would a possums attack a cat?

Question

well theres always possums at my place at night and my cat is a birman cat and we don't let him outside because my mum told me there breed is better kept inside and he gets into the backyard sometimes which isn't much of a problem but he gets out at night as well and he is very play full and likes to hunt things and I've seen him looking out a screen door at a possum and follows were it goes if he gets out at night would the possums attack him? and my cat isn't a kitten he turns 1 tomorrow

oh and we have mango trees pretty big ones and the possums hide in there and over the years our neighbors 2 doors down have possums that live in there walls,garage,roof and we figured out that they sleep there during the day and then they come to our place to feed on the mangos

Answer 1

Yes, possums will attack and alot of them also have rabies.
Keep your cat inside.

Answer 2

Do Possums Attack Cats

Answer 3

A possum would most likely attack a cat if provoked, but possums don't/can't carry rabies.
Any mammal can get rabies. However, the chance of rabies in an opossum is EXTREMELY RARE. This may have something to do with the opossum's low body temperature (94-97º F) making it difficult for the virus to survive in an opossum's body.

Answer 4

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RE:
would a possums attack a cat?
well theres always possums at my place at night and my cat is a birman cat and we don't let him outside because my mum told me there breed is better kept inside and he gets into the backyard sometimes which isn't much of a problem but he gets out at night as well and he is very play full...

Answer 5

Although they aren't the prettiest animal they are far from aggressive. They will only attack if they are cornered. We have them living in our back yard and we also have cats and they never bother each other. I have watched them walk right on by the cats and none of them had a problem. I had one on my deck and he hissed at me (because I didn't know he was there) but never attacked me and I was right next to it. I went in the house and he went on his merry way. The only thing I would be concerned with is making sure your cats have had their rabies shot. If the possums have rabies then "yes" they could attack and bite you and or your cats. Just stay away from them. Also keep your trash cans covered because they are looking for food like lettuce or any greens you may throw away.

Answer 6

We have a group of four individual possums show up every night here, they never bother the cats, but the cats don't attack them either. All I can say is that ours seem pretty mellow.

I would NOT trust a raccoon around the cats though, they can and do kill cats.

Answer 7

First person is wrong. Possums are not aggreswsivew at all. Thgink about polaying possim. They stay perfectly still and try to avoid all conflict. Of course any animal may defend itself if trapped in a courner but you have nothing to worry about.

PS What breed a cat is has nothing to do with staying in or going out.

Answer 8

From what I understand, possums are pretty agressive and might attack, but they're also solitary and like to stay out of sight. If your cat goes up to one and decides to investigate, he could be in for a nasty stratch or bite if he sneaks up on one.
While I doubt they would fight to the death since, when a cat knows it's losing a fight, he will back down rather than risk further injury.
But, with possums being wild animals, there is a chance of your cat contracting rabies if bitten by an infected possum. so keep kitty inside as much as possible.
If he gets out, watch him carefully and scare off any errant possums yourself.

Answer 9

My cats have been outside at night and they sat off at a distance and watched the opossum sniff around for food I left out for a stray cat.

The opossum didn't seem to care if the cats were near by or not. But they are carriers for lice and rabies.

Answer 10

Yes they could. I had a cat that was very brave to be around 2 opossums that were bigger then the cat and the cat would sit aside his cat food so the opossums could eat the cat food. I saw my cat that I had at one time do that with the opossums.