[LilyLuna13]

Hi, so I have recently gotten two rats, and I have three cats at the same house. I let them have supervised interactions; where the rats are in the cage, and the cats are in my room. Is there a better way to do this? I'm just worried because 2 of my cats are pretty chill with the rats, but the other makes me nervous. She stays up close to the cage, and then puts her paw up to the door. Do you know how I can make her more chill with the rats?

 

[461537]

Mask the rats scent so they don't smell like rats? I know that my friends cat never even bats an eyelid when my rat is around, and although I'm not 100% certain about this (and don't want to see one of your wee babies eat the other), but we think it may be the coconut oil I have used in the past to make all the rats smell alike to one another?

 

[Leila]

I've followed closely another debate on cats and rats here on the forum. I'm in the same situation as you are, I have three cats and about a month ago I got two rats.
As I've had other rodents, I sort of know how my cats react to them. My older cat, doesn't seem very interested, neither he is with birds that pass near our window or with any other animals such as lizards or bugs. My other cat tried sniffing the cage of my gerbil a few years back and was nearly bitten, and I'm pretty sure she is now scared of any rodents after the incident. My youngest cat, however, would take ANY oportunity of getting into my room to take a peek at my hamster's cage, and not only that, she jumped on their age, brought it down, and due to the fall, the cage broke and the hamsters were defenseless. I know that this cat of mine will never meet my rats, because I know what she is capable of.

Anyway, you know your cats better than any of us. If you think it's safe to introduce them, go ahead, but I definitely wouldn't take the risk, since both rats and cats follow their instincts very closely. Your cats could turn from chill to curious to aggressive in seconds, and your rats could grow stressed just from their predator's smell..

But as I said, I've only owned rats for a little while. I'm sure someone more knowledge on the subject will give a better opinion! Good luck. xx

 

[LilyLuna13]

Thanks! I know my older cat is scared of rodents because she was bitten my one of or old hamsters. The other cat has never really cared, but Cleo just really makes me nervous around them. I don't think I'll take them out of the cage near my rats when they're not high above the cats (like on my shoulder) for a while, if ever

 

[nancnancrevo]

I have a 3 story rat mansion and my cats feel the need to jump all over it. Oddly my rats don't bat an eyelash. Occasionally a tiny rat tail will fall out the cage and the cats will think it's a game to get it back in. But honestly the rats just ignore the annoying cats.

 

[amandad]

I have two rats, one hamster, and two cats. My 14 year old cat is actually afraid of the 3 small animals. My 7 month old plays with the hamster (when she is in her ball) and he tried to maul the rats. When the rats are out he is in his room with the door closed. If he gets into the "critter room" he's on top of the rat cage or on the side looking at them and clawing at the bars. My 14 year old will just look at them and run away. I always try to let them sniff each other as much as possible.

I think it would depend on the amount of wild in your cat. Tygra, my 14 year old, is third generation domesticated (her mom was an indoor only cat that got out twice, got pregnant, and only had one kitten each time; her brother was an indoor only cat, and Tygra is an indoor only cat who is actually afraid of outside). Lincoln (7 month old) I'm not sure how domestic he is being that he was a seized cat (at 1 month) and then we rescued him at 2.5 months and I do not know his lineage. Lincoln does seem to be more "wild" than Tygra but this could be the fact that his is still a kitten and that he is a male.

Just make sure you have a good hold on your rat if you let your cats sniff them.

 

[LilyLuna13]

We don't know how wild our cats are. One we found in our backyard, and the other two we rescued

 

[raindear]

I don't "introduce" my rats to my other pets. When the rats are out the other pets are kept away from them. With my first batch of rats we adopted a kitten who learned early on that they bite curious noses. Unfortunately the cats I have now were adult before the rats came home so they are very curious, but I don't let them get close. I think it is adorable when people show how well their pets get along, but I am too cautious to attempt it.

 

[PaigeRose]

Yeah I wouldn't introduce them per se... Like face to face interactions can be really dicey and can go south before you can blink an eye. Keep a tin of coins within reach and shake it any time the cats show too much interest or become fixated on the cage.