trained for after all.  Apart from which we are only a few hundred feet from the cliff edge and its a 300 ft drop to the beach.  Several dogs have gone over the edge while chasing rabbits so i guess this owner doesn't know that either or she may have kept her greyhound on a lead.

I know i'm sounding off a bit, but i am sad for my cat having a broken leg, surgery to pin it and having to be kept caged for 6 weeks and a greyhound owner who just strugged it off.

I have a greyhound and no it is not law that they are muzzled and most don't need it as they are very gentle lazy dogs. 
However it could have been any breed that would do this, its not just greyhounds, but like all breeds the dog should be under control in a public place.
Sadly accidents do happen andI would say this is a very very sad accident had the owner had the decency to come and apologise and see if there was anything they could do.
But unfortunatly it sounds like a case of irresponsible owner giving this breed a bad name and your poor cat has had to bear the brunt of it.
I hope your dear cat makes a full recovery soon and i do think if you see this person again you  should certainly have a word with them about keeping thier dog under control or report them.

I will have a word with the owner if i see her again.  I would hate this to happen again to someone else and maybe a gentle word with her might help her be a bit more aware in the future.  Thanks for your good wishes.  Puss is coming home tomorrow hopefully after an operation yesterday to pin her leg. She has been in the vet since Saturday afternoon and is apparently getting a bit grumpy.

Just an update really.  Puss still has her leg bandaged.  The break is mending ok but the dog bite is proving more troublesome.  They are having problems getting the infection under control where the teeth went into the leg and she has to go to the vet every 2 or 3 days to have the dressing changed which is very time consuming and very upsetting for Puss.  The vet can't give any idea how long all this is going to take but at the moment the area of infection is about the size of a man's thumb.  Where the infection got hold, there isn't any skin to stitch together so we have to wait for her body to repair the hole somehow.  As you can imagine this is getting very expensive.

Please greyhound owners, be aware of what can happen.  I know it's inbred that they chase small furry creatures but some of these creatures are beloved pets.

"Where the infection got hold, there isn't any skin to stitch together so we have to wait for her body to repair the hole somehow."
Having been in a similar situation with a massive, deep wound with no skin left to stitch over the problem was solved by using Calendula ointment.That's the ointment, not skin cream. Absolutely amazing result as although the ointment initially appears to run off as it's applied to the warm animal after a few applications the healing starts from the bottom upwards. The skin will then be pulled in to close the wound. Might be worth a try Chrissy if your Vet agrees.

Calendula has anti-inflamatory properties and is a natural antibiotic, plus promotes regeneration of tissue. I was amazed that in a rather difficult situation I had cured a serious problem with a product so cheaply available from a Chemist or Health Food Shop. I have been using it for years and never been let down.

poor Pus.  I really hope she gets better and soon.
It does make me very angry when people let dogs off lead unmuzzelled when they do not have sufficient recall to stop that dog if it sees something it fancies attacking. I'm not saying muzzle on a lead nor never let the dog off a lead but if you know you haven't got proper control then either muzzle or keep on lead.
accidents happen yes but lot of people are fully aware they have no control once that leads off and when something happens in those circumstances it is not an accident.

Might be worth trying the dressings with Silver in them, they can be very useful for infections. Expensive but worth it if it helps.

Thanks very much for the suggestion.  I will mention it to my vet on Friday when i see him again.  We've been so often recently, he feels like part of the family!

The vet bill is £2,500 at the moment (thank goodness for insurance) so the cost of anything that will help isnt an issue, i just want her to be fit and well again.  Thanks so much for the suggestion, i will ask the vet on Friday when i see him again,if he thinks this will help.

It makes me really angry as the greyhound's owner was totally oblivious of what her dog was doing and didn't seem to have any control at all of the dog.  If the dog doesn't respond to recall then i agree either muzzle or keep it on a lead.  Its people like this that get dogs a bad press when it's the owners who are at fault, not the dog.  Sorry to sound off but it makes me so angry, not just for my cat, but for anyone else's pet who is hurt in this way.

Ask your vet to try  manuka honey dressings,
there not cheap but do work, they are medical grade - so are safe to use,
they can help speed up healing quite a bit.

http://www.newzealandhoneyshop.co.uk/manuka-honey/apinate-dressing.html?gclid=CJSn7MLRxqICFUOY2Aod10UyHg

Thanks for the suggestion.  I like the sound of that as its natural. I will mention it to the vet on Friday.

> Ask your vet to try manuka honey dressings

that was just what I was going to suggest, it has great anti-bacterial qualities.  When I was 5 I had a pot of tea poured over my arm and every day my Mum slavered me with honey and I don't have any scars. It's great stuff.