Would a big cat (Lions, cheetahs) eat a domesticated cat (pet)?

Absolutely. They are concerned with survival of their species, not The Genus, Sub Family or Family.

Bye bye kitty, most likely. Most wild cats kill members of other cat species when they encounter them. They might not eat them, though- just kill them.

Yes.

And you, if you’re not careful.

Well, it depends. If it was a female Maine Coon that fell off the truck, and the poor little thing was in heat, her desperate cries might tempt a big male lion’s “sexual appetite” instead! Lol.

For all we know, that may happen, for sexual hunger is sometimes a bigger hunger than hunger hunger. And when it comes to cats, their kinkiness is legendary. ;)

Lions mainly eat animals that weigh 50 kg or more. I don’t think they’d tend to bother going after house cats.

Cheetahs will go down to the size of hares, so I suppose they might go after a house cat.

Leopards have been known to go after domestic animals when living near humans. (http://www.wildlife-pictures-online.com/leopard-information.html)

How quick is the housecat? I had a feral kitten born in a National Park I worked for, descendant of who knows how many generations of RV escapees.. She was a clever, clever kitty and obviously her ancestors escaped the predators.

Thats so weird. I was thinking of that today. I was playing with my new kitten and he was watching my hand like it was his prey ready to pounce.
I’ve been active with our zoo and worked with them getting donations for the baby tigers last year. My first thought was “kitten is no tiger and they would eat you in a second”. I know it sounds weird but it popped in my head. No lie.
So my answer is, yes of course.

I’d have hoped…..thought so.

@ucme hoped? Awww. Cats are like the leprechaun’s of the feline kingdom.

@Deja_vu Yup, I dislike those little buggers as well. Top of de morning to ya!

@ucme I would never eat a leprechaun, lol

@Deja_vu Oh I don’t know, a tasty little snack washed down with some oirish cream. Might fill a little hole, as Elton John once said.

Yep.

And, the north american big cat, ( technically not a big cat, but..the biggest cat in these here parts ) the mountain lion, will eat cats too.

I have a friend that has a house in a river canyon and we witnessed a mountain lion, while standing on her deck one morning, leap out of the big boulders and brush along the rivers edge and grab her neighbors little black and white cat ‘Timmy.’

Poor Timmy, one scream and whoosh….gone, in the blink of an eye.

Sad and amazing all at once.

Between the coyotes and cougars not too many feral cats in my neck o’ the woods.

@Coloma

We had one huge gray tabby feral tom who survived here for at least 6 or 7 years, I’d see him sunning himself on the granite sometimes- it was easy to mistake him for a bobcat. He had some serious mojo going to survive among all our coyotes!

@crisw

Wow..yes, tenacious little dude, no doubt!

@Deja_vu It’s funny how those hunting instincts persist. My 6 lb bichon frise fluffball puppy loves to play tug of war. When she gets the toy, she keeps it in her mouth and shakes it furiously, like she was trying to break the neck of her prey.

She’s small, but she’s feisty.

Back home, in Washington DC we had a Bobcat running wild for at least 10 years. The zoo finally admitted it escaped long ago and they were still trying to track it down. We never had anything more than deer turn up dead though.

if it got too close it would be the end for the poor little kitty just because they’re related wouldn’t matter to a hungry cheetah.