A house cat in the Russian Hill area may have been attacked and killed by a coyote, animal control officials reported.

On Tuesday morning, a resident on Greenwich Street between Hyde and Leavenworth streets let their cat out around 5:30 a.m., Animal Care and Control Director Rebecca Katz said. About two hours later, they found the cat dead, she said.

Katz said there have been several sightings of a coyote in the Russian Hill area reported in the past six months.

She said the organization would like to do a necropsy on the cat’s body to confirm whether it was killed by a coyote. She recommended pet owners keep small animals indoors from dusk to dawn for their safety.