Should I adopt a cat if there are foxes living at the bottom of the garden?

[DoALittleDance]

My beloved cat died last year at the age of 18 and I finally feel ready to offer a home to a rescue cat.

I've moved house recently (am in a big city) and have a small garden which backs onto a neighbour's garden, which is completely filled with dead trees, an abandoned shed and lots of building rubble/junk.

Many nights I hear scrabbling around and last night saw three foxes digging around. It's a perfect place for them as it's quiet and hard to get to.

Should I hold off getting a cat - are they likely to attack a cat? Any advice appreciated as I've never dealt with the fox thing before.

Thanks :)

I found this and it looks like a cat would be ok.

i dont think that foxes are as much of a threat to a young healthy cat as people think they are, its kittens and elderly cats because they are vunerable that seem to get got by foxes but this would be the same if there were dogs in the garden by you, and remember cats still have an awsome set of weapons on thier paws which they will use if a fox came near, the main thing you would have to watch out for with urban foxes is fleas, ticks and mange, i would suggest if you are going to adopt a rescue cat look for a fairly big , young maybe male cat who could hold his own if confronted with a fox

A policy of keeping the cat in at night/after dark would lower the risks, too.

Great advice, thank you :)
Phoning the local RSPCA now!

My parents used to feed the local foxes scraps and really cheap dog food. Never once did theirs or any immediate area cats get harmed by the fox population, lol!

We have lots of foxes around our way - we don't have a catflap so I keep the cats in at night (except lately when they don't come in cos they want to play out at night as it's warm!!)

We have some (very noisy) foxes in our area and none of the cats have been attacked. Then again if you keep your cat in at night (as you'll know anyway from having your previous kitty for such a long age!) he/she will be fine.

The RSPCA will be able to advise you too.

We have rabbits, foxes, badgers and deer nearby. The cats don't seem bothered, the fox is often out in the daylight catching rabbits, but I think the flea population is quite high.

We have several fox families round us, and our cats (and other cats) seem fine. The mother fox chases one of our cats up the house the other week which really worried us as we weren't sure what her motivation was, but the cat didn't seem overly bothered and other that they leave each other alone. Our cats (whilst HUGE) are utterly wimps and run away from other cats and come running to us for help if another cat comes in the garden, however they're quite happy to sit a few feet away from foxes.

A few times we've got home to find one with a big puffed up tail looking a little bit alarmed, but no big deal. I do worry, but there's nothing you can do really except chase the foxes away whenever you see them so they know the garden is not their territory. I do worry what will happen when our cats are older and weak (all the info seems to suggest that foxes really only attack older or ill cats). Our vet is very laid back about it, and in London it seems par for the course anyway.

Get a maine coon - big and cuddly!