Bobcat vs Dog: What Happens When a Bobcat Meets a Dog?

Bobcats are medium-sized wild cats and could be found throughout the North American continent. You can find these cats in almost every state of the USA. Bobcats are quite good in hunting skills and like to prey on a variety of small animals like rodents, mice, rabbits, voles, insects, etc. If these cats are facing food scarcity in any particular region, then these cats could also rely on some big animals like deer. Generally, bobcats don’t like to engage with anything risky and are very shy and solitary by nature. However, if they feel threatened then these cats act very aggressively and could be highly dangerous for their opponents.

As far as the dogs are concerned, bobcats don’t like to attack dogs or other pets. Nevertheless, if they feel threatened or face a scarcity of food, then it is highly likely these wild cats would attack your pets like cats, dogs, and in extreme cases even your defenseless children. Thus, it is very important to carefully supervise your pets and children if they roam outside your house and there are also chances of bobcats appearing in your surrounding areas. In this article, we are going to let you know in detail, what would happen if a bobcat vs dog fight occurs, who would be the ultimate winner, and how you can keep your pets safe from these wild cats.

Can a bobcat kill dogs?

Yes, bobcats can kill dogs if they are comparable in terms of their size. It is not very common for the bobcat to attack pet animals like dogs but it has been observed that bobcats attack and kill dogs. It usually happens if there is no other food available for the bobcat or if they feel threatened by the dogs.

Can a bobcat kill large dogs like pit bulls or Rottweilers?

In simple words, yes bobcats can attack and kill large animals but it is not very common for a wild cat like a bobcat to go and attack dogs. As far as the killing of large dogs is concerned, the dogs might also be killed by small animals like mice. The mice might chew the arteries of the dogs and bleed them out if the dog is not conscious enough. There are also some other aspects of this question that we also need to consider.

First of all, bobcats would not like to attack dogs. It only happens if these cats are threatened by the dogs. Even in this case, bobcats like to scare away the dogs rather than pouncing on them. Secondly, the size also matters in this fight. If we take a large dog like a pit bull, it has a weight of almost 25 to 75 pounds, which is much larger in size as compared to bobcats having just 35 to 40 pounds weight.

By looking at their size, we can say that the bobcats could not handle the power of a dog’s paw and died very quickly. In many cases, bobcats got killed by a pit bull in the cages. It is also very important to note that bobcats don’t like to engage in a fight and most of the time these cats act defensive rather than offensive. If we compare bobcats with big dogs like Rottweilers, then these cats don’t stand any chance.

Rottweilers are very big dogs weighing 100 to 130 pounds. The attack of these dogs easily penetrates inside the fur, skin, and at the end muscles of the bobcats. On the other hand, Rottweiler might not feel very much about the return attack of bobcats. Bobcats are no double very agile, fast, and have very powerful paws but these are powerful enough in front of large dogs’ bites.

Thus, if the bobcat vs dog match occurs then the bobcat might inflict some serious injuries on the large dogs but very few chances of killing these large dogs. Bobcats could only kill dogs if they are both equal in size and bobcats are also able to attack some sensitive and vulnerable areas of the dogs like the neck and throat.

Also Read, Bobcat vs Panther article.

How to keep your dog safe from bobcat attacks?

There are certain steps that you can take to keep your pets or dogs safe from wild animals. The most important thing to do is you must always be with your pets outside your house. You must be extra careful in the nighttime time as bobcats most probably come out at this time. You may also make some special kind of bunker for keeping these pet animals safe inside these bunkers.

There are a lot of people who have been applying fencing in their yards at a certain height where they know that bobcats could not cross this much height. Overall, the taller fence provides better protection as compared to lower fences. You can also keep the bobcats away from your residence by keeping small mammals like rodents, mice, and rabbits away from your property as these animals are the major portion of the bobcat’s diet. You may also install motion-activated lights or same like other deterrents to keep bobcats away from coming to your property.

Frequently asked questions

Conclusion

In nutshell, bobcats can attack and kill dogs but it is highly uncommon as bobcats don’t like to engage with dogs. Bobcats are very solitary and shy by nature and avoid interaction with pets as well as human beings. There are also chances that bobcats get killed if they engage with large dogs like pit bulls or Rottweilers. However, you must be extra careful while supervising your pet animals and apply all the techniques we have enlisted above for the protection of pets.