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Original poster

Our young smallish cat got chased by a fox on her first day outdoors

55 replies

Nathalie1975 · 27/05/2021 07:25

Re-posting this in Chat as I didn't have many replies in The litter tray.

We have a just over 1 year old female cat, Cleo. We kept her indoors as a kitten but thought it was time to allow her out. We are first time cat owners and a bit nervous so we got her a gps tracker and for the last 2 weeks we let her out in the garden for 1 hour each day supervised. On Monday we decided it was time to give her more freedom so I let her out on her own in the morning and she spent several hours exploring the garden and going in and out of the house. But then at some point in the afternoon I heard a scramble and saw a big fox chasing her through the garden. I screamed and the fox ran away but obviously now I am terrified of letting her out on her own again. I am gutted because before that happened she was having the time of her life. I keep reading that foxes are not a risk to cats but then why was the fox chasing her? Would love to hear experiences of people who have outdoor cats in a fox populated area. Thank you.

OP posts:
Tippytappytoes · 27/05/2021 08:46

Likely the fox saw her as a competitor for any food or prey in the area the fox considers it territory, hence chasing her away. They do it to each other in my garden.

Original poster
Nathalie1975 · 27/05/2021 08:53

So you think the fox wasn't seeing her as food? I am worried because she is not very big. And also I am not sure she has a sense f danger. She wasn't phased at all after it happened.

OP posts:
Original poster
Nathalie1975 · 27/05/2021 08:57

This is her with her gps tracker.

Our young smallish cat got chased by a fox on her first day outdoors
OP posts:
PieElla · 27/05/2021 08:59

Gosh, does that tracker not annoy her?

Honestly, try not to worry. Cats (in the main) like the freedom to go outside and it probably won't be the first time she's chased by something. She'll be pretty nimble on her feet so will be able to get away from a fox

I'd remove the at cumbersome tracker and just let her crack on

MrsCatE · 27/05/2021 09:00

Foxes will kill cats.

thenonsensepotter · 27/05/2021 09:01

It looks like you've sellotaped a doorbell to her collar

Original poster
Nathalie1975 · 27/05/2021 09:02

She's not bothered by the tracker at all. But it was just for our peace of mind when we first let her out just in case she went too far and didn't find her way back. I don't think we will be using it long term.

OP posts:
Mumdiva99 · 27/05/2021 09:05

That's very worrying for you. I can't believe she wasn't phased by it. Did she puff up? If not it maybe that they were just playing.

My cats are 11 months and have been going out for a while. I still check them periodically and yesterday had to rescue 1 from 2 persistent magpies.....I had to rescue her last week too. Lol. OH says I fuss too much. Ours play with a couple of the local cats, are indifferent or subservient to some of the cats and OH had to rescue ours from one cat that wanted to fight them and chase them. I swear I'm greyer now than I was before.

As for your cat vs the fox - cats can climb trees and fences but foxes can't. So if you have these in the garden I'm sure the cat could get away.

Original poster
Nathalie1975 · 27/05/2021 09:05

@thenonsensepotter

It looks like you've sellotaped a doorbell to her collar
Yes it does. When I first received it I thought it was huge but she is absolutely fine with it.
OP posts:
nevertrustaherdofcows · 27/05/2021 09:10

Foxes can climb!

My neighbour's cat chases the vixen that comes into our garden.

ChasedByFox · 27/05/2021 09:16

This happened to me! I growled at it, and it ran off, so maybe teach her to growl?

Um, I'm a lot bigger than a fox, so that may have had more to do with it...

DentonsFringeArnottsWaistcoat · 27/05/2021 09:20

It’s extremely unlikely that a fox will even attempt to harm a healthy adult cat. Especially if she seemed unfazed by the experience - her claws and teeth will be a good deterrent for the fox. It may have been chasing her off as a rival predator but, as prey? No. I’ve got a fox earth at the end of the garden and we’ve had foxes for all of the twenty years I’ve lived here. I’ve had three of my own cats in that time and there’s been four neighbouring cats that have preferred my garden to their own Grin, none of them have ever had an issue with even the boldest fox (who wasn’t even scared of our enormous dog).

lubeybooby · 27/05/2021 09:20

I've had 4 outdoor cats in my time in an area with a lot of foxes and never had a problem, it used to worry me too but if anything the foxes are scared of the cats. I agree it was probably just a territory based chasing off

Meruem · 27/05/2021 09:21

My last outdoor cat had its paw almost bitten clean off by a fox. It came home with it hanging on by a thread. The vet managed to reattach it but confirmed it was a fox that had done it. We’re in London but we have urban foxes. I don’t know if they’re inclined to be more or less aggressive than rural ones.

I’ve just gone for indoor cats now. I specifically went for breeds that make good indoor cats. As what with the foxes and the traffic it’s just too much of a worry.

Tippytappytoes · 27/05/2021 09:23

@Nathalie1975

So you think the fox wasn't seeing her as food? I am worried because she is not very big. And also I am not sure she has a sense f danger. She wasn't phased at all after it happened.
It’s extremely rare for a fox to kill a cat. They are, for the most part, opportunistic hunters and scavengers. Why risk being hurt by a cats claws and teeth when you can just raid bins?
mermaidsariel · 27/05/2021 09:25

I think you have to let your cat out without that huge tracker weighing her down and trust that things will be fine. I’ve had lots of cats and they’ve never been hurt by a fox. You can’t protect your pets from everything. They are animals.

Seeingadistance · 27/05/2021 10:28

I had an elderly cat killed by a fox. She was about 20 years old, and was getting a little deaf which meant the fox was able to sneak up on her when she was sleeping. I can only guess what exactly happened, but all I found of her was her tail.

Boood · 27/05/2021 11:44

You can get much smaller trackers than that. My cat has one called Tabcat that is about the size of a £2 coin.
Remember what others have said- cats are much, much faster than foxes and can climb trees, foxes can’t. Now she has been chased and frightened, she’ll probably give foxes a much wider berth.
I think your cat would lose far more in terms of stimulation and interest if you kept her in than she’d benefit from being protected from a fairly remote risk.

user1471538283 · 27/05/2021 12:10

I always think that cats need to be able to go outside. I understand your concerns but I bet the fox thought that your cat was competition for food. She may even get frightened with other cats but it is part of having an outdoor cat.

Motnight · 27/05/2021 12:14

A fox killed my cat. And was able to jump on and off fences.

Heyha · 27/05/2021 12:19

I've seen one of our cats actually playing with a fox in our garden, I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. These are well-fed rural foxes though. I do think if you're worried about her ability to escape anything like that the GPS needs to come off sooner rather than later as it will hinder her on the rare chance that she does need to get away from something.

mybrainhertz · 27/05/2021 12:42

Could you catproof your garden so the cat can't actually escape? There are various ways of doing this and companies out there who sell brackets etc. to fix it up. My cats are confined to the garden as I've lost two to the road before.

Original poster
Nathalie1975 · 27/05/2021 13:55

@Boood

You can get much smaller trackers than that. My cat has one called Tabcat that is about the size of a £2 coin. Remember what others have said- cats are much, much faster than foxes and can climb trees, foxes can’t. Now she has been chased and frightened, she’ll probably give foxes a much wider berth. I think your cat would lose far more in terms of stimulation and interest if you kept her in than she’d benefit from being protected from a fairly remote risk.
Tabcat is a different type of tracker, it is not GPS so is best for short distances. If we find that she doesn't wander far we'll be looking at getting a Tabcat as it is more precise than GPS.
OP posts:
Original poster
Nathalie1975 · 27/05/2021 13:57

@mybrainhertz

Could you catproof your garden so the cat can't actually escape? There are various ways of doing this and companies out there who sell brackets etc. to fix it up. My cats are confined to the garden as I've lost two to the road before.
no unfortunately we can't because we have a "mature" garden with lots of plants, shrubs and trees climbing on or growing against the fences. It would mean cutting it all off and we don't want to do that.
OP posts:
Original poster
Nathalie1975 · 27/05/2021 14:00

@user1471538283

I always think that cats need to be able to go outside. I understand your concerns but I bet the fox thought that your cat was competition for food. She may even get frightened with other cats but it is part of having an outdoor cat.
I agree, I want her to be able to go outside. Especially now that she has experienced it.
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