My poor kitty go chased by a fox

[OlafLovesAnna]

At 9.30 am!

We moved to a new house in Oct when our kittens (x3) were 6 months. Since then they have only been allowed out when I am in the house and can leave a door open. This is the very first house they have been allowed outside in and they generally just pop out to climb a few trees in the garden but don't stay out too long. I always bring them back in before I go out and generally it's pretty easy to round them up as they are very bonded to one another and very motivated by food!

This morning girlcat came in without her brothers and was a bit spooked but sat on my lap for a while. I saw boycat 1 wander in but didn't see his brother so I shook the biscuits which usually brings all three of them running. No boycat 2.

Anyway, I closed the door so the others stayed in ans went on the hunt for him. I saw him from the kitchen window up a small tree he often likes to climb so I opened the front door to let him in.

When he saw me he started mewing piteously but not getting down. When I stepped into the garden to see if he was stuck I saw what I thought was another cat run under the car. My cat legged it into the house and a HUGE fox ran down the garden into a bush!

I thought foxes were crepuscular or nocturnal? I always bring the kitties in before dark so they don't encounter any foxes as I know there are lots around.

Are foxes diurnal now? And do they hurt cats given half a chance?

Pic of cat recovering on DDs bed and the 3 of them in their own cosy bed.

3 cats

Oh, only 1 pic 🤷‍♀️

Foxes seem to come out whenever they fancy. Especially if they are fed but people.

They tend to know when people are around & when living rurally often found they would appear in the middle of the day when most people were out at work!

I have encountered a couple now living in a town in the middle of the day but seen more at night here.

That could be it - we're in a large village but there are woods/fields very close by.

Foxes prefer dawn and dusk but will come out anytime as environment around them dictates (human activity etc) or hunger demands.
I think it deoends on the cat/fox I watched my neighbours cat come face to face with a fox on the path at the end of our gardens.... both went still and eyeba;;ed each other for ages. Then the fox turned tail and legged it away as fast as it could go. Cat not especially large or fierce but clearly didn't blink first.
I think a cornered cat would put up some decent resistance and most foxes would not be desperate enough to persist and would go for easier meals. But for timid personalities just the sight of another predator would be enough to scare them so even if the fox has no interest it could still scare your cats just being there.
A very aggressive fox *might8 be bold enough to attack... don't think thyere is a cut and dried answer to this one unfiortunately. If the cats have access to a tree they should be OK as they will instinctively run up it and fox can't follow.

Had a cat once that would sleep on our lawn on sunny days along with the local mother fox, and later with the cubs. They kept an eye on each other but essentially were very civil. I think the den was under our shed.

Obviously depends on the fox/cat combo!

Thank you that's helpful.

I'm a bit precious about the kittens having seen them be born (I started a thread) then bringing the 3 that couldn't be homed back from Portugal when we moved.

I posted the story on our family WhatsApp group (me, DH and 2 teenage sons) and there was much concern for their welfare!

I think I'll continue to let them out just when I'm around until they're a bit bigger.

We have foxes in the field next door to us.

They are mainly around at dusk but I do occasionally see them in our garden during the day.

Dcat has had an occasional stand off with a fox but from what I can see they are mutually wary of each other with perhaps the fox being more scared of Dcat than the other way round. Dcat defends her garden although fox may defend his field in the same way.

I don't mind the foxes. They are actually lovely to watch. I do leave out scraps for them at night. I don't want them being too hungry. I think a starving fox is more risky to pets than a fox that has had some food. I certainly don't encourage them to become less timid though. Food is left at the end of the garden and if I see one during the day I will make sure it runs away from me if I go outside.

Aww cute cat.

Foxes can be out in the daytime if the weather has been cold/wet and they’re hungry. Ime cats and foxes co-exist quite happily. They chase each other if there is a food source/territory to determine who is more dominant which more often than not is the cat. My frail elderly cat even used to chase (very slowly) the foxes away if they came in our garden, they were terrified of her 😂
(You’ll have the fox haters turn up soon telling you that foxes rip cats to shreds for the fun of it. Just remember it is very very rare for a fox to kill a cat).

Give your cats time and I’m sure they’ll build up their confidence and will be chasing the foxes away in no time.

Foxes will generally chase and lift anything. My neighbours little dog got taken out the garden by one. Ot was a long time ago and she did get the little dog back. Iirc I think it had been wearing its coat at the Tim and that's how the fox picked it up so easily. Don't think it was injured either.

Most cats handle fixes just fine (mutual ignoring), but you say yours are new to the great outdoors so he got spooked. I'm sure they will get used to the other creatures out there - I'd be more worried about when he meets the local tom!
My cats are seven months and the male definitely goes further afield than the female, but they are Maine Coons so big. Foxes don't worry me at all.

We have a small woodland type park at the back of our house and lots of the neighbours have cats. You can hear foxes and cats shouting at each other and squaring up to each other quite a lot.

The foxes round here are indiscriminate. Doesn't help that people feed them. One of last years Cubs is so friendly people on the allotment across the path can feed it by hand. They spend a lot of time mooching around our garden and the street communal areas at all hours of the day

We have foxes in the woods near us and they can often be spotted in people’s gardens during the day - they like to sunbathe.
Most of us have cats and it doesn’t seem to be a problem at all

My cats are titchy - their mother was a rescued feral but despite being with us from birth they are much smaller than average.

I don't mind foxes as a rule and knew they used the garden as a thoroughfare so you're probably right, the cats just have to get used to everything that's out there and find the best way of handling it.

I tried to post another photo of the little loves but the laptop wont let me bizarrely.