The Black Cats were 1-0 up through Asamoah Gyan when with 19 minutes left Cattermole cleared a goal-bound Kenwyne Jones header off the line.
Stoke were appealing for a goal, and replays proved inconclusive, but they did show Cattermole handled the ball off the line before clearing.
Gyan then added his second to wrap up the win for Bruce's side as they bounced back from their 5-1 hammering at Newcastle last week.
"I think it clips the bar, that takes it away from Cattermole, there is no disputing it is handball," he said.
"We got away with one but we might have won 2-1 anyway, they at the time were shouting for a goal and I think the referee got that right but there is no hiding it was handball.
"We have plenty of occasions this year where it hasn't gone for us. Whether it is pivotal who knows, after the week we have had, we are due a bit of luck."
Bruce admits it has been a hard week for everyone at the club following their 5-1 defeat to local rivals Newcastle last week.
"It has been a tough week, you have all been in the North East long enough, I am pleased with all the players, the young players they will all learn from it and they were determined to try and make amends and we have repaired some damage, thankfully it showed some bottle after a really difficult week," he said.
"The players have worked extremely hard all week."
Bruce also paid tribute to his two-goal hero Gyan - who featured up front on his own after Darren Bent suffered a hamstring injury.
"He was tremendous and gave us the spark we needed," he said.
"He has been patient, but we have done physical work with him after the World Cup and I think he needed it to make sure he could come up to speed, but we always knew he could give us that spark."
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