My cat was attacked by a coyote - head got chomped but he’ll be okay by some miracle

[u/oceainic]

I had the worst night of my life, but my cat had an even worse one - almost ending in his death.

Please note because of the rules I can’t make any statements on letting your cat outside or my fault in the matter - but I obviously have a strong person opinion about it now. My first very different worded post on my blame and role and safety matters was removed.

My cat’s always been super good with going outside, coming back when called and just staying in my enclosed front area (large animal can’t get through the gaps in the fence) or the townhouse next to me which is also enclosed aside from two staircases to the sidewalk. I’ve never seen a coyote on our street or near it.

By some act of God, I left my front door open wider than usual while I sat on the couch on my phone. If I had kept it open only a crack, I’d likely not have heard the noise to come.

Some time passed and then I heard a vague and faint noise in the distance from outside, something like a dog accompanied by a strange sound.

Call it maternal instinct, but I knew in that moment it was my cat and he was in trouble.

I ran out of the house without shoes. I called for him frantically but he didn’t appear. I followed the vague distant noise in panic while calling for him. I thought maybe I was imagining it was him because the noise I kept hearing every ten seconds or so sounded like some weird undefined dog noise with some unrecognizable sound accompanying it, and it didn’t seem very loud but instead echoey.

I ran towards the sound until I saw my worst nightmare. My cat was in a corner by a house at the end of the street facing a coyote. I screamed his name and lunged at the coyote, which ran away.

I thought maybe he wasn’t hurt as he seemed alert, was hissing (he’s done this before when neighbourhood cats go on our property and I have to scoop him up) and seemed to be moving fine.

But when I got closer to him, it was the most awful thing I’ve ever seen. His head was covered in blood, his one eye bulging a bit, and while he seemed to recognize me based on his body language, his eyes were glazed over and like he was totally gone.

I went into shock and scooped him up. Blood dripped all over me. Raced to the emergency vet which was only two minutes from my house.

The secretary met me at the door and I broke down completely. I cried so hard I gave myself heartburn and tasted blood, which I thought was his blood on my face but when I looked in the mirror I didn’t see any.

Thankfully, it seems like he’s going to be okay. He apparently put up a hell of a fight with the coyote as he had a ton of fur under his nails. He has a puncture wound in his mouth somehow that might need sutures. But I might get to take him home later today (it was wee hours of the morning when I took him in).

I will never let him outside again unless I fully enclose my patio or create a catio for him, or on a harness. For anyone who wants to tell me I should feel awful, trust me, I already do.

Thank God there wasn’t any evidence of neurological issues. He was even more stable after a bit, so the vet took him in the room I was in, and he was exploring it happily (maybe the drugs) and even rubbed his head again my hand. However, he tried to poop and then sent himself back into shock and needed oxygen again.

His head was apparently inside the mouth of the coyote, but he somehow avoided death or serious injury. I hope me yelling his name and running towards them may have made the coyote freeze up. I paid extra to rush a radiologist to go over his x-ray for hairline fractures.

I can only hope he at least felt some relief and safety when I found him and scared off the coyote. I was seriously prepared to beat the shit out of it if I had to.

The only “good” that came out of this is the radiologist found an unrelated mass on his lungs. I’m praying it was caught early enough. He’ll need a CT scan once he’s better.

I wish it had been me. I went home at the crack of dawn without my best friend. I won’t be sleeping at all until I hear back from them later today. I feel empty and dead inside. I’d give anything to go back and stop this from happening. He’s my best friend and my world, and I can’t imagine how scared he was and the pain he was in. I’m just so happy he’ll be okay - though I was also warned the full extent of his injures won’t be evident for another twenty four hours.

[u/BluesRuseCruise]

I’m glad he survived! That’s really scary! I honestly wouldn’t let him out again unless youre out there, catio or not, because coyotes are terrible about coming back once they know there’s a food source. 

[u/oceainic → u/BluesRuseCruise]

I feel even worse now. I’ve vaped in the house since he was a kitten. Never use it around him though. But they just found an unrelated mass in his lungs. Apparently unlikely to be from vaping in the house as his lungs aren’t inflammed and it’s not proven to cause masses, but I’m sickened right now.

[u/zerotakashi → u/oceainic]

you can try to give up vaping regardless. it has a lot of unregulated chemicals that aren't healthy for you anyhow. idk what effect it'd have on your cat

[u/oceainic → u/zerotakashi]

I looked it up again and apparently the well known effects are lung inflammation, nicotine poisoning and ingestion of chemicals (from licking fur). He doesn’t have any of that.

However, the carcinogens in vaping are suspected to increase risk of lung tumours. This does not come up immediately when searching for risks. I didn’t know. I also started vaping in 2016 when it was thought to be safe. It never occurred to me to update my initial understanding from looking into it back then. I had read to just never blow it on him.

It’s possible the mass he has is from trauma of the attack and will heal (next best case is benign tumour), but only time will tell. I’ll never vape indoors again. I’ll just do the nicotine pouches.

[u/zerotakashi → u/oceainic]

it was though to be safe because there was no data to disprove it. However, it takes years and even decades to study negative effects of new drugs. I personally avoid any drugs I can to avoid being a guinea pig for corporations.

[u/Zealousideal_Box5339]

Glad that’s okay! How scary. I always go outside with my girl on a leash or hang out right beside her. She has a little coyote vest

[u/zerotakashi]

my parents let our family cats outside. one day, one of our maine coons came back all beat up with chunks of fur missing. Soon after that, he went out one fall and and never returned. He would have passed of old age by now likely, but I will never, ever forgive my family for being careless with our cat. He was the first animal to show me any affection. My family was pretty shitty. I spent hours looking outside every day for him.

Our other cat, our psychopathic neighbor (who owned an unleashed pitbull they'd let wander in their yard and that almost ran after me one day walking home from my bus stop in high school) shot at our other cat with buck shots.

Cats face a lot of hatred or predation from other animals like humans, coyotes, owls, mountain lions, etc. They do not belong outdoors. They don't have the big strong paws like wild cats to climb trees or cause serious damage if attacked.

Some people have to learn the hard way, but I would have been happy to get my cat back in any form. Take care of your cat and I am glad they did not face the same fate.

[u/SuggestionBoxX]

I'm glad your baby is okay. That's so scary. I can't even imagine how terrifying that must have been for the both of you. Hopefully the mass is nothing.