[HairOfTheDog]

There are much more humane ways to put it down than to try to shoot it. Your odds of holding it still enough and killing it without unnecessary suffering are pretty slim IMHO.

If you decide the cat is insane, take it to the pound, or take it to your vet, and have them do it, please!

If the cat isn't always insane, then I would wait. If it freaked because there was a bad fight outside, it might have thought it was being attacked and couldn't tell from where....

Perhaps sleep with the cat in a secure place outside closed bedroom doors for awhile and see.... Is the cat usually wild or usually nice and calm?

(I am going back to bed now... its early here, I was just sleepwalking.)

[M.K. Borders]

Thank you for your thoughts. Understand that the unnecessary suffering of the beast is not a great concern at this time. What I am concerned with is any medical conditions that would cause an animal to react this way. A virus or such which can be communicated to others.

[HairOfTheDog]

Good questions...

I walked away with more questions too.

Are you sure that the cat really attacked her or was just running freaked about the fight outside and just ran over her racing around the room?.... It doesn't make a big distinction for your daughter's injury, but it does speak to the odds of it happening again.

How long have you had the cat? - Is it young? Old? Male/Female? Indoor/Outdoor, both? Spayed/neutered?

Are you sure your daughter was really asleep, or did she wake up and try to grab the cat up because the cat was freaking? That scenario does seem like normal behavior, at least for a freaked cat and a normal daughter, but she may have fibbed about what really happened.

How does your daughter feel about it?