Cat killed by wild animal?

How often do cats get killed and disemboweled by wild animals? We need help trying to decide if our cat was killed by some wild animal or worse; by an insane human. Then we need help in trying to decide what to do.

Cat was large 8 month old male, NEUTERED, house cat. He would ask to go out about 3 times a day and would come back in after about an hour. He never went farther than the next door neighbor's homes on either side of us. They all knew him and liked him.

He went MISSING ABOUT 3 WEEKS AGO. We put up posters all over, ran ads in the newspapers, went to all the neighbors, not just the ones next to us, and looked in ALL areas that were woodsy... as we live in town. No cat. Looked all over our yard, under bushes everywhere. No cat. Three weeks, no cat.

Then this morning, on the cement patio right outside our back door... where we go out on several times a day... there he was. Gutted. BUT there was NO BLOOD ANYWHERE AROUND HIM. He was not decomposed. There were no other signs that he had been bitten, broken, anything... just his abdominal contents removed.

Can't understand how he would have come home, AFTER THREE WEEKS, and been killed by a wild animal on our steps. BUT the alternative is that some sick person had him and killed him, and put him on our patio right where we would find him for some sick reason scares us.

There was a nut that came up to my daughter about 4 weeks ago and hit her repeatedly in the face, until she called the police. Then there was cyber bulling that was hateful after that, and before the cat/kitten went missing. I'm just hoping that this happens to cats more than I am aware of, for reasons that don't involve sick humans.

What should we do? Call the ASPCA? Call the police? How can we tell what happened to him?

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Wild Animals Most Likely
by: natt

My dog pulled a rabbit out from under a wood pile one time. It was cleanly gutted with all of the internal organs missing and no visible blood. I flung the rabbit over a barbwire fence. The next day the entire rabbit was gone without a trace. I believe it was probably a coyote or fox that ate the internal organs first and then came back for the meat later. Wild animals will usually eat the internal organs first as they are very high in calories and nutrients.

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Large cat eviscerated by raccoon
by: Danny

My neighbors very large and friendly orange tabby was found today in my back yard. I heard the fight at around 4:00am but it was still dark and couldn’t see much. The raccoon was only making soft growling sounds but the poor cat let out a horrible scream. It was all over in a couple minutes.

The cat was found on its side with a large opening made at the lower end of the rib cage. It was deep and dry inside with no significant amount of blood seen anywhere. His neck also showed severe injury. My brother who is medically trained, having worked on cadavers before, said the liver had been removed - quite likely eaten. A short amount of intestine was also hanging out. This is the second orange tabby killed this was in last couple years. We are fairly certain it is the huge raccoon that lives on our property, as we see it frequently.

This cat used to hear my brothers car and come running from a couple houses away because my brother would give it a real cat massage. Super nice animal to everybody so it’s really sad. We gave it a proper burial in our own back yard, but we don’t know how to tell our neighbor yet. Or even all the other neighbors who would give it so much attention.

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IT"S NOT COYOTES
by: Anonymous

Coyotes are rampant around here where I live now in southwest Virginia-- never were but are everywhere now-- Coyotes DO NOT KILL cleanly-- the make a MESS-- they fight over the meat and rip and tear their prey to shreds-- you'll find blood, fur- parts all over... if you find only two back legs- that is PEOPLE-- There is a certain group that does that- and I won't list it here- because I'll get censored-- but that group needs to be PUT OUT of this country- forever and never allowed back in. They have reputation as 'peaceful, just spiritual people"- yeah , right- bunch of TRASH-- I'd have no problem shooting any of them right between the eyes- it's a so called "religion"- and people let them get away with anything here for fear of 'offending" their sorry a..s!!!

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My cat is missing
by: JoAnn

My cat didn't come in last night. He usually comes running when he hears me.
This morning I went outside and found a lot of his fur on the lawn and in the garden. Tufts that appeared to have been torn out. I am beside myself with worry and guilt and the most horrible thoughts. He was attacked and wondered where I was and why I wasn't helping him. Oh Lord, I'm so sad.
There has been a large fox in the neighborhood. She must have a den nearby because we've seen her walking around on several nights. I've read that foxes don't attack dogs and cats, but I'm not so sure.

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My cat, same injuries, in CT
by: Julie

Looked like he was sleeping. Disemboweled. Insides gone. You could see his spine. Also a bite to the throat. Don't think it was coyote or bobcat. Saw a pack of big raccoons on my trail cam. I think it was them. So sad. He hated being inside. RIP 'TJ'

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Was she sacrificed? This happened October 1st
by: Anonymous

My 12 year old all black American long hair soulmate, protector "cat-dog" wandered off for the first time in 12 years away from me and did not come back to my calling. Very late in the night I heard her scream the longest loudest meow scream I never heard a cat do before. It woke me from my sleep and I didn't really recognize what was going on. The next morning I went to look for her and found her laying in the grass she looked like she was sleeping. Her beautiful black coat was nice and shiny and gently moving with the breeze. As I got closer I saw her entire entrails laid out in one long line about 10 ft long. Her stomach was full her lungs were inflated it was obvious she had not been hit by a car. There was no blood anywhere. As I walked closer and bent down to pick her up I realized her skeletal structure was gone. Only her skull and four arms on all four legs were still intact in her skin. She had been cut from the bottom of her chin all the way to her anus with Precision like a fillet knife. Again no blood anywhere. Beautiful dry coat just like every day. Entrails stretch straight out for 10 ft long. No puncture wounds no damage to her skull or tail and again the four bones to her four arms from the elbow down still there intact. When I stood back up and looked and her entrails I realized there was about a 10 x 10 square foot area of wet pavement as if someone had placed walls around that area and then it rained on it. Very strange scene. Very strange

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Carnivorous?
by: Curt

My wife witnessed a raccoon kill and eat about an 8 week old kitten. we feed the coons, could this be the problem?

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Cat killed by what?!??????
by: Betsy

I have a similar story. My cat went missing on about Sunday evening/Monday morning. There were some blood spots (not a ton) in the backyard, but she used to kill rats, so I wasn't sure if it was from one of her kills. Fast-forward it's Friday morning, and I go outside and notice something black in the grass. Totally out in the open, not hidden. It was not there after I found the blood spots 4 days prior.
It was a horror scene. There was our beautiful cat's head on the grass, her right leg, some bones. And NO BLOOD left on the grass where these parts were left. I called 911, they told me to call animal control. Animal control came out and took some pictures, but the officer said she had never seen anything like it. I at first thought it was so strange that it maybe could be a sick cruel person. The animal control officer thought it looked more like a wild animal because parts were strewn about. It was the single most horrific scene I have ever seen. I feel really bad that this happened to her and that she died a violent gruesome death right in her own backyard. Did they keep her half alive only to bring her back and shred her to pieces???

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What killed Brownie ?
by: Anonymous

My beautiful cat was killed last week but it had no marks, cuts, blood or anything. Just dead. I am not only brokenhearted but perplexed as to how he died. I also don't like letting my other cats out now as I am afraid another one will be killed.
Interestingly, the night after I found him, something came into my entranceway through the cat opening and messed up the area high and low. Coincidence or the same predator ?

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thank you for this
by: Anonymous

Im so glad i saw your post. My wife and i bought a home 1 year ago. The owner was renting it out to tenents. When we went through inspection we saw this energentic kitten/small cat. Fast forward few months later i befriend the cat i loved him. We feed him i played and hung out with him. He was the neighborhood cat. A couple of us wanted to adopt him but he had fleas my wife had bad swolleness by the bite marks. So around thanksgiving she no longer wanted him in the house. I felt bad because he was my friend i know that sounds crazy. Anyways i was walking home from the supermarket i live in an urban enviroment. Anyway i saw a cat that look just like him skin body fur was perfect but all his internal organs were lying out. Was very disturbed and depressed knowing i could have saved him. This will stick with me. We feen him and even bought him toys everything was fine until my wife had a bad reaction. Now the only good part about all this, is there is alot of stray cays in my area feral and not. Seriously every block you will find a stray cat roamin around. Theres a slim chance it could have been a different but im not going for a secomd look.Sorry for any typos. If anyone has any thoughts please feel free to respond. One more thing im not a cat person but this cat made me really see them in a different light and want to help them. Still hold hope it wasnt him but if so he deserved so much better. Shame on the owners who lift him out. Thanks for reading my post. Take care guys and gals

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Coon or weasel
by: Amy

It was a raccoon or a weasel. A weasel bites off the head and drinks the blood. Raccoons will also remove the head and disembowel them

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Call the Police!
by: Kurt (Admin)

@I'm afraid now...

I'm sorry to hear about your cat. That's horrible. I would call the police immediately!

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I'm afraid now.
by: Anonymous

I have two cats who tend to remain on the upstairs levels of our house. We never ever let them outside of the house, but strangely enough, I found one of my furry friends with her rib cage severed from her chest and lying apart from her body and her neck mangeled and her insides wrenched open. There was no blood, anywhere. I thought it may have been my dogs but there would've been blood on my dogs andthere wasn't. The other cat was left fine but we removed her from upstairs. I thought it may have been one of my brothers friends or maybe even paranormal. Im afraid because I mean, it happened in my own house!!! What should I do???

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Pebbles 6yo
by: Linda

a few months back I went searching for my 6 year old cat Pebbles as she is usually on the porch and is an indoor/outdoor cat I raised as a tiny baby. I live in wooded area.I found her down a small gully, by discarded sheet metal that sticks up and is dangerous. This junk is not on my property but on the person who owns 44 acres around me. She was dead and disemboweled. No blood, she had not been feasted on at all, her entrails hanging out. I climbed down the gully with a black bag and got her, tried to fix her by putting guase all around her and had her cremated. i examined her, no bites, nothing. I will always wonder how this happened. She didnt deserve to die like this. Cats are so agile, its hard to believe she got hung up on that sheet metal/tin and it was a terrible accident, or did a human do this.

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Cat killed by wild animal?
by: Anonymous

I just found my cat... dead same way... thought it was a wild animal... but not sure. No blood, just guts hanging out... dead

Editor's note: I'm sorry for your loss.
-Kurt

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Cat killed by wild animal?
by: Anonymous

We just also experienced my cat disemboweled and no blood...

Editor's note: I'm sorry for your loss.
-Kurt

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I'm very sorry for your loss
by: Kurt (Admin)

I'm terribly sorry for your loss, and I can't imagine the horror. A veterinarian or an expert who deals with wildlife would be able to tell if this was done by a wild animal. We have a wildlife commission in my state, and they should be able to get an expert who can tell.

I would start by calling the police. If this was done by a human, local authorities should be on alert. I'm not sure how much the police will be able to do to track down the culprit (if it was a person), but I believe they should be notified so the incident is on record.

They should also be able to get the appropriate agencies involved. If this was done by the same person who was giving you trouble, the police can follow up and perhaps make the connection.

According to the ASPCA, animal cruelty is handled differently in different states in the US (unfortunately). They have a FAQ page on reporting animal cruelty...

Reporting animal cruelty

Much of it deals with reporting animal owners who have treated their pets badly, but I would call the ASPCA and report this incident. Whether it's a human or a wild animal nearby, the threat is there and people need to know about it.

They also have a PDF on animal cruelty and prosecution...

Animal cruelty prosecution

As far as cats being killed by wild animals, this does happen, probably more than you think.

I don't have any statistics on this, but just from news reports that I've heard and statements from authoritative publications, some areas do report incidents of cats being killed by wild animals.

Coyotes are of particular danger in some areas of the US. Bobcats and wild dogs as well. Where I live, we have a large population of foxes and raccoons, both of which may prey on house cats.

I hope this helps in some way. You submitted another entry, but I think this one has all the pertinent information, so I'm not going to publish the other one.

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Cat killed by a wild animal

by Carl
(Sacramento, CA)

I found my cat, Samantha, dead on the side of the yard, dead with her belly cut open... some of her guts lying on the grass.

I assume it was a wild animal. It happened late at night, early morning... there was no blood on her fur or on the ground.

Editor's note: I'm very sorry for your loss, Carl. I would assume it was a wild animal as well. RIP little kitty.
-Kurt

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Cat killed by animal?
by: Anonymous

My 4-year-old indoor cat got out 4 weeks ago after a fire at my house. Two weeks ago I noticed her in my neighbor's backyard. I tried for over a week to get her back to my yard and into the house. I finally asked my neighbor if I could try to catch her in her yard. Stray cats in my yard were running her off.(no luck with animal control - he does not return calls). I tried to catch yesterday with no luck. I thought she would be alright overnight. I found her dead in my neighbor's backyard. It looked as if someone had sliced her rear legs, tail, and bottom off. No jagged or shredded skin, no bite marks, no obvious blood. Her organs were all intact and still inside her. They only fell out after I lifted her to wrap her in a towel Her front right leg was extended and her claws were missing from her paw. I was not able to find the rest of her. Is this an animal attack or possible animal cruelty?

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Predator?
by: Joe

About 3 weeks ago our cat, which she wasn't even 3 years old, went missing for a couple nights and that wasn't like her. We live in a rural area and I found her dead in our backyard. All her entrails were intact no wounds, just very small amount of blood around her anus. Then here this morning I came home from work and found a younger cat dead in my driveway with the same symptoms. I don't know if it was an animal or possibly poison. We were just really upset our young cat died.

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Was it animal or human?
by: Anonymous

I found my cat just off the road two days ago. She was stretched out and from the rectum to the back feet were flat as if it were pressed, there were no broken bones or missing limbs and her head had no marks it looks like she was gutted.

There was a large perfectly round hole in her stomach and no blood no bite or claw marks. The disturbing part is the body cavity was totally empty no guts or muscle of any kind.

I know there are some unanswered questions about strange witchcraft symbols hanging in our forest area and that was my first thought. I know that we are devastated about losing our fur baby.

Any ideas what could have happened?

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cat went missing never found
by: Anonymous

My 14 pound cat that has been outside for 4 years all of a sudden came up missing, She was always on the deck and never roamed that I know of because she was always close to the house. Well this morning she was not on the deck waiting for her morning meal, she has always been on the deck every morning, not this morning. I looked for her everywhere, no sign of struggle, no clumps of hair and she sheds bad in spring and summer being a long haired cat. She was just gone. I fear something got her. We live on the edge of the woods here in Alabama.

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Our cat
by: Sharon

Our cat went missing on a Sunday. He never went far. Stayed close and hung out with our neighbor's cat. Gus was 34 lbs, fast and could climb tall trees. We started our search on Monday with the help of friends, our son and our neighbor. No luck.. Our neighbors cat was very freaked out Sunday night when Gus went missing. On Wednesday we found Gus in our neighbor's green belt. He was attacked and had fought back. We were almost sure he was attacked elsewhere and brought to the green belt as my son and neighbor did not see him earlier on. We do have coyotes in the area but due to Gus's speed and ability to climb I think he may have been attacked by a Bobcat. Over the twenty two years we have lived here all of our cats have been fine... out in the morning and mostly in by night. Until recently we have had big dogs... I will never get another cat....too horrible an experience. I would suggest that anyone living near the woods get a very large dog or dogs (friendly with cats) if they are letting their cats out. I am devastated.

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Cat killed by wild animal
by: Anonymous

I was told recently that Owls will prey on cats. I've had two disappear in the last two weeks. As far as cats being found with their guts missing, kind of sounds like something a bird/owl would do. I suspect either an owl or bobcat. I was awaken around 4am by a cat scream 2 weeks ago. Sounded like the cat way killed fast because the way the scream sounded. Saw nothing when I went outside. In the morning I couldn't find one of my sweet female cats. Another disappeared last night. I don't know what to do. Thinking of spraying diesel fuel around the woods behind my house, hoping that smell will keep a wild animal away.

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Not sure.
by: Kurt (Admin)

I'm very sorry for your loss. I don't know the answer, but I'm thinking a wildlife expert would be the best person to ask. Maybe you could check with local law enforcement and see if they know of someone you can ask.

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Pebbles
by: Anonymous

This morning I foud my indoor/outdoor cat in the woods, disembowled. Saw no blood. I did examine her. I live in the woods and 4 eight years shes been here we never had a problem with racoons or possums. Saw no bite marks like a dog leaves. She was on the porch on her bed at midnight. Where I found her is not where she goes as a rule. What could have done this?

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