There is always going to be someone who has a horror story relating to foxes attacking cats,but having lived for many years with fox families as garden residents I have never witnessed any.Before Bumble my semi feral cat actually "moved in" he shared the same garden and slept in a shed with no problems at all.The only chasing I ever witnessed was him chasing a fox that ventured to close to his "house"and believe me that fox didnt hang about ,it was off down the garden.As already pointed out there are far greater dangers in the outside world than foxes.

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We get foxes in our back gardens all the time, Indie is not scared and neither is foxy, They just keep out of each others way. I have also observed foxes in our front garden at 3 in the morning and a kitty sitting on the wall right under foxy's nose - just minding his own business. Never heard of them fighting or getting attacked/killed.

Not to say it cant happen. I think they respect each other.

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R.I.P Ollie.
Will never forget You.

I think foxes are probably the greatest danger from my perspective, because I've safely had outdoor cats for 20 years up until now in the same house, it's just the number and proximity of the foxes which has changed in the past few years.

But I agree, fox attacks are unusual, I guess I'm just worried because of the kittens ages and lack of experience of the outdoors. If they want to go out when it's warm in the late Spring, I wouldn't want to have to stop them!

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RIP Charcoal my shy girl 1987-2000, Patch the wanderer 1987-?, Tabby my darling fluffball 1988-2002 & Panda the rascal 1988-2008

A lot of you wont believe this but it is true. During the summer I noticed from my bedroom window Puss Puss sleeping in next doors garden and about 6 feet away was an adult fox sleeping as well. I was totally stuned by this so I kept an eye out for about half hour and as one woke so did the other and looked at each other, then walk away in opposite directions.

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Black with white around his private area



Black Tortoiseshell




R.I.P Patch my well behaved boy dog
R.I.P. Abby and Rebel my beautifull litter sister cats

maybe you should check out some of the threads on here or the Rainbow bridge section? now they would scare me if i had a cat....because you'll see a staggering number of cats that have been killed on the roads, yet i'd be extremely surprised if you could find one single post where someones cat was killed by a fox.

hope i havent upset anyone saying this, but i think it puts the dangers of foxes into perspective.



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"If the wolf is to survive, the wolf haters must be outnumbered. They must be outshouted, out financed, and out voted. Their narrow and biased attitude must be outweighed by an attitude based on an understanding of natural processes."
L David Mech

We have doomed the Wolf not for what it is, but for what we have deliberately and mistakenly perceived it to be..the mythologized epitome of a savage, ruthless killer..which is, in reality no more than a reflexed images of ourself." -Farley Mowat

Quite true, it's just that where I live, it is not a busy road (it's a quiet crescent) where cats have always been very safe.

It's in the London suburbs, and foxes have only recently increased around here. Everyone around here has noticed the increase! The local cats seem to be quite used to seeing cars, but not necessarily foxes, however I will be sensible and not let them out when the young cubs are in the den! A few weeks after that should be safer

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RIP Charcoal my shy girl 1987-2000, Patch the wanderer 1987-?, Tabby my darling fluffball 1988-2002 & Panda the rascal 1988-2008

tbh i'd be surprised that foxes would pose the biggest danger to your cats whereever you live........ after traffic its people who are the greater threat, whether thats acts of deliberate cruelty or accidental, just off the top of my head i have a friend whos cat went missing and weeks later an old lady found her trapped in her shed...she was too far gone to be saved, i can think of 4 examples of cats being killed by loose dogs, one poisoned with antifreeze...if i think about it im sure i could go on and on.....but despite having foxes around here ive never ever heard of a cat being killed by one.

but im glad you'll be keeping the cats in till after spring it should give fledgelings a bit better chance, keeping cats in at night also helps wildlife, safest option for all concerned is not letting them roam at all though

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"If the wolf is to survive, the wolf haters must be outnumbered. They must be outshouted, out financed, and out voted. Their narrow and biased attitude must be outweighed by an attitude based on an understanding of natural processes."
L David Mech

We have doomed the Wolf not for what it is, but for what we have deliberately and mistakenly perceived it to be..the mythologized epitome of a savage, ruthless killer..which is, in reality no more than a reflexed images of ourself." -Farley Mowat

I can honestly say that I have never worried about foxes harming my cats - there may a possibility but I would have though it highly unlikely.

My two go out in the day & evening but I bring them in at night. We are lucky in that we have a large garden for them to play in but I'm sure Winnie has snuck out a couple of times.

I've see a couple of foxes in the area & one has definitely been in our garden (I think it was sniffing about where the chickens are) but the dogs ran out barking & I just saw a flash off tail as s/he ran off. Not sure how it got in though

I just don't like the thought of them heading straight down the garden and towards the foxes' nest! They will be so excited the first time they get to see birds and mice for real, and might be too curious!

Had to take Treacle off the top of my hamster's cage last night!!!

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RIP Charcoal my shy girl 1987-2000, Patch the wanderer 1987-?, Tabby my darling fluffball 1988-2002 & Panda the rascal 1988-2008