Bleeding from three bites, wearing only the housecoat she had on to go grab her morning newspaper, an elderly woman upended an attacking, rabies-crazed cat in the street in front of her home!! 

With her hand tight around its tail, she was able to beat the feline into submission against a nearby utility pole.Turning the black and white stray cat into a club and “beating the devil out of it” was what saved her from further injury Friday morning in a bizarre assault in front of stunned neighbors, she said.

An examination of the deceased cat revealed the presence of rabies.

The snarling animal went first for her legs, delivering two painful bites. As Blankenship sought to defend herself with her hands, the cat gnawed into one of them.

Thirty cases of rabid animals have been confirmed in the state this year, slightly below average, the Virginia Department of Health said. While confrontations this dramatic between rabid critters and humans are relatively rare, bites involving rabies aren’t.

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