What you just saw was animal abuse, which is a felony in 49 states (not Iowa - write your congressman).
Note how the kid and dad tried to corral the thing after they threw it? It's a pet they were trying to get back. If it was a wild bobcat they would have ran in the house and hid, certainly the parents would have protected the kid.
It seems obvious to me that they were taking their cat to the vet, it got out of the crate, he caught it, got mad/scared/scratched, and then threw it as far as he could. That's violent and abusive, although I suppose you could argue the frightened cat provoked him.