[alt text: an illustration of a person with a head-empty expression on their face, who is saying, "Not letting your cat outside is CRUEL!" Around the person are various gruesome scenes of different cats in distress. From the top and going clockwise, the scenes include: a cat being carried away by a hawk; a cat that is on fire; a dead cat in the road that has been run over by a car; several dead kittens; a cat that is missing an eye and various patches of fur; a cat that is feasting on a songbird; and a cat that is being carried away by a coyote. The person appears to be completely oblivious to these scenes of distress.]
My first cat was eaten by a mountain lion. That was not on my Bingo card of all the things that I thought he could die from.
you'd be surprised how many predators are living within walking distance of your home, even in metro areas! Even in places where they are less, cats still have to watch out for the apex predator: Honda Civics
There's always a bigger cat... I guess?