IN a startling incident, a man is left with a staggering RM17,000 hospital bill after being bitten by his brother’s pet cat.

Based on social media post by Ikhwan, the distressing event unfolded when the British Shorthair cat, exhibiting unexpected aggression, sank its teeth into the man’s wrist, causing severe puncture wounds.

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Ikhwan, explained that his brother was bitten by the cat, which was likely provoked by either unfamiliarity or improper handling.

“The bite was quite deep. He ended up with a hole and had to be hospitalised to flush out the toxins. It’s really unfortunate,” he wrote, accompanied by a photo showing five deep bite marks on the wrist.

Following the attack, Ikhwan confined the cat to a cage for several days to prevent further incidents.

In a separate post, he revealed the hospital bill amounted to RM16,858.75.

The tweet has garnered nearly 6 million views, with users expressing their surprise and sharing their own pet-related injury stories.

One user posted images of blood from a cat scratch, while another shared photos of deep scratches on her hand from a cat disturbed by a neighbouring feline.

“Just when I thought the picture of the bite was disturbing enough, the bill makes it even worse,” one user called Luna commented.

Knightspeed1 wrote: “Damn... getting bitten by a tiger won’t be as expensive as this.”