I was a little kid at the time, maybe 8 or something. My family cat was outside late at night, which was not at all unusual. She was an outdoor cat and frequently would stay out for long periods of time, but she always came back. I was sleeping and woke up at around 2 or 3 AM, since I heard a cat growling outside on the front lawn, which was outside my window but too high up for me to look out and see. I figured she just got into a fight with the neighbour's cat or something, nothing serious. Just some hissing and then she'd run to our backyard, I thought. I fell back asleep and never saw her again.