There are stray cats that roam around in my backyard, and also some opossoms. Usually, when two cats fight, you hear both of them screaming. Every now and then, I only hear one, and I think they are being a attacked by the opossums. The opossums are about the same height of the cats, or a little bigger, and I don't bother to see them up close, because they are scary. Do they fight with cats, and if so, is it dangerous? Can they kill a cat? My cat goes out side at times, I haven't heard him out there screaming, and he has no scars, but I'm scared for him. I don't let him outside, my sister does, which annoys me.
2006-12-29 12:57:20 · 7 answers · asked by krazy_libra_from_ac 5 in Pets ➔ Cats
Here's some info I found...and I know opossums have BIG teeth!!
"Feed dogs and cats indoors and keep them in at night. If you must feed your pets outside, do so in late morning or at midday, and pick up food, water bowls, leftovers, and spilled food well before dark every day.
Keep pets indoors at night. If cornered, opossums may attack dogs and cats. Bite wounds from opossums can result in fractures and disease transmission.
Prevent opossums from entering pet doors. Keep indoor pet food and any other food away from a pet door. Lock the pet door at night. If it is necessary to have it remain open, put an electronically activated opener on your pet’s collar. Note: Floodlights or motion detector lights placed above the pet door to scare opossums are not long-term solutions."
2006-12-29 13:08:24 · answer #1 · answered by wondering... 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
cats and opossums that fight can be dangerous and even cause death in one or the other. my cat, Smokey, when she was two had a litter of kittens and an opossum was roaming the neighborhood. she tried to protect them by fighting him off, but when it bit her leg and cheek, she ran off in pain because she could no longer stand. the opossum killed all three kittens and left some pretty nasty scars on Smokey. the wounds took nearly two months to fully heal and she had contracted rabies from the bite. we had to admit her into the vet's office for several days for treatment. opossums will not play 'possom if it knows what it is up against and it knows that it can possibly overcome it's enemy. if you have an outside cat of your own and know there is an opossum around, buy a litter tray and bring him/her inside immediately. cats are very territorial and will defend their turf from an equally territorial opossum.
2006-12-29 14:41:08 · answer #2 · answered by catbrat16 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have cats and opossums that both go under the house. I've never had a problem with them. These opossums are huge too, bigger than most of my cats. They all share food and get along fine.
2006-12-29 17:54:04 · answer #3 · answered by Karen H 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
99.9% of the time a cat has had a fight with another cat. Opossums do not bother cats and cats ignor opossums as well as racoons etc. Now, foxes are a different matter. They will kill a cat.
2006-12-29 13:04:02 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Opossoms rarely attack. They will try and run away or climb a tree before attacking. (My three dogs cornered one just last week and the poor opossom was scared to death). No one was harmed.
Opossoms do have fifty sharp teeth, but only use them in attacks when left no other choice.
There are other animals that can kill cats, but not to many natural predators for cats in this country. They are normally killed by traffic, poisoning, or trapped by humans who are annoyed by dealing with cat poop in their gardens, or their noises at night, and then are killed in whatever fashion the human who caught them sees fit, if they are not taken to a shelter.
Get some information on cats being let outside, and the harm that can come to them. If your sister is old enough to understand, give her this info to read.
2006-12-29 13:39:49 · answer #5 · answered by Animaholic 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When my cats first were outside the house I was worried that they might attack raccoon babies and I knew the mother would probably tear the cats to shreds defending her young. We also had possums and they were only out at night.
I don't think a cat would "go after" a possum or raccoon as a dog might. Of course, if cornered, any animal would try to defend itself. My cats were neutered and always were in the house after dark.
2006-12-29 13:19:04 · answer #6 · answered by old cat lady 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No. I have oppossums that roam my backyard and come to eat my cats food but they have never gotten into a fight. In fact they share the food. They won't kill your cat or harm it.
2006-12-29 17:55:22 · answer #7 · answered by Alyssa 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋