McDonald turned to find her female dog, Precious, being chased by a bobcat that ran into her home.
"He came right in," she said.
McDonald said the bobcat rushed around her home before leaping on top of her 6-foot tall display cabinet where it knocked down candle holders and picture frames.
The bobcat eventually left the house after McDonald opened the door fully, but Precious, the 9-year-old dog, had sustained serious injuries from bites to the head, ear and neck.
"She was bleeding like a little stuffed hog...poor little thing," she said.
A veterinarian said the dog is expected to survive and McDonald said she planned to keep her back doors shut from now on.
Neighbor Louise Chen said she had seen the bobcat in the neighborhood before, but never expected it would enter a home.
"That's giving me goose bumps. Yes, a little scary," she said.
Jamey Cantrell of Plano Animal Services said the encounter was "highly unusual" and while instances of bobcats attacking pets occur about twice a month, this was the first he'd heard of a bobcat entering a residence in his 20 years working in Animal Services.
McDonald said the bizarre attack would be a memory that she will carry with her for some time.
"That memory will be burned in my mind forever," she said.
