Owls have taken our cats at night;by the time one awakens and goes outside the owl is flying away with the poor cat likely already dead from a beak strike to the brain.
Interestingly,these attacks only happened after the overhead electric wires were removed;I wonder if owls and hawks are more prevalent in places with underground utilities?
We had a big old cat named Bob who was in the front yard after a fresh snow. The tracks showed an owl tried to pick him up but he was to heavy. He was smashed in the snow, dragged then dropped where upon he shat. Ol Bob never went outside again.