# Would a cat do this? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 12, 2011, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cat-do-this/588716 "2011-07-12T05:19:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cat-do-this/588716/1 "2011-07-12T05:19:56Z")
Something killed our three guinea pigs last night. It broke through the mesh on the top of the cage and took the guinea pigs out. It left two of them side by side on the lawn about 30 feet from the hutch. The third one has disappeared. A cat killing a guinea pig doesn’t surprise me in the least, but I am surprised it went back for the other two, and that it carried the bodies out onto the lawn and then left them. Is that something a cat would do? My neighbour suggested it might be a fox. Apparently there are some in nature reserve a few streets over. Does it sound more like a fox or a cat? ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cat-do-this/588716/2 "2011-07-12T05:32:33Z")
It’s hard to say, really. Cats will most certainly kill rodents and leave them at their "master’s door, although I’m not sure if they’d go back. My guess is yes. ---
**Author:** ![AntiCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a587f6/32.png) [@AntiCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AntiCoyote)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cat-do-this/588716/3 "2011-07-12T06:43:57Z")
Foxes are famous for over killing. They kill and kill and stash the extra food in hiding. Perhaps the fox got scared off before he could stash it. But I wouldn’t rule out a cat either. Domestic cats don’t get a lot of practice hunting and they get so excited at the prospect, sometimes they will kill and kill. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cat-do-this/588716/4 "2011-07-12T07:02:49Z")
I kind of doubt it. I’ve known 3 guinea pigs that lived with dozens of transient foster cats, some barely tamed ferals, and despite having the top of their cage open and accessable to the cats at all times, they were never even scratched by one of them. Of pets killed by other animals, we’ve suffered losses from: - a dog (killed a duckling, three ducks, and half a dozen chickens) who snapped one afternoon after living with said birds for two years - fishercat, which a neighbor heard [screaming](http://fishercatscreech.com/fisher-cat-sound-and-audio/) the night of an attack (a cat, several ducks) ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cat-do-this/588716/5 "2011-07-12T10:13:03Z")
I’d say fox too. A domestic cat would have played with the bodies more, there’d be fur everywhere (sorry). ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cat-do-this/588716/6 "2011-07-12T12:03:06Z")
> [@hermette](#): > > I’d say fox too. A domestic cat would have played with the bodies more, there’d be fur everywhere (sorry). There also a bit big for a cat. A cat might be ambitious enough to kill one, but I can’t imagine the overkill. I’d say fox. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cat-do-this/588716/7 "2011-07-12T12:17:02Z")
Where I live (urban London) this would most certainly be the work of an urban fox, of which we have many. If you know you have foxes in the vicinity, then that’s almost certainly your killer, right there. My friend-with-bunnies has an outdoor rabbit run with a metal cage that goes underneath as well as over the run, precisely to prevent foxes digging to get into the cage. ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cat-do-this/588716/8 "2011-07-12T13:46:26Z")
I too vote for the fox theory. The fox is more capable of being able to get through the mesh and carry them off. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cat-do-this/588716/9 "2011-07-12T13:49:39Z")
> [@Eats\_Crayons](#): > > There also a bit big for a cat. A cat might be ambitious enough to kill one, but I can’t imagine the overkill. I’d say fox. Agreed. Honestly, in a fight between a scared-shitless guinea pig and a not-all-that-motivated cat, I’d put my money on the guinea pig. They just aren’t small or weak enough to be easy kills. (Side note: I still had a guinea pig when my cat was a kitten. The running joke in our house was that the guinea pig would absolutely, without question, kick the kitten’s ass in a fight.) ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cat-do-this/588716/10 "2011-07-12T14:53:49Z")
I say it _could_ be a cat. I’ve seen a cat take on a groundhog. Feral/stray cats can be little bitches. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cat-do-this/588716/11 "2011-07-12T15:08:13Z")
My money is on a raccoon. They are more common than foxes in most areas and are notorious for this kind of predation. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cat-do-this/588716/12 "2011-07-12T16:00:35Z")
Could be any predator. Where do you live? Fisher cats are returning to New England. They are a nuisance, and reputed to be messy killers. But any predator could have been scared off and left their kill. A fox seems less likely to overkill and leave bodies around. As a matter of fact, that sounds far more like a well fed domestic animal, cat or dog, than a wild predator. ---
**Author:** ![Minnie\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cat-do-this/588716/13 "2011-07-12T16:07:31Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > My money is on a raccoon. They are more common than foxes in most areas and are notorious for this kind of predation. I was going to suggest raccoon also. I had a friend with ducks. She would let them roam during the day, but at night she had an enclosure for them. A raccoon got in one night and killed the ducks. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cat-do-this/588716/14 "2011-07-12T16:11:43Z")
I also say raccoon, although a fox is a possibility and there’s no reason a cat _couldn’t_ have done it. Or a dog, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cat-do-this/588716/15 "2011-07-12T21:47:24Z")
A cat could and would kill all three of them and leave the bodies lying around, but it would take a pretty strong/determined cat to get through the wire on top of the cage, even if it was just chicken wire. It takes some pretty serious wire pretty seriously attached to keep out of foxes and raccoons, though, and either one of those could be your killer. ---
**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cat-do-this/588716/16 "2011-07-12T21:54:33Z")
If you lived around here I’d say a coyote, but since your profile says you’re in Australia, maybe a dingo? ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cat-do-this/588716/17 "2011-07-12T21:55:16Z")
I live in Australia. We have feral cats and foxes, but no raccoons or fisher cats. The thing I find puzzling is that the GPs were lifted out of their cage, and then left next to each other on the lawn. They were hardly damaged at all. I couldn’t see a mark on them, although I didn’t inspect them too closely. I thought they might have died of fright. I know cats sometimes bring home their kills. I was wondering if they collect them in piles. Interesting about foxes stashing kills for later. Maybe it was planning on coming back for the other two, then forgot. > [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Agreed. Honestly, in a fight between a scared-shitless guinea pig and a not-all-that-motivated cat, I’d put my money on the guinea pig. They just aren’t small or weak enough to be easy kills. > > (Side note: I still had a guinea pig when my cat was a kitten. The running joke in our house was that the guinea pig would absolutely, without question, kick the kitten’s ass in a fight.) Really? They seemed the epitome of weak and helpless to me. I haven’t seen one do anything more useful than sit and shiver, or scramble under the nearest something. ETA:no dingoes in these parts ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cat-do-this/588716/18 "2011-07-12T22:46:40Z")
> [@Weedy](#): > > I live in Australia. We have feral cats and foxes, but no raccoons or fisher cats. Oh, O.K. then. Two things jump out at me then. One: Australia. Two: The cage was broken into from the top, which indicates predation from above. Conclusion: It’s a drop bear. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cat-do-this/588716/19 "2011-07-13T00:20:18Z")
Sounds just like a fox to me and I doubt it was a cat. Foxes are known to overkill any time they get the chance, they usually kill small prey by shaking like dogs, which does not leave marks (unlike cats which kill by deep bites to the neck and head) and they could more than handle wire mesh and three guinea pigs; that would be a challenge for most cats. I live in an extensive suburb less than a mile from a giant city (in America) and foxes are everywhere here. I see them more than cats at night. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cat-do-this/588716/20 "2011-07-13T01:27:35Z")
I may have missed it, but were these guinea pigs outside or in your home? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-cat-do-this/588716.md?page=2)