Sorry, this post is long, but I'm mystified.
A little bit of background: Jamie goes outside for a supervised walk every day wearing a harness. Our fenced-in yard is usually "kitty city", thanks to several catnip plants (right now with dry leaves, as it's winter), bird feeders, and a little pond. Two neighbors' cats, Miezi and Gizmo, are here virtually every day, and we get a lot of other feline visitors whenever Jamie isn't outside for his daily walk (he's a bully).
For the past two weeks, no cats have been visiting our yard, or the adjacent ones. Jamie is still going outside on his leash, but only for just enough time to mark the perimeter of the yard (he's neutered, but still marks). I've talked to Miezi's and Gizmo's owners, and they both say these normally indoor/outdoor cats have been staying inside of their own accord. Our street has a speed limit of 7 k.m.h. / 4.35 m.p.h., so people usually allow their cats to go outside. I walk to and from the train station every day, and I haven't seen any of the cats I usually see outside.
The weather hasn't been frigid the past two weeks, and nobody has seen any strange (tom)cats or stray dogs around. We don't have raccoons, skunks, or opossums around here, though we do get wild boar, foxes and martens. Boars couldn't manage to get into our yard, and I rather doubt a fox could (there are no signs of digging around the fence). Nobody has had their car attacked by martens recently, so I doubt we have one or more hanging around right now; they usually can't resist chewing cables and wires.
There aren't any bears, or wolves in our state, and there are no coyotes outside of zoos.
Hubby has joked that the cats sense an earthquake coming (we get them here), but that doesn't make sense, as they'd flee buildings minutes or maybe hours before a quake, not stay inside, so I think some predator is around.
Does anybody have any ideas? This is starting to freak out me, and Miezi's and Gizmo's owners.
A little bit of background: Jamie goes outside for a supervised walk every day wearing a harness. Our fenced-in yard is usually "kitty city", thanks to several catnip plants (right now with dry leaves, as it's winter), bird feeders, and a little pond. Two neighbors' cats, Miezi and Gizmo, are here virtually every day, and we get a lot of other feline visitors whenever Jamie isn't outside for his daily walk (he's a bully).
For the past two weeks, no cats have been visiting our yard, or the adjacent ones. Jamie is still going outside on his leash, but only for just enough time to mark the perimeter of the yard (he's neutered, but still marks). I've talked to Miezi's and Gizmo's owners, and they both say these normally indoor/outdoor cats have been staying inside of their own accord. Our street has a speed limit of 7 k.m.h. / 4.35 m.p.h., so people usually allow their cats to go outside. I walk to and from the train station every day, and I haven't seen any of the cats I usually see outside.
The weather hasn't been frigid the past two weeks, and nobody has seen any strange (tom)cats or stray dogs around. We don't have raccoons, skunks, or opossums around here, though we do get wild boar, foxes and martens. Boars couldn't manage to get into our yard, and I rather doubt a fox could (there are no signs of digging around the fence). Nobody has had their car attacked by martens recently, so I doubt we have one or more hanging around right now; they usually can't resist chewing cables and wires.
There aren't any bears, or wolves in our state, and there are no coyotes outside of zoos.
Hubby has joked that the cats sense an earthquake coming (we get them here), but that doesn't make sense, as they'd flee buildings minutes or maybe hours before a quake, not stay inside, so I think some predator is around.
Does anybody have any ideas? This is starting to freak out me, and Miezi's and Gizmo's owners.
