What the biggest animal a housecat would take down? Any way a large domestic housecat could take down a full grown raccoon, possum or woodchuck?
I had a cat who really liked to knock down toddlers. I mean, human toddlers.
Of course, that didn’t take much. Toddler bowling!
When I was a kid, I had an unfixed ginger tom. One morning, there was the rear part of an eel on the lawn. Said part was about 18" long and 2.5" in diameter. We lived about 1km from, and 50m above the nearest creek, though there were closer drains. I think it would of been worth money watching him battle an eel!
I would pay good money for a cat that could take out toddlers
…not to hurt them, mind you. Just to put the fear into their parents.
Their horrible parents that think said toddlers are “just adorable” when said toddlers scream and yell in a theater or restaurant.
I’ve witnessed several times an ordinary-sized domestic cat hauling in a European hare, which grow to app. 12lbs. in weight here and are fierce fighters, at least during mating season. European wildcats, the same size and general appearance as housecats, routinely kill and consume roe deer, a small herbivore in the 50lbs. range.
When I was a kid our neighbor’s Manx killed a dog. It was a yippy dog, bigger than a chihuahua, but not much.
I was always afraid of that cat.
My husband’s kitten is under the impression that he can bring me down. He’s constantly tackling me.
When I was a kid we had a cat that regularly left the remains of rabbits on back porch. Some of these were nearly as big as he was. Roughly 10 lbs.
I was impressed. Rabbits are quick little buggers and they can kick.
I had a cat when I was a kid that seriously f’ed up a German Shepard. He was at least part Maine Coon, so he was a big cat (15-20 lbs. he was a little fat too), but I’ll never forget seeing my cat on the back of the dog biting the back of its neck, holding onto the dog’s shoulders with his front claws and raking with his back claws while the dog was whimpering and running back from whence he came. Our cat came sauntering back about 10 minutes later, sat on our front porch cleaning himself and then took a nap. Never did see that dog again.
This same cat used to walk us to our bus stop when we were little kids. Once he walked onto the bus to check it out. He seemed unimpressed.
On the other hand, they are exceedingly dim.
Too funny - are you me?! I got into this thread to post the exact same story. Our cat Simon was also part Maine Coon and weighed 15-18 lbs; no fat though. He did the exact same thing with a German Shepherd - it was one that was not trimmed, so the dog looked huge and bushy from what I remember as a kid. Many times bigger than Simon - if memory serves, it was well over 80-90 pounds. It went for Simon, who clawed the dog’s nose and when the dog turned to run, Simon jumped on its back and raked it, and from the dog’s reaction, pretty painfully.
When Simon was a kitten, my mom would put him in the front pocket of her bathrobe and he would peek up over the top of the pocket with his front paws over the edge - I saw a different side of Simon with the dog, needless to say…
So far, a bee. And he has a severe dislike for ants, but won’t do anything but point them out for us to deal with. There really isn’t anything else for him to go after.
My cat Coppelia (about 12 lbs. at the time) once climbed about 4 feet up a tree to pounce a pit bull’s face…she wouldn’t have been able to take it down, but damn! it was cool to watch.
I don’t know about taking down, but my mother’s cat has managed to chase away a full grown golden retriever (even if she is one of the sweetest dogs I’ve ever met).
There isn’t much larger wildlife in the area that comes close to the house, so it’s usually just birds and moles–stopped 'em from digging up the lawn at least.
Naw…
The cat wasn’t especially strong or evil.
It just did what most of us would like to do with horrible, yippy dogs. The only difference is that it’s frowned upon if we humans do it.
Go, cat!
My parents had a cat that would routinely bring home weasels. Weasels may not be particularly big, but their attitude makes up for it.
Over the years, I’ve worked on dozens of cats that were torn up by dogs. Some survived, some did not. I’ve seen dozens of corneal wounds (linear ulcers) caused by cats scratching. Only a couple of those wounds have been full thickness, and only a single eye (IIRC) was lost.
I saw a single dog killed by a cat. The cat was big, the dog was a 6 to 8 pound yorkie. The dog’s jugular was opened by the cat and the dog bled out on the way to my office.
Our cat Maggie was incredibly protective of MilliCal, who she evidently viewed as Her Kitten.
One day the neighbors came by with their dog, and MilliCal petted it.
Maggie, who was outside, thought the dog was a threat to Her Kitten, and launched into Full Attack Mode. Tail Up, All Hair Bristled, Ridge Down Back, Back Arched. And Swing with the Right.
She rushed at the dof, hissing and spitting and repetitively slashing with her front right paw. She scared the life out of the dog, who went running, perversely, into our yared. Maggie chased him. They both ran by our other cat, Midnight, who had no idea what was going on. They circled back out of the yard, and Maggie chased him down the street.
Maggie was a standard-sized tabby, all black. Said dog was NOT a little lap-dog, but a decent-sized Guy Dog, standing a couple of feet at the shoulder and capablle of getting up on his back legs and putting his paws on your chest. He outweighed Maggie by a factor of Five at least.
She didn’t “Take him down”, but she drove him unequivocally away.
So you are saying it’s possible? 