MY DEAR CAT WAS KILLED LAST NIGHT, what predator?

 I rescued this cat, wonderful 1 1/2 year old kitten, however he was used to the outdoors, and went crazy when inside, he befriended my dog, and were great pals, however yesterday an animal attacked him and the injuries were severe and in his belly, genital area, whatever attacked this cat, tore him up something fierce, I had my son take him to the vet, and he was put to sleep,  I would like to know if someone out there  knows what kind of animal will attack the belly area.  I m devastated by the death of this beautiful and healthy animal, he was an outside cat, only because he was truly miserable indoors, he used to walk behind my dog and I when I took my dog for his walks, and they played together,  I just need to know how this happen.  If anyone out there can shed some light I will truly appreciated.

I'm very sorry for your loss. It must have been a horrible shock. Could it have been a coyote? They're everywhere - coyotes have even been spotted in NYC.
INTERPRETING PHYSICAL EVIDENCE OF COYOTE PREDATION

This article may give you the information you're looking for: Livestock and animal predation identification

I'm so sorry for your sudden and tragic loss. This is very shocking. In my part of the world, coyotes, mountain lions, and even other dogs such as Pit Bulls have been known to kill cats and other small animals. A few weeks ago, a Pit Bull killed the resident cat at my vet's office when the owner brought the animal into the hospital without a muzzle and leash. Although the attack was witnessed by people in the waiting room, I wasn't there myself and don't know the injury the kitty sustained. All I know the kitty died quickly of shock.

Again, I'm so sorry. This is devastating for you and your beloved pet.

Jlc20m

Oh no I am so sorry this happened, how heart breaking for you. I wish I had an answer. Around here we have coyotes, mother nature can be so cruel. 

Lots of hugs

So sorry, its sad.

It could have been a dog, coyote, cougar, I don't know where you live. Hawks will take a small kitten.

I live in the woods and a coyote took my kittens sibling, just took it, left no trace, I heard it take the kitten, it was horrible, I drove around on my mower looking for any trace of the kitten but didn't find anything.

The next day I seen that coyote starring down at me, he was looking for Marty, I kept my ground and starring back at it and told him to get the H out of here, coyotes and wild animals really blend in with the woods or area you live in.

I'm so very sorry. How heartbreaking.

I had a cat killed here too, something pulled his intestines out. He was a beautiful white and tabby feral and was so shy I can't imagine him standing up to anything. When I talked to the vet about it, he said he doubted it was another cat, they usually don't inflict wounds like that. A coyote or a dog would have dragged him off or would have torn him apart, we finally concluded it was most likely a raccoon who was attracted by his food. I had another cat that was hurt badly and we did find raccoon hair in his claws and laying around. I'm a lot more careful with the food now, and pick it up as soon as my ferals are done.

Oh that's terrible. I didn't realize racoons would attack cats.

There's a tom cat who comes in my garden. He badly bit one spayed cat, but at the throat, and she survived. One other cat who'd just been spayed got out, he attacked her, she ran off, and I found her 5 days later, dead. I throw water at him, and my 2 little dogs bark and run after him. I can't hurt him, but just want him to go.

I've another cat to get spayed in a month or two, and she's so small that I'm worried about this enormous tom.

I'm so sorry for your cat. We only have dogs as far as predators go, here in France, but they hunt 3 days a week, and I'm terrified each time, that one of my cats won't come back. They're all semi-ferral.

Sorry to hear about your cat. a lot of predators go after the belly area, since that's where a lot of vital organs are and is soft and not protected much so its hard to guess what could have done it. maybe coyote or fox? I suppose a raccoon could, but every raccoon and cat near each other I've seen, they've been fine with each other. there's a family of them who share food with the ferals next door happily.

Rabbits have been known to do that type of damage to a cat. If the cat attacks the rabbit and is belly to belly, the rabbit kicks,  and can do severe damage, as for Raccoons, they are not usually agressive unless there is a mother with kits, she will, like all mothers, protect her young. I have a raccoon that comes by almost daily and he and the cats treat each other like they are all cats, rubbing heads and all. So sorry for your loss.

Geez, you learn something new every day. The rabbit story makes me think about Monty Python.

very sorry for your loss I know how you feel my beautiful Ebony was killed by a driver in August and its the shock that is hard to deal with and the feeling of them suffering in anyway, my cat was an outdoor cat also and loved being out there was nothing I could do to keep her in , its terrible and all I can say is I feel your pain and do know how your feeling , time heals it really does x

I just had looked up what would do that.  The main one I found was a raccoon attack.  Usually they would begin to eat the  kitten.  I found a website (with pictures, eww) but that seemed to be the way they kill and then eat cats.  They will leave the kitty if they  are interrupted.

I had a kitten killed too.  I'm not sure what it was either because I live in a rural area so I was looking it up.   I'm sorry for your loss.

i don't doubt the information but here racoons eat with the cats and I have even seen one of the racoons grooming one of the cats. I suppose if they have some food available they don't need to kill.

6cattails said:

 
i don't doubt the information but here racoons eat with the cats and I have even seen one of the racoons grooming one of the cats. I suppose if they have some food available they don't need to kill.

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You're lucky. In a perfect world, they'd all be that sweet.    Raccoons are known to be vicious when it comes to food. This poor cat may have found itself in a position where it was in between the raccoon and the food. 

I worked with a lady who had 5 indoor/outdoor cats. she left her back sliding glass door open a bit so they could come and go at will. She went into the kitchen late one night and saw 6 tails at the food dishes. she watched them all finish and leave. There was a possum in the mix. I guess the cats befriended the little guy and invited him over for dinner. she saw the possum many times after. it would come in with the cats, eat and leave with them. she found this rather amusing. 

Yeah. That's not something someone with outdoor cats wants to see approaching.

We had a fig tree in our yard that was a cutting from a tree DH's grandfather used to have. I got it thriving in a pot out back and then planted it. I took care of it and kept an eye on it and finally the figs started to grow. As soon as they got bigger but not big enough to pick, they'd disappear. Finally, one night, DH heard a rustling in the bushes by the tree and shined a flashlight out the side of the screen room. There was a large possum eating all the figs. he said the poor thing looked so pitiful that he didn't have the heart to chase it off. The landscapers ended up running the poor little tree over with the mower and our pal moved on.

6cattails said:

 
i don't doubt the information but here racoons eat with the cats and I have even seen one of the racoons grooming one of the cats. I suppose if they have some food available they don't need to kill.

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Actually, the raccoons around here are notorious for eating small kittens!!! and baby rabbits as well as chickens.  It is one of the most horrific attacks, with the victim literally torn apart and consumed.  The raccoons do the same to chickens.  It is a very messy affair.  Dogs can also be messy. Foxes tend to leave cats alone, and foxes and coyotes carry off and eat their prey....

An old-fashioned technique to discourage coyotes is to "mark territory" with human urine.  Simply use it around the borders that you are trying to establish, especially if you find piles of coyote poop! Give their poop an especially good dousing to emphasize the "stay away" message.

Unfortunately, raccoons don't care. And be aware that they are carriers of rabies as well as cat fever!!

No, I don't live in a perfect world. The lion has not lain with the kid yet.   

My God, 6 tails by the feeding bowls and she watched the racoons finish eating the cats?  I would never have imagined. That is horrible. 5 cats were killed in silence? How many raccoons, did she say, were there?

This is a cat neighborhood and we have never had a cat killed by a raccoon in the 30 years I have lived here. Escaped dogs killed cats as the unfortunate cats had been declawed. We have a good number of raccoons as there are woods on each side and a stream.

I have to agree with you as the raccoons are very competitive with each other about food. They snarl and snort and chase each other, according to rank I suppose, but it is not serious, although it sounds serious to us. I really think it is more about establishing pecking order rather than food because food is plentiful enough around here. Also, in some instances where food is not so plentiful, I think if their habitat was not so depleted food might not be such an issue. We have an opossum, or two, also. It is very wary and fearful and flees very quickly at the first sound of me.