The domestic cat is a widespread and abundant predator that negatively impacts a wide range of species. However, the predation activity and prey type of free-ranging cats may vary between areas with different levels urbanisation. Previous analyses of cat diet have used differing techniques to measure predation that often differ with one another. Given the variability in these methods we hypothesised that cats in rural areas will have a more diverse diet than in urban areas and their predation rate may be higher than those in the urban sites. Moreover, we hypothesized that the diet of urban cats should be highly influenced by anthropogenic food. We selected sites across a rural-to-urban gradient and used three methods of analysis to determine prey in the diet (cat stomachs, cat scats, and prey brought home). We collected 81 stomachs, 409 scats, and 337 prey items of free-roaming cats from six study sites located in southern and eastern Poland. We found seasonal and habitat related differences in prey composition. The proportion of scats and stomachs containing vertebrate varied from 17% in urban areas to 79% in one of the rural areas. Small rodents were the dominant prey category, followed by birds and soricomorphs. Anthropogenic food was found to be an important part of urban cats’ diet, but its significance decreased with a decrease in urbanisation level. Both predation rate and prey diversity were highest in rural areas. While diet analysis provided a better estimation of cat predation rate, the detailed prey examination provided better insight into less common taxa killed by the cats, such as reptiles and small mustelids. Our results contribute to the discussion about the risks associated with the activity of free ranging cats especially in areas with high conservation values.

家猫是一种广泛而丰富的捕食者，会对各种各样的物种造成负面影响。但是，散养猫的捕食活动和猎物类型在城市化程度不同的地区之间可能会有所不同。以前对猫的饮食进行的分析已经使用了不同的技术来测量捕食，捕食通常彼此不同。考虑到这些方法的可变性，我们假设农村地区的猫比城市地区的饮食更多样化，猫的捕食率可能高于城市地区。此外，我们假设城市猫的饮食应受到人为食物的高度影响。我们从乡村到城市的梯度中选择地点，并使用三种分析方法确定饮食中的猎物（猫的肚子，猫的粪便和带回家的猎物）。我们收集了81个胃，409个粪便，来自波兰南部和东部六个研究地点的337只自由漫游猫的猎物。我们发现猎物组成中与季节和栖息地相关的差异。含有脊椎动物的粪便的比例从城市地区的17％到农村地区之一的79％不等。小型啮齿动物是主要的猎物，其次是鸟类和类动物。人们发现人类食物是城市猫饮食的重要组成部分，但其意义随着城市化水平的降低而降低。农村地区的捕食率和猎物多样性均最高。饮食分析可以更好地估计猫的捕食率，而详细的猎物检查则可以更好地了解被猫杀死的较不常见的类群，例如爬行动物和小型鼬类动物。