Do Foxes Eat Cats?

Foxes are wild animals, so it’s hard to trust them no matter how calm and friendly they seem. Foxes have a famous trait of being clever, sly opportunistic predators. This is why you may be wary of leaving your pets out with foxes in the vicinity. So, do foxes eat cats or at they safe?

Yes, foxes can attack and sometimes do eat cats, but only kittens or old, injured or sick cats that can’t fight back. Healthy adult cats are safe from foxes.

Pets are like family, and no one wants anything bad to happen to their pets and their babies. Foxes being opportunistic predators, will attack anything that they think is an easy catch, such as a kitten or a sick, old, and injured cat.

A healthy cat can easily fight back a fox if it ever attacks it but old, sick cats or kittens are defenceless and fragile, so they make up for an easy meal for a fox. Foxes feel threatened by cats and dogs more than humans sometimes and will attack them, especially if your cat has wandered a little too close to their dens. 

Do Foxes Attack Cats?

Foxes are opportunistic predators, and if you have kittens or a sick or injured cat that’s supposed to go to the vet, then these pets are in danger of being easily killed by a fox. A fox thinks an injured, old, or sick cat or kittens are an easy food and often attacks them and most likely will eat them.

If it’s a healthy cat, then the fox will feel threatened and attack the cat if it has come across it in your yard. 

Foxes also attack cats that are too near their dens. Like most animals, foxes defend and protect their babies from other animals, and if your cat somehow gets near a den, a fox will feel threatened and attack it.

An opportunistic predator is also a scavenger. If you see a fox eating a cat near the road, it doesn’t necessarily mean the fox killed the cat. It’s most likely that the cat was hit by a car and died, and a fox is a scavenger, simply started eating the cat’s remains. 

Foxes aren’t a threat to people and rarely will attack us, only when they’re rabid (very rare) or sick, injured, or threatened. They’re more likely calm and friendly to us. For pets like cats and dogs, they feel more threatened, and you should be cautious whenever your cat is near a fox.

Foxes are shy animals and easily get scared off by people and other animals. Even if a fox attacking your cat is a possibility, there are several known reports that a household cat scared off the fox and made it run away. 

Foxes like to stay out of conflict. The threat of a fox attacking is very low, and a fox often runs away when they see an angry cat instead of attacking it. If a fox is cornered or feels threatened or is very hungry and hasn’t had anything to eat and a cat comes to attack them, it will most likely attack the cat back.

In such an instance, the threat of the fox rises, so it’s best to keep an eye out for your cat whenever it’s in the yard or somewhere outside the house to ensure your pet remains unharmed. 

Will a Fox Kill a House Cat?

Foxes and cats have several things in common. A cat and a fox are about the same size when they’re adults. They almost eat the same things as they’re both predators and eat small rodents, birds, and other small mammals and fish. It’s rare for a fox to attack a house cat and even rarer to kill it. 

Rescued or pet foxes can easily get along with house cats. If they’re with a house cat from a very young age, they can easily form bonds with cats and other pets. A wild fox is shy and avoids people and their pets, so it’s rare if a fox comes in contact with your house cat.

A healthy adult cat doesn’t fear a fox, and it will most likely go have a word with it if it sees a fox in the yard.

Foxes most often run away from cats as they avoid starting a conflict, but if it’s an elderly weak, injured or sick cat or a kitten or a small dog or any other tiny pet like a hamster, hedgehog then they will be in danger as a fox wouldn’t be as scared of them and may attack and eat them as they’re an easy meal for an opportunistic predator like a fox. 

If a fox is seen nearby, it’s best to bring your cat or any other pet inside to avoid any inconveniences. It’s also recommended to put higher security like taller fences. This will help from foxes entering your lot.

Foxes can be a menace in your yard if you’re not careful enough. They can greatly damage your garden, birdhouses, and chicken coops and may eat the birds, chickens, and fruits from these places. 

Summary

Cats are very beloved companions to us, and we always want them to be safe and sound. We get easily bonded with cats, and our cats are like family to us.

If you live somewhere where there are foxes often seen, then it’s understandable if you’re worried about your cat as foxes tend to attack smaller animals as prey, though attacking a cat is rare for a fox unless the cat is old, a young kitten, injured, sick or weak then it’s easy prey for a fox otherwise foxes tend to run away from cats rather than attack or kill it.