They are nowhere near cat size though - they fit in your hand 
from the description I think I’d probably go for a raccoon 
I like Tanuki (my daughters loved the film) but I have never heard of any about, whereas I have heard of raccoons on the loose.
Edited to add Wikipedia tells me Tanuki were farmed intensively for their fur (ugh horrible, not farming at all) in Eastern Europe and apparently there are lots of escapees setting up home all over the place, extending their range westward. So maybe… I don’t expect people here would necessarily know what it is and might well call it raccoon.