Mix em all together, toss em in the pond.

Chinese Restaurant

I'm not convinced a coyote is much of a threat to a cat.

Depends on the cat. My current boyfriend's cat, a Siamese, met his demise at the hands of a coyote. He was an indoor cat who escaped. My own cat, an entirely indoor cat (and runt of his litter) until he died of old age, invariably ended up cowering under a bush or some such, scared out of his mind when he escaped from the house. Had we lived in an area with coyotes, he would have been a tasty snack in short order.

On the other hand, a previous boyfriend's cat, a large indoor/outdoor cat, took down a raccoon unassisted. Any coyote who tried to take on this cat would have regretted it. (It didn't matter, as this was also not an area with coyotes, although it was rural.)

Someone else mentioned that coyotes live in "pretty much all suburban areas." That may be true in the West (definitely true of the Los Angeles 'burbs), but you sure don't find coyotes in say, Massachusetts, Florida, or Indiana.

I second coriander's post.

Have a testosterone test performed on the cat. It is a blood test that costs around $80 for the test and whatever fee your vet will charge for his or her time.

My neutered male cat had a similar problem, and a test for high testosterone came back positive: his testosterone is 40X the average value of a neutered cat.

In the case where it comes back positive it can be an undescended testicle, testicular tissue left over from a neuter, or possible adrenal tumors.

In all three cases the treatment is to do an exploratory and remove the cause. This is a serious surgery, so you should be absolutely sure of the cause and have an ultrasound performed on the adrenal glands to ensure that they do not have tumors. An ultrasound will cost between $200 to $300 and take about a half hour. Look forward to a stylish new coat on the cat that features racing stripes.

If an exploratory / adrenalectomy is performed, the cat will need to be immobilized for a week or two while his internal sutures heal. This can be accomplished by use of daily heavy sedatives and recovery inside a cage just large enough to contain a small litter box, a food dish, a water bowl and the cat. You will be performing in the role of a cat orderly: you absolutely do not want the sutures to accidentally break. (This occurred in our cat, who required emergency surgery to put his innards back in once they fell out after his external sutures were removed. There is no such thing as a cat ambulance, and there is something to the statement that these little fellows have nine lives.)

In our case, the exploratory did not turn up any testicular tissue, but subsequent ultrasounds indicate adrenal abnormality. We should have had the ultrasound done before the original exploratory, but this was new territory for our vet. We are slated to have our cat opened up a second time this summer for an adrenalectomy. In the meantime, we have found a balance with him in providing him with his own room at night with a large cage inside during the day so the room may be open and used by other people and animals.

I hope your conundrum comes to positive conclusion.

Coyotes only prey upon cats when development has spoiled their natural habitat and forced them to go elsewhere for food. Coyotes in their natural environment hunt an incredibly wide territory. They kill things like mice and kangaroo rats. On occasion they will kill baby goats or sheep if they fall behind the herd and their mothers are not protective. Sometimes they will even bring down grown sheep. I think this is partly because sheep are incredibly stupid animals and partly because the smell of sheep seems to excite almost any canine. As far as I know, they don't bring down adult deer or cattle.

Coyotes are total pack animals and rarely hunt alone. The reason coyotes in their natural environment rarely kill cats is that they are human shy. When cats abide by humans, coyotes won't go near them. In the 10 years that I lived in the heart of Texas, prime coyote country, I never knew them to kill cats. They did not even invade the hen house and chickens are easy pickings. We never lost chickens to coyotes, but we lost them to coons and skunks and possums and hawks. The most brutal and efficient predators on the ranch were skunks. They will kill what they will never be able to carry off for the sheer, frenzied pleasure of it. Coons are tough but they seem to like to stay near natural water.

(Any cat that will fight a coon is one tough kitty!)

At night, I could hear the coyotes in the distance hunting, a lovely sound despite the fact that it portended some poor creature's death.

If you live in an urban or suburban area and you see or hear coyotes near, then yes, they will kill cats. They do it because they are not really behaving naturally. They have become bold and lost their natural fear of human habitats. However, I suspect that some cat killings that are blamed on coyotes are caused by pack dogs. Stray dog packs or even dogs that pack together when their owners let them run can be incredibly dangerous -- and not just to cats!

The LW hates his vicious cat, and he is engaged to be married. Everyone is going nuts trying to think of some way--ANY way--for this animal to be saved, because they love their own cats. Of course none of them have offered to TAKE the cat.

LW does not have a duty to the cat--the cat has had 3 extra years of life. It could conceivably live another 15 years, during which time LW and his fiance want to get married, have children, go away on vacations, have babysitters over, and live a happy life. This cat is in the way of all these plans.

LW, save your future marriage and your future children a lot of grief. Put the cat down. You don't love it--you don't like it, and not even cat lovers will help you. In three months you will be so relieved you took this step.