Has anyone had probs with foxes eating their barn cats ? I had a narrow miss last night when I called in the cat - hot on his heels was a huge dog fox, mouth agape, inches from the back of cat who ran behind me !!! I yelled and clapped at the fox who was so shocked, his hind end spun out like a dog running on hardwood flooring, he rolled over and down the small hill on our lawn. Would have been funny if not so scary. If they actually fought who would win ? This was the biggest fox I have ever seen but the barn cat is such a fierce little bugger, the BF and I together can hardly hold him down for meds etc. I suspect they are competing for the same things - mice in the barn, moles in the lawn, baby bunnies and what not. Anyone else know of cat/ fox combat and the outcome ?
No idea what a ādog foxā is.
Fox and cats do eat the same things. Which does not include hunting each other.
I am sure a fox would gladly chow down on kittens that are an easy meal but highly doubt most fox would bother trying to hunt and kill an adult cat. Too much risk of injury.
Dog fox is a male, generally bigger than vixens (females) and this was a bigāun ! I think he gave chase when the cat turned and ran to me when called. If I had to guess, cat was probably under our truck as Mr. Fox went by on his nightly rounds, cat may have taunted him from safety of truck, fox wouldnāt have been drawn into head to head combat but when cat turned and ran to me, he saw his chance and gave chase. This may account for the recent mystery bite marks on his hind end - he frequently comes shooting thru the cat door at the same time of night at warp speed !
Foxes can and will kill adult cats. If your cat is āstreetā smart and you have trees, your cat will probably fine. We live in a more suburban area, but backing up to forever wild area. Our cats have survived the foxes for years, but only because we live have lots of trees and the foxes wonāt come within a hundred yard of the house (giving the cats a āsafeā zone). But in a dead chase/fight, chances are the fox will win. If the fox is passing through they probably wonāt bother, but if the fox lives in the area, cats are competition.
Dog fox is a male fox.
Are you sure it was a fox? A coyote crossbred could perhaps look like a fox. Coyotes do eat cats if they get a chance. Along with anything else that is small enough to catch.
Do you have a big dog that patrols the area? You could also try some large predator urine around the borders of the area.
We have an Alaskan Malamute who does the job for us. We have a number of barn cats that are getting older and are still doing well. We have a cat door for them to reach the safety of the loft. We also only have their and the horses feed bowls down for a short time while they eat. Those are also whisked away to the latched feed room. Hay is only what the horses will eat at the moment. All the manure in the paddocks as well as the stalls is picked up each day and removed to the far corner of our farm, to reduce the wildlife raids. The wildlife feed at the muck heap instead.
While this is all a bigger effort, we have fox, coyote, black bear, mountain lion and deer in our neighborhood. Then there are the winged predatorsā¦
Fox wins, every time. Foxes eat adult cats. This (and coyotes) is why my kitties are all indoor only now.
I think the dog fox cause its bigger than the catā¦ but we donāt knowā¦ but i choose the dog fox. ahaha
Fox wins.
Have seen it once(a vixen and not that big), and heard it twice and it is really, very unpleasant. Not my cats, but stillā¦
As people have said fox wins. If JRTs can easily kill cats (ask me how I know that 
even small JRTs with big world wise tomsā¦) and JRTs are fairly equal to fox (what they were bred to go after) I would think its fairly certain to say that a cat would lose if it had to stand and fight (vs climbing and fleeing)
Sounds like you now have an indoor cat especially at that time of day/eveningā¦
Dog fox could be feeding young ones and mateā¦
[QUOTE=whicker;6226297]
Sounds like you now have an indoor cat especially at that time of day/eveningā¦
Dog fox could be feeding young ones and mateā¦[/QUOTE]
The attack that I witnessed was in the evening, not yet dark, and the two that I heard were at night.
I saw the fox with the dead cat(s) when I turned the outside light on. Nothing like a cat dying loudly at 3am outside your bedroom window to ruin your night (catās night ruined as well obviously).
Fox and coyote attacks on cats and small dogs tend to go up around the time they are having their kits. I.e., springtime.
I clearly have to have a sit down conversation with my barn cats. They do not seem at all bothered by the fox that romp around our property.
My cat got bit on the tail by a fox, two weeks later he was finally allowed back out and he instantly spotted the fox and chased itās a$$ all over the yard zig zagging in and out of bushes. In my experience it just depends who sees who first and who is more angry at the others presence.
I guess I should add that my cat was pretty big and did on regular occasion chase my own dog around so he may have been an anomoly.
I have seen videos of cats attacking bears and backing them off and the like. I still wouldnāt say that cat vs bear favours the cat 
I also had a rabbit that would chase my parents dogā¦ again same deal.
I think it depends on how hungry the fox is. Wild animals seem to be more careful about self preservation (no vets for them) so generally only go after ādangerousā prey when they have too. I would say barn cats would be on the more dangerous side.
This is a timely subject, as I have noticed a fox in my yard several times during the last couple of weeks. I live in a townhouse in the suburbs, and was shocked to see him in such a highly populated area. One night he even came onto the patio and was peeking in my sliding glass doors. :eek: He seemed very interested, I donāt know if he was looking for my house cats (who go out occasionally for a stroll on the patio but no further) or attracted by the food I leave for the feral cats, but I am not letting my house cats out at night any more and am worried about my strays, who are still showing up so far.
Fox wins. And it doesnāt necessarily have to be a dog fox.
Like those cat-chasing-bear videos, if the fox or bear is in a playful, non-serious mood it may let itself be run off by a cat, but donāt let that fool you. If they mean it, theyāre going to kill the cat. We all think our cats and dogs are tough, and they are - for domestic animals. But the wild animals know how to kill. They do it all the time.
I think if fox and cat are racing then cat wins and if they fight then obviously fox win because fox is bigger than cat he easily defeat cat
[QUOTE=BAC;6226786]
This is a timely subject, as I have noticed a fox in my yard several times during the last couple of weeks. I live in a townhouse in the suburbs, and was shocked to see him in such a highly populated area. One night he even came onto the patio and was peeking in my sliding glass doors. :eek: He seemed very interested, I donāt know if he was looking for my house cats (who go out occasionally for a stroll on the patio but no further) or attracted by the food I leave for the feral cats, but I am not letting my house cats out at night any more and am worried about my strays, who are still showing up so far.[/QUOTE]
Good for you!
So many cat owners ignored our posted warnings (which we posted after seeing so many missing cat posters) that read;
āPlease donāt let your cats out at night. They are being killed by foxes. We know this, and it is ruining our sleep. If you arenāt concerned about your cat, then please, at least, show some concern for your neighbours.ā
The fox will go for the easiest prey (which are not cats). However, if they are hungry they will eat your cat and you are quite right to be concerned if a fox is on your patio looking into your home. They get brave when they are hungry.
