My Male Yorkie hunted and killed my neighbours cat
 

Well I left him out side (The garden has no holes in the trees, ect) he was fine at first and then I saw him in an attack position, He then pounced on something in the long grass, I could not see it but when I took a closer look I saw my neighbours cat dead with bites to the neck if you look closely, The cat is massive and I am surprised he managed to kill it, My other neighbour has a smaller but older cat and I am worried that he might go for that, I am not going to let my dog out side in the garden unless I am there for now on, Do you think I am doing the right thing not letting him out side for long periods of time, Since it is his hunting instincts.

He has never killed anything before and he use to live with a cat too.

I am just worried when I think everything is fine again he will kill again, Since he lived peacefully with a cat before.

Could a mod move this thread to General discussion, I never realized I was in this section. sorry.

Is your yard fenced? Unless you actually heard a big dog/cat fight going on then I think it is possible the cat was already dead. How big is your yorkie?

Aaah...the joys of owning a terrier :rolleyes: Many people forget that these cute lil hairy dogs are still terriers with all the terrier instincts.

My last yorkie at just 14 weeks old caught & shook a mole to death in my backyard.

It's my personal belief, that your dog has the right to be on your enclosed property whenever. Other people need to keep their critters off your property. The onus is on them, not you.

I tend to agree. If the cat was in your yard, well, that sucks for the cat and their owners. :(

Jackson killed a bird before and caught a second. It made me freaked out but it's just their instinct sometimes.

I agree if the cat was in your yard, fare game.

I can't imagine my yorkie doing that to a cat. Wonder if the cat was already dead.

No matter how much we love, play with, dress up, etc. these little guys they are STILL terriers, first and foremost. These things happen. Like others said, if the cat was in your enclosed property, you shouldn't have to keep your dog in- you should tell the neighbors not to let their cats out, this is one of the risks they take.

As long as your dog stays in your yard, you aren't at fault for it killing another animal that wonders in your yard.

It's what terriers do:

No I saw him pounce at the cat, And it was still warm when I picked it up and bagged it, Thanks for the advise, I will allow him to go in the yard without me keeping an eye on him since the cat should not of been there anyway, My yorkie is big, Bigger than the average yorkie anyway, But what shocks me is how he turns on cats so suddenly, I know they were bred to hunt rodents and stuff, But its weird how he turned on cats so quickly.

That is why I am afraid to leave Tibbe outside untended. He is only 5.3 lbs. and I think he would attack a tiger. I am scared that the cat could fight back and scratch his eyes or bite him so he just doesn't get to stay out unwatched. When I first got him and he was timid, the neighbor's cat would jimp in our yard and start to stalk him as I was yelling and coming right at it! He'd only run away just B4 I got to him. I took pictures of the cat in my yard and called Animal Control about it - they got that stopped but still I worry about cats and other critters getting into the yard with Tibbe. Somewhere along the way, Tibbe's timidity vanished and he will take on ANYTHING in HIS yard now. Even a larger Yorkie could get hurt by a fighting cat so I watch him when he is outside. Terriers will be terriers, as they say.

I just checked him over for any injuries and he seems normal, No scratches to the eye, I think he just Pounced at it and grabbed its neck and choked it to death, I checked his eyes, Loss of hair, Nothing the cat did to him, I don't even think the cat stood a chance, My Yorkie has always had a love for ripping teddys apart, Now hes gone to the real thing...

The last time he was weight he was at 5.2KG that was 3 months ago, He is a year and half old.

EDIT: He is not over weight, He has always been a very big dog, The vet said on his check up he was one of the biggest she had ever seen but his weight was okay for his size.

I'm glad he is safe and sound but watch that baby. The next cat may be rabid or something and you don't want him getting into a diseased animal.

Now, why won't cat owners keep their pets at home where they belong? Don't you wonder that?

I though of that, I am having a bigger fence up soon anyway since I have seen a lot of cats jump the current one, I have no issue with cats being out side just not on my property.

I have witnessed a few dog/cat fights and they get real ugly and loud. Unless the dog is big the cat usually wins. I have know many a big tom cat that would not hesitate to attack a dog. I have had tom cats and momma cats that would chase a dog off our property.

The cat was a tom cat I am pretty sure, Though bigger than the average one, My guess is that the only reason my yorkie killed it was because the cat was obese and well could not move fast, Though the cat was about 4 years old, Cats mainly use their speed to defend them selves, And well the cat just could not get away because it was obese, Though it would of been fast enough to run from my yorkie, Thats what I am still trying to get down to, I do know my dog killed it now, The neighbours took it to the vet to confirm that my dog had killed it, The neighbour said the vets said that the bites would match a large yorkie's mouth size of maybe a jack Russell bite size, But I saw my yorkie pounce at it so yeah, She did ask me for money but earlier today I phoned the RSPCA and they said that she could not get any money out of me since the cat was on my property, I recommended the neighbour to the RSPCA's number I called.

I don't really care either if they wouldn't be a threat to my dog, tear open the garbage, poop on my car - yes, the hood, yowl at the window, leave a dead field rat in the garden and make my backyard their own. We currently have no loose cats in the neighborhood that I know of but over the past years, they have been a problem. Our neighborhood is a suburban one and I have never even seen a rat in real life until I saw the partially eaten one in my own garden! Yuck! I know a cat dragged it there as we've never had possums, raccoons, etc., here. I cannot tell you what I went through getting up the nerve to(2.5 mg. Valium) and trying to dispose of that item. I lost a good pair of rubber gloves, a grabber stick and a robe to that disposal job as they all had to go in the garbage bag after that - and it still took me days to stop shuddering and feel clean again no matter how many showers I took. But mainly, cats are a potential threat to my Tibbe. I guess I could learn to put up with the rest of their antics from time to time but it is those that try to or jump in my backyard that worry me.

I totally agree. I don't think your dog killed that cat. That cat could have been taken by a bird of prey, then dropped because it was too big to fly off with. The talons could have killed it.

Are talons in the uk? Never saw them here in Wales, I honestly have no idea, It was to full of blood to examine it, I just bagged it and gave it to my Neighbour since she would not do it, I know my yorkie could not have done that much damage to it, I am thinking it was killed by a fox, Though there is nothing except a bird that could get in to my garden, Except a cat jumping over the fence, The cat was pretty warm on a cold day, and a Fox could not get in the garden, It is either my yorkie or a bird of prey, I would accept a bird of prey but I saw my yorkie pounce at it in the long grass at the corner of my garden, I never saw the cat until it was dead, I just saw my dog stalking up to the long grass then pouncing.

We have feral cats around here. When we first moved here about 10 years ago we were always seeing snakes. After someone dropped of some cats and the cats started multiplying we quit seeing snakes except for an occasional dead snake that the cats killed. I have mixed emotions about cats. They serve their purpose but I hated that they kill off all the squirrels and they would catch and kill birds. I am also terrified of cat bites. Cat bites are full of germs and often if a person is bit by a cat the person will end up with a bad infection that sometimes requires a visit to the doctor or even the hospital. Last year all the cats started disappearing when we noticed some coyotes in the area. I really think the coyotes or perhaps the owls started getting them. Now we only have two outside cats and that is plenty for me.

Similar story with us, I live in Wales, We use to have tons of stray cats and they suddenly started to disappear as a few Staffordshire terriers arrived on the same road as us, There are seriously only about 5 stray cats left, A lot of house cats being mouled apart by the Staffordshire terriers too, My advise is everyone who has a dog to keep it inside your house or allow it in your garden, Never ever let them rage wild, And cats, People think they disappear when they are getting killed by other dogs.

I agree, we don't have a fenced yard so mine never go outside unless they are on a leash. My personal belief is that if a dog would kill/maul a cat I would never trust it with a child. I know that sounds silly but that is just how I feel.

That sounds more logical. The bird could have dropped it or was going to eat it and got scared off.

:yelrotflm I don't know if its inappropriate to notice since it's such an awful situation with a cat being dead and all but isn't it funny how most of all of us are like "is the pup ok?" or "Your yard, fair game", and my favorite so far " maybe a bird of prey could have killed it with it's talons" haha! I'm guessing none of us are cat people :P. Anyway I'm glad your baby is ok, cats can be super mean. That is my greatest fear with my Roxy is that another animal is going to harm her because she doesn't really attack but she gets REALLY excited and curious with other creatures (of all sizes) and NEEDS to run up and say hi. Did you tell the neighbors??

I kind of feel the same way. I mean, a child is obviously entirely different than a cat... but killing a cat is a pretty big feat. Then again though, a cat is something with four legs and fur that moves quickly... similar to a rat, who they were bred to kill. A child is a completely different ballgame. I believe any dog would be able to tell the difference between a child and a cat and unless they showed aggression towards children, I would still trust them.

I mean, Jackson has chased cats (my dads) but he's had encounters with them a few times where the cats aren't running, and I can't imagine him actually causing harm. He's very gentle with them when he's not chasing them, LOL. I know that animals will be animals and dogs will be dogs... but it would worry me irregardless. Jackson caught a bird in our screened in porch... leaped into the air and caught it, but I think the bird either died of shock or a broken neck. Jackson dropped it right away so I don't think he had intent to kill. But just because he killed a live flying bird, I 100% trust him with my 7 year old brother. He loves Camron and has a very close bond with him and he clearly knows Cam is NOT a bird or a cat. He even found an injured mouse in our house once that could barely move and just barked and barked until I came into the kitchen to check it out... brought it outside and he just laid with it and watched it until it died. But I don't doubt that if the thing were moving faster, that his prey drive would come out and he would try to eat it.

I think some dogs, terriers in particular, have a higher prey drive than others. Each dog should be treated individually for sure. It DOES seem like this cat was already dead... I mean, Jackson is 16lbs, but I don't think he'd have the strength or the drive to kill an adult cat. But I do think we ALL have to keep back in the back of our mind that our sweet little dogs ARE in fact dogs, terriers at that, and I wouldn't trust a terrier with a small fast moving animal by themselves.

I seriously doubt that your dog killed that Tom Cat. Cats don't just sit there and let a dog attack them without fighting back. Do you see any type of activity other then him pouncing? My guess he found it dead and because it was something new and in his yard he pounced on it. I have cats and they never allow the dogs to attack them without responding to some degree. A fox could be very likely. He could have draged it over the fence, when your dog approached the cat or when you opened the door to let your dog out may have scared the fox away. Any other type of wild animals in your area. I just find it highly unlikely that your dog is able to kill a cat especially that quickly.

I too doubt that your yorkie killed a large tom cat without you hearing any type of a fight. You would have heard a fight~a very loud fight. The cat whether or not it was slow and fat would not have just keeled over from fright :confused:

OMY did you try to get it to a vets or find the owner?!?

My Evlis is as prissy as they come...he freaks on the neighbor's cats...don't think he'd kill one but he sure gets excited and chases...of course the cat sits at the top of the fence and sticks out its tongue and mocks him...my 21pound Schnorkie runs from the cat straight into the house to hide...not sure it was a black cat with a white stripe on the fence a couple weeks ago Elvis was freaking out on...but no one was perfumed so we're all good.

Aren't they supposed to be ratters and not catters though?

As distrot as my last post was I read yours and laughed...hm maybe the poor kitty did have a heart attack at the site of a demented Yorkie coming at him...:doghop: :eek: :thumbdown :rip::cat:

I'm going with another poster...it was a foxes kill....

Yeah, we kind of callously left out the poor, dead cat. While I am not a "cat person" per se, I think they really are beautiful, sweet animals, love them for the work they do keeping homes, businesses and farms critter free and for the loving pets they are to so many, many people across the world. The poor cat cannot help it if he is let out, and sometimes just left outside to his own devices and perils. He's just out and about doing his catly thing. It is the owners who let them live like that, subject to large dogs, mean teenage boys, all kinds of critter attacks and infestations, cars, mad neighbors, etc., that I don't understand. And then there is the trouble they cause others in the neighborhood with overturning the garbage, strewing it across the entire back alley, pooping on vehicles/barbecue grills, crawling up into a neighbor's tree and mewing pitifully for hours and hours, digging up flowers - oh, you name it. Dogs left out in the neighborhood wreak equal havoc but no dogowners in Mesquite allow their dogs out like catowners do. Chances are the poor cat in question would not be dead at all if he were home and cared for, not out running about, prey himself. I hope his passing was quick.

Yeah, we kind of callously left out the poor, dead cat. While I am not a "cat person" per se, I think they really are beautiful, sweet animals, love them for the work they do keeping homes, businesses and farms critter free and for the loving pets they are to so many, many people across the world. The poor cat cannot help it if he is let out, and sometimes just left outside to his own devices and perils. He's just out and about doing his catly thing. It is the owners who let them live like that, subject to large dogs, mean teenage boys, all kinds of critter attacks and infestations, cars, trucks, etc., that I don't understand. And then there is the trouble they cause others in the neighborhood with overturning the garbage, strewing it across the entire back alley(which the homeowner must clean up whether physically able or not), pooping on vehicles/barbecue grills, crawling up into a neighbor's tree and mewing pitifully for hours and hours, digging up flowers - oh, you name it. Dogs left out in the neighborhood wreak equal havoc but no dogowners in my neighborhood allow their dogs out like catowners do. Chances are the poor cat in question would not be dead at all if he were home and cared for, not out running about in his neighborhood, prey himself. I hope his passing was quick.

To be fair cats are free roaming and dogs are territorial...OP needs to work on training and socialization-so do I. Even though Elvis freaks on cats...I'm at times pretty sure he is half cat...to me Yorkies are very cat like only more loving...the whole tongue bathing so many Yorkies do...ye...partial feline DNA...