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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

A bit of a tricky situation - cats and predators in rural areas WWYD

4 replies

Lunde · 13/11/2019 20:23

We live in a very rural area of central Sweden. We have had a lot of snow in the past week that means that the forest animals come down to the nearby river for water and look for food.

We have 4 rescue cats aged 4 to almost 16 (including 2 that were dumped in the dark forest and came to us in very poor condition). Our cats really like going out in the garden and sometimes over the road to the farm opposite. They are often out all day although we do try to get them in at night.

Yesterday the Farmer over the road came over to tell us that he thinks that there young cat (a very cute kitty) was killed by a lynx! We are not sure what to do about letting out cats out. We have kept ours in for 2 days as a short term precaution - but when should be risk letting them out again?

What is the risk of lynx/lödjur? Do we allow them out at all? Would daytime be better? (I think neighbours cat roams the farmyard at night).

The cats are acting in a very twitchy manner - they keep running to the windows so I am a little worried the lynx is out there,

OP posts:
TheSpottedZebra · 13/11/2019 21:54

Maybe try a Swedish site, ad this is a Uk-based one, and we don't have lynx here -or indeed anything that preys on cats!

BovaryX · 14/11/2019 15:10

Lunde, wow that would explain your cats’ behavior if a lynx is around! I don’t have any experience that’s helpful, but I would definitely try to keep them in at night. Good luck getting more specific advice from a Swedish site and hope your cats stay safe

viccat · 14/11/2019 17:02

Well, this is more common in the US and certainly the majority of cat owners there either keep their cats indoors only or build a safe outside space like a catio.

If you have a fenced garden, can you catproof the fences (look up Sanctuary SOS or Protectapet), or build a freestanding safe space for them like a catio, back onto your back door or a window?

I live in the UK and my cats only go to their catio/catproofed outside area because there's no way I'd take the risk with the amount of RTAs and nasty people out there. I guess at the end of the day the choice is yours. Free roaming cats are always at a risk, be it predators, cars or the many other dangers out there.

Fluffycloudland77 · 14/11/2019 19:36

I’d cat proof the garden or build a catio. YouTube has loads on the subject.

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