[su2009]

Last night between about 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., a large animal tore through the screen on our lanai and took our young Siamese cat, Timmer. I believe it was probably a coyote, because no other animal here would have been fast and powerful enough to grab Timmer before he could get away and come back in through the cat door to the lanai. I had not realized Timmer was in danger, or I would not have let him go in and out at night through the cat door; I thought he was safe with the screen door shut tight, the lanai and birdcage well screened, and a cat door to escape back into the house if something scared him. We are very sad; he was a beautiful, sweet young cat and we loved him very much.http://lawmarkets.com/images/10-2-sc...-by-coyote.jpg http://lawmarkets.com/images/timmer.jpg

[applesoffh]

Sorry for your loss. How awful.

[Lovey2]

Oh, how terrible!! I am so, so sorry! Poor Timmer, what a beautiful cat! This is my biggest fear with our kitties. What village are you in?
Thank you for posting a picture of the screen. I have been pondering what to do with ours for weeks. We are having an additional cage put in and hoping they can install some cross bars along the bottom screen panels.

[raynan]

Terribly sad to lose a pet. What village are you in?

[JGVillages]

When we lived in Port Charlotte, FL an alligator tore through a lanai screen to get a dog, fortunately unsuccessful. Coyotes, bobcats, aligators are part of our Florida wildlife as as we encroach on theit territory these unfortunate incidents will happen. Be aware and protect your pets.

[Nucky]

Our hearts are broken for you. So hard to lose a pet. Priscilla & Glen.

[Jima64]

Very sorry for your loss. If I lost Zac or Zoe I would be devestated also.

[TheVillageChicken]

Originally Posted by su2009

My Siamese cat was taken from my lanai on January 15, 2015 sometime between 9:30 p.m., when I saw him in his cat bed, and 4:30 a.m when I got up. We have a cat door from the inside to the lanai and this cat usually went out onto the lanai once or twice during the night just to watch the golf course.

Although I did not realize it at the time, that night the screen door to the outside was not loose and not latched (ours has to be pulled tight to latch). I had not remembered to check the outside screen door before going to bed. The night was cold and raining, and my cat hated the rain and would not have gone out in it. He also would not have gotten lost; he liked people and walked up and down the block when he was young, and all the neighbors knew him. When I got up at 4:30 a.m. the next morning, my Siamese cat was gone, there was a dog-sized muddy footprint on the lanai, and the other cat then refused to go out through the cat door onto the lanai for three months after that, even if I was with him. Of course, now I am very careful to make sure the screen door is pulled tightly and latched when I go in or out.

On August 3, 2015, a neighbor three doors up called me at 1 p.m. in the afternoon to let me know that a coyote was making her way down the backyards of the houses on the Kenya golf course side of our street, Bramble Terrace. As we spoke on the phone, the coyote arrived in our backyard. It was a young female, and she came up onto our patio in the daylight and stared into our lanai. She then sniffed carefully around the lanai and through the bushes in the back and on the side of our house before moving down to the next neighbors' house. It was raining that day, but coyotes have a very oily coat and she did not look even slightly wet – her ears were up and her bushy tail was full and not bedraggled at all.

She was clearly alert and hunting for prey, and she searched carefully through the bushes behind the other houses on the golf course. I have no idea whether she was the coyote who took our cat, but she certainly found our lanai a place of interest, and coyotes are unquestionably smart enough to work open a poorly latched screen door.

Originally Posted by su2009

Last night between about 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., a large animal tore through the screen on our lanai and took our young Siamese cat, Timmer. I believe it was probably a coyote, because no other animal here would have been fast and powerful enough to grab Timmer before he could get away and come back in through the cat door to the lanai. I had not realized Timmer was in danger, or I would not have let him go in and out at night through the cat door; I thought he was safe with the screen door shut tight, the lanai and birdcage well screened, and a cat door to escape back into the house if something scared him. We are very sad; he was a beautiful, sweet young cat and we loved him very much.http://lawmarkets.com/images/10-2-sc...-by-coyote.jpg http://lawmarkets.com/images/timmer.jpg

So the cat taken last night was the one who refused to go outside after the first cat was taken? Mighty strange happenings.

[gap2415]

So sorry for your loss especially how it happened.

As a pet lover, I have a range of emotions right now, so sad.

[gerryann]

This sure is confusing. You posted on 9/14/2015 that your cat was taken on 1/15/2015.

Now you are saying that last night 10/1/2015 your cat was taken again.

What the heck???

[redwitch]

Strange looking lanai. Trying to figure out the mulch on both sides configuration.

Sorry, I just don't buy it. The coyotes have enough wildlife here to feed them ten times over. A small dog loose in a yard would be fair prey to a coyote. A cat in a screened lanai that smells of humans would not be worth the risk unless the coyote were starving.

[MoeVonB61]

If it's true sorry for your loss...BTW your lanai looks more like a birdcage screen...am amazed you would allow your other cat out if you already lost one....

[manaboutown]

When I lived in Los Alamos, NM I had friends who lost several siamese cats to coyotes. Be very careful with your siamese cats if coyotes prowl your area.

[Barefoot]

I was very sorry to hear that you lost a cat from your lanai in January to coyotes. Very sad. And that you lost a second cat a few days ago to coyotes. Very distressing. And this happened in the Village of Bonita? Do you back on a Preserve?

[Jimturner]

Is it possible that the cat tore though the screen and left?