[Mana]

I am planning on getting a pair of female rats sometime very soon, I already have a cage and toys and everything. But I do also live with two cats. At first I didn't think it would be a problem, I've had guinea pigs and hamsters in the past, and my cat wasn't interested in the hamsters and was a little afraid of the guinea pigs. So I know the cats won't be going to Sylvester-like lengths to get at the rats. But I'm wondering if the presence of cats would be stressful on the rats. Of course I would never have them all in the same place unsupervised, and I'm sure not even supervised, just in case. But I'm not sure how strong that predator/prey instinct is in rats, and whether or not they would be okay with cats nearby most of the time while they're in their cage. Maybe I'm worried over nothing, but I just want to make sure ^_^

 

[Stephanie]

I have nine rats and three cats. My ratties don't seem to be bothered by them at all Lynx will watch the ratties through the cage the other two of my cats stay far away from them. The rats just stare right back at lynx he has even gotten close enough to sniff them before.

 

[lostbutnotforgot]

My rat lives about 2 feet from where my cat regularly sleeps and she's never had any problems with my cat. The other cats in the household on the other hand... Now she doesn't get stressed from them but I have her cage up fairly high (about a foot from the ceiling) and once one of my sister's cats knocked to the floor. Betty was fine, thank goodness, but my room is now a no cat zone (except for my own). So do watch for that if your cats happen to be a little over curious and you have a cage that is top heavy.

 

[papricka]

I taught my cats to stay away from the rats be using a spray bottle and spraying them every time they got close. It helped alot, and now the cats aren't even intereseted to much.

 

[LizLovesRats5]

My cats don't really bug the rats, but the rats are terrified of them. I really don't know why, none of my other rodents care if the cats are around.

 

[fallinstar]

my cat can be sat on the floor at my feet wen i got my boys out and he dont bother but the dog omg! if the rats even make a noise hes right there lol he just wants to play!

 

[twitch]

when out to play some of my rats will seek out the cat for his soft long fluffy tail and fur and others ignore him. when he jumps up to say hi some of my rats will come to him nd others will hide from him. but when they're all in the cage none of them seem too interested in my cat when he comes to cage to check what's going on or to sleep on his mat under the window. i think i a lot of it depends on the personailty of the animals. my cat, though male, likes to mother the rats. some of them seem to almost like the attention and others get freaked out by it. and hte ones that like the cat seem to be rather fearless of just about anything anyway. the ones that don't are bit more cautious of things. but no one is unduely stressed. even when the cat jumps up on the couch and the other rats run they normally start to venture out after a bit.

mind you i once lived in a place where there was this excellent mouser cat. she actually demolished my hamster cage to get to the hamster. she tried to see what the rats were like too but the rats quickly taught her to stay the frig away from the cage. but i wouldn't trust her to be around during play time. as a side note, she's now a horrible mouser and afraid of anything that smells like a rat. she'll even run from trapped wild babies... my mother isn't exactly thrilled...

 

[malzoreocookie]

I had two rats and four cats. At first I was worried because the cats were very interested in the rats and would sit really close to the cage watching them. I tried to keep them away but eventually the rats taught them all on their own. One day Oreo pulled the kittens tail into the cage an bit it. All I heard was Evee screaming. I cam runing and it actully lokked really funnly, both rats had hold of her tail and even though she was trying to run awaythey would not let her go. Well eventually it happened to all the cats and even though they still watched the rats, they never got close to the cage again. So I figure they can probably handle themselves as long as they are not out in the open.

 

[OnlyOno]

yeah, i think it mostly depends on your animals, and what kind of interactions your cats have with rats. rats in cages may be fun, but the rat will have the upper hand because it's safe but can tease the cat. rats on the floor will not have the upper hand because the cat can stalk and hunt, if they are so inclined. although most domestic animals keep some long-faded memory of their past predator-prey relationships, they won't usually act on them unless scared or agitated. i'd say most snuggly housecats, esp if they don't already mind hamsters, won't really care about a rat, esp once they've been chomped on once or twice. dogs are different though, i have a killer dog who likes to catch and eat chipmunks while we're camping, so there's pretty much no rat time for her.

 

[twitch]

i think my cat might just be werid. when i had the hamster (before my mother's cat got to it) the hamster was running around the living room in the ball. well i guess the ball broke open and he escaped because next thing i know here's my cat jumping up on my lap without so much as a hi and plunking the hamster in my hand then he jumped up to his food bowl and ate. the hamster didn't so much as have a hair out of place. i think he tried to warn me mom mother's cat was getting at the hamster too but i didn't listen. my grandmother had died the day before and i all i wanted to do was sleep (it was 3 in the morning too) so i just pushed him off and told him to behave when he was trying to get my attention. i listen to him now.

then when spider and snicketts had their babies he wouldn't let the other cats so much as near my room until they were well past 2months old and even then he wouldn't let them near the cages. normally he's quite the coward and let the girls (my mother's cats) push him around but not then. he looked like a momma cat protecting her kittens. he used to let the babies crawl all over him and pull his tail and whiskers too. some of the babies really liked him and would curl up in his fur, others just wanted to tease him and see how far they could push their limits. there were only a couple that were afraid. when the babies were still very small (before they had opened their eyes) he laid down on the bed when i had them out and and all 24 fuzzbutts ended up curled in his fur by his stomach. i really wish i had a camera so i could share that with you properly.

mind you he wasn't all sweet. he's been known to tease the rats in the cage the cage too. Dust hated him anywhere near the cage and would huff and spit at him. so of course he would lay onhis back and tap the base of the cage where they couldn't get at him. mostly the other rats ignored him after a bit but i knew he was doing it just to get a rise out of Dust. no one in the cage now minds him so he doesn't pester them, no fun if they ignore him after all. he would do the same thing with my mother's cats too. he would wrap his paws around them then lay on his side holding them there. if they didn't make any noise he would lick their head or push on their bellies with his back paws. i swear he was laughng up a storm when they would make sounds of "bloody **** Sesshoumaru! LET GOoooOOOoOoOOOoOOOooOoOoOOooO!" i have a werid cat.

as for you and your rats and cats i wouldn't worry to much about the smell. they may be a little extra cautious because of it for hte first day or two but they'll get used to the smell along with all the other new smells that your house will have. if the cats get too close they'll teach them to back off. if you want your rats and cats to interact outside of the cage then just be there with them. you should be close enough to the cat that you won't have to lunge to touch him. they should be close enough to pat or tap with ease.

let us know how it all goes.

 

[chrisstrikeagain]

twitch, your cat is awesome. i wish my cat would be like that, but she once got to a sick mouse i had so i wouldnt trust mine.

i wouldnt trust a cat, its a risk. its rare to have a cat like twitchs.

 

[twitch]

certainly. i don't trust my other cat. i got her as a stray not too long ago and until she came home with me rats were part of her diet. and i certainly would never trust Squeaks (the cat that got my hamster) with the rats loose. but i don't mind them in the same room when the rats are in their cages. they taught Squeaks to leave them alone (she now won't even chase a wild rat--which she used to be deadly on).

like i said my cat, Sesshoumaru is werid. i think it may have something to with him meeting his first rats when he was a kitten with me there. back when sessho was about 3-4 months old i took out my rats POcket and Lyiint t play on my bed. i didn't know sessho was under the bed at the time. when he jumped up i figured it might be a good idea to teach him now to behave around the rats so i let him stay. every time he picked up his paws i would tap him on the nose. he didn't leave but he understood to keep his paws firmly planted on the bed. after a while everyone was getting sleepy. Lyiint decided that the best place to take a nap would be in sessho's big fluffy tail so curled herself up there and wrapped his tail around herself. sessho just raised his head and looked back to see what she was doing. well, Pocket decided shortly thereafter that the best place to take a nap would be right between sessho's shoulder blades. sessho seemed especially pleased with this choice as this is his favorite place to get scratched and she dug around up there for a few mintues before getting comfy. see the problem is that whenever pocket slept in the cage she would ALWAYS end up pulling the blanket over herself. well a bit of time passed and sessho's purrs were getting further and father inbetween and posket reached back to pull the "blanket" over herself... suddenly pocket has materialized on my shoulder screaming and yelling blue murder at sesso and poor sessho is all foofy and spaled legged and his tail would have been standing straight up had there not been Lyiint clinging on for dear life. i'll tell ya, it was some hard not to laugh at the time and focus on untangling my black rat from my black cat while trying to soothe the cat from running helter skelter out of the room. since then he's a bit wary of them getting on his back but it oddly enough didn't scare him off rats entirely.

so part of it may be that he was introduced young but a good part of it too is its just the way he is. i'm very lucky to have him and there probably isn't going to be that many other rat-loving cats. i've seen a few rat-tolerant and i think that's just fine too. hopefully you'll end up with a sessho of your own but if not then at least a tolerant one. mind you, most rats will teach the cat to be tolerant or at the very least to stay away.

 

[Vixie]

Acid(rat) chases Gussie(cat) around my room. I think the cat gets more stressed than the rat.

The first month I had Acid, Gussie would be on my bed and Acid would come and curl up against Gussie.

So I dunnow, depends on the cat and the rat. If you don't want to take the risk, then don't. -shrug- All situational.

 

[dreadhead]

my cat doesn't mind them, she actually seems to like them... which is weird. she was scared of our ferret, but any other cat or dog she would hiss and spit. my rats on the other hand are terrified of her smell... if she hops on my lap while Lucy is on my shoulder, Lucy bugs out and does her best to burry herself somewhere as fast as possible.