Never Bite A Cat's Ear

Never bite a cat's ear. While this may seem obvious, unfortunately I learned this life lesson the hard way.

I was playing with my cat and he gave me a big smack on my neck. I retaliated and flicked his ears. He didn't like that and bit my left ear. So, being socially dense, I went all in, picked him up and bit his ear. In hindsight, it's pretty clear that holding a cat in the air so you can bite his ear is a pretty dumb thing to do since he is armed with incisors and 4 paws full of razor sharp claws.

A split second later I felt this sharp pain in my left eye. I couldn't see and blood was streaming down my face. I let him go (first smart thing I'd done in the last minute) and staggered into the kitchen to find help.

I got rushed to the ER and a plastic surgeon used 11 stitches to sew my eyelid back together. Fortunately there was no loss of vision or nerve damage.

Hey, I was only 6. And I've never bitten another cat since. Lesson learned.