The year-and-a-half-old cat named Khat suddenly attacked three members of the family in Roseville, California, causing superficial wounds.
Firefighters had to throw a blanket on the animal to get it into a cage.
"The cat ran and jumped on his leg and was like, attached to him," the cat's owner, who requested not to be identified, told 'News10 ABC'.
"He's never been an aggressive cat, he's never been mean, he just flipped," he said.
The cat is being examined by a local branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).