title: [Postmortem bite injuries cause by a domestic cat].
abstract: A 70-year-old farmer was found dead in front of a barn. The emergency doctor did not note any significant findings at the external examination of the body. When the corpse was picked up by the undertaker, he noticed facial injuries. Several domestic cats were strolling around the barn at this time. External examination by a forensic pathologist revealed both sharp and crenated wound margins around the removed ear with punctured stabs adjacent to the mutilation. Further small perforating but not mutilating skin lesions were found also on other parts of the face. Given the typical morphology of the skin lesions and the observation of cats at the death scene, it is concluded that the injuries were inflicted by at least one domestic cat. In the forensic literature, reports on depredation of human corpses by cats are rare. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of outdoor cat depredation in the early postmortem interval. The case shows that domestic cats feed on human corpse even if other food is available.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Rechtsmedizin, Universität Hamburg.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Sperhake
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsokos
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D001733:Bites and Stings / Q000473:pathology*; D002415:Cats; D005151:Facial Injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D012867:Skin / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology