How horrifying! Poor cat. Yes, pet owners need to keep them in, both day and night. It may have been a feral cat. I've also heard that blood curdling sound when two cats face off for a fight.

As Bob Barker said: "Help control the pet population. Have your pets spayed or neutered."

Feral cats are a terrible nuisance and have such unhappy lives.

Out here in the mountains of New Mexico cats AND small dogs like my 12-pound Tibetan Spaniel, are always in danger when outside. . . not only from coyotes, but from hawks, owls, and eagles. I imagine this might be true in most other areas as well. I totally agree about keeping these vulnerable fur babies of ours inside and safe. Out here, they are also in danger from rattlers, wild dogs, bobcats and mountain lions.
BTW, did you know that rabbits also make a horrible scream when accosted by a predator? The first time I heard it out here, I thought it was someone's pet cat. I had no idea (then) that they made any sounds, let alone shrieks!
Lynn

Are you sure that it wasn't two cats mating? Often the female will wail and scream and sound as though she's in terrible distress....when she's not. Perhaps that's all it was, even so, the sound is numbing.

Mating cats can get very loud. The male has barbs that point backward on his member and when he withdraws, it's very painful for the female.

Lynn, I did have that experience with a rabbit last fall. I heard about a frost warning on the late news so I went out to gather the last of my tomatoes by flashlight. I heard rustling of leaves like measured footsteps at the rear of our lot (it's large) and it spooked me so I went in to get DH. When I reached the steps I heard that bunny scream, although at the time I wasn't sure what kind of animal it was. I just ran inside. DH comes out with me so I can get my tomatoes but he does snoop around a bit at a distance with a light. We think that was also a coyote who had his dinner interrupted, because DH found the bloodied rabbit carcass right in the area where I heard the crunching footsteps. We just hurried inside.
I have never had cats so I don't know much about them, but my coworker mentioned the mating thing, although she said if that was the case, the noise should have lasted much longer.

Maybe just a "quickie"........

Nanny, I think she meant it as a death cry and not a face off cry which sounds like they're fighting, but they're not.

We have two cats, inside/outside...however, they are NOT allowed to be out at night. Daytime here is pretty harmless.

Lizzie only goes about 10 feet from the porch. Raven climbs trees and hunts mice. Both are inside most of the day though.

Except I am getting so tired of asking everyone "Where is Raven?" No one tells me when they let her out and it angers me, because I don't want it to get dark if she's outside!

Know what I did yesterday? I had a shirt made from Cafe Press that says:

Front: Where is Raven? (with a heart under it)

Back: Is she inside or outside because I'm tired of asking!!

I can't wait to surprise everyone with it. LOL.

Earlier in the Spring I had a similar experience! The sound was awful! I grabbed a flashlight and went out on the porch. Turned out there was a Raccoon love triangle happening in a tree outside my window. I scared one of them off and the noise stopped. At the time I was really convinced that a cat was being eaten by a pack of coyotes.

Here are some interesting sounds...

fox screaming

fisher cat screaming

cats mating...loud

Oakley, too funny! Your family is going to love that shirt.