Maybe some help?? Long post. Need serious answers plz

[Trixie]

I am not sure to post this here or in the kitchen.

Anyways, I am a firm believer that cats belong inside. I have my 2 cats inside the house with a cat door to go outside into a safe cat runner. The bottom has cement and it is a steel wired cage with ramps,litter pan, etc.

Well my mother is the opposite of me. She thinks cats should be able to roam around. Now because of this she has lost another cat/kitten. She had lost Dots about a month ago. He just uped and disappeard. He is neutered. Well now Foofoo has come up missing this morning. Now dots was a roamer. He would wonder around the 5 acres that is around my parents house. Foofoo though never left the front yard. Yes my parents have dogs and they are housed together. They have a doggie door to go in and out as they wish. They all get along great.

Could a preditor gotten the cat? What in the world could be causing this? She was there last night when my parents went to bed. This morning she is gone. There was no noise like a coyote could of gotten her, or a struggle had went on. There was a night last week where she ran in the house scared to death. But when my mom went outside there was nothing there. But something had to of scared the cat.
I am leaning towards an owl or black bird of some sort that has taken these cats. My mom had a lot of strays that lived at her house. Usually ones that were left behind my other pet owns and she cared for them. But they are all slowly disappearing. Only the 2 big males are left. These cats are smaller then your average cat. They were no bigger then I would say a 6 to 9 month old kitten. That is a big as these 2 got, same with there mother. (who is also missing).

FooFoo had bad hind legs which preventer her from moving like a normal cat would. So she couldn't get away if something was to come after her. Her hind legs where longer from the hip down then normal. But she was fine walking and playing.
Ok a little about the area we live in. Its desert with a nice mountain range less then 5 miles from my parents house. There is a small horse farm that is located infront of my parents house. There is a small farm next to my parents house with a few chickens and sometimes pigs. I don't know if the chickens have come up missing and I am sure the neighbors would care less if they did. There is an open desert behind my parents house. Coyotes have been seen there and night owls are very common in this area.
Could it be a bird? I am lost. My mom is so upset. She had taken these 2 kittens in when the mom disappeared. Which she had had her for years. The cats disappearing just started about a year ago. This moma cat was next in line to be spayed once we caught her. My mom had over 10 cats she was caring for and now she is down to the 2 larger males. There is no animal control traps around and the neighbors helped with these cats.
If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them. Help us figure out what is going on and if we need to do something soon to prevent it from happening again.
I think I covered all the possible questions. Now I just need idea's. Thanks.

 

[VoodooJoint]

Sorry this is happening to you. Being as you live in the desert I am guessing a predetor of some kind is to blame.

It could have been a stealthy coyote but there are probably also foxes, bobcats, racoons and weasels. All of which can kill a cat. If the cats are small then an owl is a likely suspect.

The only prevention is to keep the cats inside or at the very least they should be inside at night when most predators are hunting.

 

[Trixie]

I agree with you Voodoo. I feel bad that this happened. But yet I can't help but blame my parents for it.

Yes all those animals you have listed are around in the area. I didn't even think of the racoon or weasels. That is very possible.
Yes the cats were very small. Easy half the size of a poodle.
Thanks I will bring up the other animals to my parents maybe they can fix there fence a little better.

 

[zakfoxmom]

I definately think its some animal taking the cats. We allow our three cats to go out when we are at home. At night and when we leave for work, they have to come inside. We live in town so there are no coyotes or anything like that around. If a cat has some sort of physical dysfunction or is declawed, I think it should definately be an indoor cat and not allowed outside because it is unable to escape or defend itself.

 

[Marlania]

I'm sorry this has happened. Unfortunatley, I'd have to agree that it's probably something snatching the poor things. I have a cat, but he stays inside. I don't feel that I live in an area that's suitable to let him outside. Additionally, my regular vet, along with most vets here, do not microchip, and my emergency vet who does chip is teaching at a vet school out-of-state, so Charlie hasn't been able to get chipped since we adopted him almost a year ago. Additionally, we have a lot of strays in my neighborhood, and I don't want to risk him getting into fights since he's such a tiny little thing. A lot of the strays here are apparently someone's cat they leave outside or let live under their houses, and somehow they always end up by my house. I guess I'm a magnet to them.

I hope your animal mystery is solved and doesn't happen again. Good luck to you!

 

[Ketus15]

My guess is the predator is hanging around because of the easy access to the prey (your mom's kitties). I also think that the big males are the only ones left because they probably travel a larger range each night and so stay out of the way.

But in general, cats are not easy prey. They can be fast and put up a good fight. Coyote, feral/stray dog, and weasels are top on the list as far as I can tell. If it is an owl, that's probably why the big cats are still around: slightly above the owl's weight range.

Sorry for the losses. She hasn't found any remains? An owl would, well, find a nearby perch and leave the rest there.