A dingo ate my friend’s baby.
Yep, that’s where the name came from, but she named herself in a way too. She’s got a “Siamese” accent, and as I was looking her over, I asked playfully “What’s your name little one?” to which she replied with an emphatic “Rhiiiow”. That’s all she would say, so that’s what her name is. 
(I try to name cats based on their individual personality/quirks, and that was just too good a coincidence to pass up.)
What’s gray and brown and red and has feathers and goes round and round?
My cat’s dinner in the blender.
I’ve heard of incidents like this, but I’m unclear as to why a raccoon would do this. Though technically Carnivores, they don’t normally hunt for food, do they? I thought they were scavengers.
Maybe the raccoon was rabid, and/or had lost it’s fear of cats? Perhaps it got into a territorial dispute over a garbage can, or maybe the cat’s outdoor food dish?
Perhaps it was rabid. Here in Maine, you occasionally hear of rabid skunks going trying to attack people.
Um - mentally delete the word “going” as you read the preceding post. Thanks.
Curiosity.
I feel obliged to point out that I had an extremely weird dream last night which involved a large python eating a basket full of kittens. I am forced to conclude that reading this thread and in paticular Racer 72’s post HAS in fact scarred me for life, and I don’t even like cats that much.
Cats may “like” eating any number of things…doesn’t mean it is good for them. Cats are carnivores and their bodies are geared to gain nourishment from a meat diet. While many carnivores (such as dogs) can gain some benefit from vegetables cats have a harder time of it. In fact, if a cat does not get meat in its diet they will likely suffer a variety of very serious health problems (such as blindness from a taurine deficiency…cats simply cannot process taurine from other food sources except meat, likewise cats cannot produce vitamin B12 and the only source of that is meat). It is possible to keep canines on a vegetarian diet but cats…forget it.
Note: This does not mean you cannot give kitty a cornbread treat. Just don’t let her fill herself up on such things.
My point was that cornmeal (and, therefore, commercial cat foods containing it) isn’t some sort of poison to cats, and it isn’t something they will all refuse to eat given the choice. I feed my cats a good-quality commercial food with chicken as the first ingredient.
They’re not anywhere close to vegetarian, though they do like tofu.
Luna has only managed to fill herself up on cornbread once. I had baked some cornbread, and figured that the cats are carnivores, so they wouldn’t bother it if I left it out on the stove. The next time I saw it, each piece had had a bite taken out of it. :smack: I now make sure to keep cornbread somewhere where the cats can’t get it. I give them a little taste of it, but that’s it.
I’d be amazed if I ever saw an owl or hawk snag a cat. Kitten, maybe. I’ve heard coyote will prey on them, but seems to me this is not likely to happen to an adult cat that has its claws. My cats never have a problem, and we have hawks, coyote, and other predators in the area. Cats can be pretty deadly when defending themselves, so I tend to think of them as higher on the food chain than most birds, and doubt a wolf or coyote would be stealthy enough to catch one.
When I was a child, a stray cat once got into the cage that housed a Great Horned Owl in the zoo in my hometown. The cat was, indeed eaten. It made the news IIRC. At the least, it was widely known. Here is
:o To continue my post “a link to the search page for Great Horned Owl images, take a look at the size of the second owl image on the third row from the top compared to a human. That owl is certainly big enough to eat a cat.”
I thought I’d come up with some supporting links:
This page says coyotes prey on domestic cats, although there is no evidence they specialize in it.
This page implies both red and grey foxes will prey on domestic cats. Anecdotal evidence: I was staying once on an island off the coast of Maine and saw a red fox stalking someone’s housecat, with obvious bad intentions. The cat was aware it was being stalked and had its claws ready. Both animals were on someone else’s property and I couldn’t get to them without trespassing. I threw a rock at the fox to try to drive it off but it didn’t run far (it seemed to have little fear of humans, my guess was someone had been feeding it :rolleyes: ). The cat disappeared out of sight behind the house.
This page (warning: PDF) confirms what Quint posted about the Fisher being a predator of cats.
This page indicates the Great Horned Owl is known to prey on at least 253 identified species of birds, mammals including cats (and dogs!) and other critters. They are ferocious predators for their size and will take animals two to three times their weight (they can weigh up to four pounds). Keep in mind their night vision and hearing is at least as good as if not better than a cat’s and you can see how Fluffy might wind up as a regurgitated pellet.