Its every cat owners dread: letting their kitten outside at night for the first time. Some cat owners prefer to keep cats indoors, in fact many studies have found that indoor cats are healthier and live longer. But some cats cannot be kept in, and many pet owners buckle under the cats cries to be set free. A friend of mine recently had a bit of a scare with her 9 month old kitten, who came back into the house with a nasty gash on his stomach and bite marks on the rest of his body.
The vets conclusion was that the poor black and white kitten had been attacked by a fox. Hes on the mend now, (taking antibiotics and painkillers, and sporting the dreaded plastic con), but a little shaken up thats for sure.
Fox Cub Season
The incident did bring to light an important message that around this time of year, March/April, foxes are rearing their newly born fox cubs.
Ordinarily, foxes will completely ignore cats and dogs. Foxes avoid dogs, and many foxes are even killed by dogs. Equally, cats and foxes are about the same size, making cats quite capable of defending themselves against foxes. Because of this, foxes generally give cats a wide berth and flee when threatened by a cat.
Protecting Small Pets
However, at this time of the year, if they feel their cubs are at threat an attack may occur. With hungry fox cub mouths to feed, foxes are also on an extra vigilant hunt for small animals to prey on: this means Rabbits, Guinea Pigs, and Chickens etc. are even more vulnerable around this time of year.
If you have a boisterous kitten who does not quite know his/her limits, you may want to consider keeping him indoors for these months until the fox cubs have grown up and moved on.
If you know you have a lot of foxes in your area, you may want to consider bringing your rabbit/guinea pig hutch indoors to be 100% sure. If this is not an option, it is advisable to invest in a good quality, secure hutch with firm locks. Foxes are quite adept at opening flimsy catches on less secure hutches.
Scoot Fox Repellent
In addition, to protect smaller pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs, weve found Scoot Fox Repellent to be the most effective fox repellent on the market. Scoot is a spray that mimics fox scent marking odours to trick foxes into thinking another fox has claimed the area as their territory generally, foxes do not cross other foxes territories – so marking your garden with a fox-like scent can effectively drive foxes away.
Scoot is a patented non-toxic formula which is totally safe for use in gardens, on plants and edible crops and is humane, bio-degradable and very effective.
Keep foxes away, and keep your small pets safe.
