Just morbid curiosity. I’ve had neighbors whose cat escaped before. And now I hear stray cats meowing in the middle of the night, screaming and fighting with other cats, and I just got curious… what if one of them is my neighbor’s cat? 🤔 (hopefully not)
I mean, I would think that cats who get regulary fed should have a better chance? But then, they never had a fight before so they would never have experience…
Like, I imagine this scenario is equvalent of a human getting lost and then there is a homeless person who wants to fight you (not that they would, just an example). I think a person who’ve had proper food is gonna win against a homeless person. So with this logic, the indoor cat should win against the stray/feral cat? Am I right?
I would find it hard to make a general judgement here.
The human-analogies some people make are rather unconvincing. I’d think physiologically cats are less diverse than humans are. In both species size translates to weight, force, reach.
There are outliers, but most house cats are still “fit” enough not to suffer massive disadvantages.
So it would be more a matter of size and stature than lifestyle. A Main Coon with their voluminous fur might enjoy a form of natural armor. But the same fur would exist if it was a street cat (bar any diseases).
And they also possess natural weapons that are not related to their grooming and lifestyle (much). If some jerk has their house cats declawed, maybe. But usually claw is claw and tooth is tooth.
What will probably be the most decisive factor, just as it is in humans, is aggression and killer instinct. That is where a street cat might be better conditioned. On the other hand, animals lean heavier on instinct and even the gentlest house cat can become vicious when exposed to the right stimulus.
tl;dr I am not sure