Rats don't like cats?

[Rhonda]

Ever since I got my two girls, Jamie and Nukka... they would just stare at my cat whenever she's by the cage. They would freeze and almost seem like their eyes are popping out of their skulls. If my cat does a sudden move, they jump and run around scared haha.
Though, if Feebee goes right close the them, they will bite. Do any of your rats do this?
A couple months ago I got another rat named Kat. I showed Feebee to her and Kat screeched, it was the weirdest sound I've ever heard a rat do. I don't think she'd bite the cat though.. she runs away.
Usually Kat runs around when Jamie and Nukka are terrified of Feeb.

Any suggestions? Also, my cat doesn't really sit on that box all the time. That was only once because she was trying to get the food out lmfao.

 

[jorats]

Your rats are stressed out because of the cat being nearby. Cats are a natural predator and rats will react like prey should, either freeze on the spot or run and hide. This is not healthy for them. Can you block in the cage so the cat has no access to them?
Eventually, as the rats get older, they might adapt and accept the cat as non threatening but for now, they are scared.

 

[crumbilina]

I have 3 rats. One that is over 2 years old and the other 2 who are much younger. I also have 2 kittens and have had them since the end of June.

The oldest rat couldn't care less about the kittens, but the 2 younger ones will freeze and/or run to hide when the cats are around. Where I used to live, the cats were always around the rats (I was always there to supervise too) but the rats would always be hiding somewhere. Ever since I moved and the rats have their very own room, they have been much more social and happy, with no cats around to bug them. When I am in their room and the kittens are feeling needy, sometimes I will let them in and the ratties will run and hide, but when scooted out, they are back to normal. (For clarification - the rats are IN their cages if the cats are around). I prefer my rats to be kittenless, just because it is far easier for me to socialize with them and they seem to be much happier.

Mind you my old lady rat just doesn't care. She just kinda looks at them like "I'm up here, you cant get me!". I guess it depends on the rats. I think that my two will get used to it as they age like Jorats had mentioned, but for now, I'm keeping the kittens away.

 

[SQ]

Please do not allow your cat access to that cage.

1. The cat is a predator and the rats know it so they are very stressed and frightened.
As you know, stress in rats can bring on illness.

2. That cage is not cat proof. It is very dangerous for your rats since there is a larger predator in the house.
- the bar spacing is too large, allowing room for the cat to get at the rats.
- the cage easily seperates from the base.
I know of rats who were eaten by other family pets when that cage and its base were seperated when another family pet tried to get at the rats.

Cats will bat at and play with anything small that moves. This behaviour will seriously injure or kill small animals. As you know, this is instinct. Hopefully your rats will bite the cat, causing it to become afraid of them and hopefully staying far away from them.
But please put that cage somewhere the cat does not have access.

Edit: I would recommend that you purchase a critter nation cage. They are very strong and have small bar spacing. A critter nation cage would offer your rats some protection but you would still want to keep the cat away from the cage.

 

[jorats]

Sometimes a simple barrier is all you need. I keep a coroplast "fence" 2 feet high in front of my cages just so the cats and dog can't go near them. When I'm out of the house, I close the door so no animals bother the rats. I have had cats actually jump up on a cage. Thankfully my cages are big sturdy CNs but something like a superpet cage could easily get toppled over. If your cat is an older cat and doesn't move much, then there's not much worry there. But if they are young enough, the rats would need better protection.

 

[eagle]

I have made sure my cats are afraid of the rats. I do have the escapee once in awhile and I want to make sure the cats will ignore them. One of my cats will actually go into point mode to let me know where the escapee is at, but does not bother them at all.

 

[MumsyRat]

I think the best way to go when you have different species of animals in your house is to teach them all to get along. I would introduce the cat to the rats in a neutral cage free location - very much like introducing new rats to each other. I know it works for me. In the years that I've had rats, no cat has ever hurt one of my rats - and I have welcomed may strays into my home over the years. Sometimes when I was introducing a new cat they would chase the rat around a bit but all it took was for the rat to give 'em a nip on the paw and they never tried it again.




I got a Jack Russell dog back in June. The one that everyone considers to be the ultimate rat predator. Even he has learned that the rats are off limits and my rats seem to know that because they have no fear of him. Just the other day Duke was all excited and jumpy by a box that I had on the floor. When I looked to see what was going on it turned out that one of my girls had found her way into it. He easily could have grabbed her out of the box and killed her but instead he just alerted me to the fact that she was there.

Of course the key is that you absolutely have to believe in it. As long as you have any fear or dread of your own it's not going to work because the animals will read it on you and reflect that emotion back. Calm, balanced, assertive - just like Ceasar Milan always says.

 

[M0onkist]

Not that it's related to cats (never had cats near the rats), but my grandmother's dog is a half German Shepherd half Husky mix - the boys I had up on my grandmother's farm shared the laundry room with her during the nights (she'd be out during the day) - never once did she seem to even notice they were there, and they ignored her too. No worries, no problems (and the cage I had was a lot like that superpet cage, where if she'd really wanted to, she could have gotten to them). Their cage was up on a table so her nose would just reach the bottom of the cage, but being a farm dog she's hunted groundhogs for years, and yet... no problem. It was kind of puzzling, lol

 

[handmeafish]

i've made sure that my roomies cat is aware of the rats, so they aren't a huge suprise if she does get into my room and i'm not around, but i also take precaution to make sure that she doesn't get to be near them for very long.

She's just a baby, but I don't want to stress my poor guys out. Its in her nature to want to eat them, and even if we feel like they've been trained to not want to eat them, I think its still very possible for that instinct to take over... even if its just playful and the cat or other animal doesn't realize that they are hurting the rat...

Although, I might try this whole making the other animals afriad of the rats idea.

 

[jorats]

I think it's too much of a risk to allow rats to meet dogs. Older cats, sure since they don't run much or do much but young cats and dogs... I have heard of lots of stories of the family dog killing the pet rat. There are dogs that will go so far as to topple the cage and attack the rats inside.
Some rats are very skittish and can't take the stress of meeting their predator.
I always say better safe than sorry.

 

[lilspaz68]

Some rats can learn to get used to the smell of the predatory cat, and others will get incredibly stressed, will hide, will lose weight, be very unhappy, etc...if exposed to cats in their territory or even their smell.

 

I have a cat who is not aloud in the critter room. Although he is after sneaking in behind us at times, as soon as he goes near the cage, Teddy & Oscar start hissing at him.

 

[M0onkist]

We have a strict 'no dogs, no cats' policy inside our apartment - Tim's sister has a dog and a rescued cat with kittens, but none are allowed to visit (except his sister) - Lola (dog) is a west highland terrier, and the time that I had to stay over in their basement near the end of the winter holidays, she kept going nuts by the basement door (which stayed entirely closed the entire time). SHE I don't trust.

 

[Sorraia]

Recommending all cats and dogs get introduced to rats is just begging for an accident to happen. Its great when you are successful, but when it fails, results can be fatal to the rats involved. The risk really is NOT worth it.

I have three cats and a dog. They know the rats are off limits, however I would NEVER trust them with the rats alone, EVER. Regardless how well trained they are, there is always the chance of that *ONE* time when something goes wrong. It isn't about belief in it working or not working, its about recognizing the animals for what they are. Another thing that Caesar Milan says is that a dog is first a dog. A dog is a predatory animal, so is a cat. Expecting them to be anything but what they are is just asking for an accident.

 

[Petunia]

Recommending all cats and dogs get introduced to rats is just begging for an accident to happen. Its great when you are successful, but when it fails, results can be fatal to the rats involved. The risk really is NOT worth it.

I have three cats and a dog. They know the rats are off limits, however I would NEVER trust them with the rats alone, EVER. Regardless how well trained they are, there is always the chance of that *ONE* time when something goes wrong. It isn't about belief in it working or not working, its about recognizing the animals for what they are. Another thing that Caesar Milan says is that a dog is first a dog. A dog is a predatory animal, so is a cat. Expecting them to be anything but what they are is just asking for an accident.

oh good, you said exactly what I wanted to say (only probably a lot more coherently than I could :giggle: )

I was thinking about this with my own cats. Now I "know" my cats and two of them have no interest in the rats, the other one, my boy cat, he wants to play with them.

He learned, from a couple of my really territorial girls, that rats will go after him and try to bite him, so he usually runs away when they are out.

BUT, just yesterday I had blocked off the rat room with a folded up card table, as I often do when I'm going to be in the room with the rats. This room can get kind of stuff if the door is closed.

This has always kept my cats out, UNTIL yesterday! Sheldon jumped over the table, scaring both me and the rats.

It was then that a familiar phrase came back to me, one that I've heard on the news or when someone is recounting the story of a terrible tragedy involving one of their pets:
He'd never done that before!! never even attempted to jump it. I didn't even know that he was capable of jumping over it (although in hindsight, how could I have not known? it's only 3 feet high and he's a CAT- they can jump what, at least 8 feet or more, I'll have go google that now, but I mean, com'on, he's a cat- that's one thing they are really good at- jumping up on or over high things.)

How many times have you heard someone say ""But my cat/dog/ferret/monkey/horse, whatever- had never done anything like that in the past. (often implying that they couldn't be held responsible because this was something they could not have predicted would happen)


Yes, it was unexpected- for your cat, or your circumstances- but you can't really say that you couldn't have seen it coming. That it was beyond the realm of possibility.
You know?
OK so it took you by surprise. The results could have been nothing more than a terrible shock to those involved, OR it could be that one tragic time that something truly awful happens.

AND that is all it takes, that ONE time, that you never saw coming, because nothing like it had ever happened before.


It's really too great a risk to take. Think about if you would put your own life at that kind of risk.
ok maybe some of you would, you're risk takers, you like adventure. Fair enough.
Then remember that it is NOT your life, it's the innocent life of an animal that has only you to protect it from harm.
You owe it to them not to take careless chances with their lives.

One of my family's cats is the sole survivor of a pit bull puppy that this cat's previous owner purhcased.
Yup, she had a cat and a litter of kittens in her home at the time that she went ahead and bought a pit bull puppy- and the puppy, not knowing any better, killed four of the kittens, one by one, til finally the owner decided to find a home for the remaining kitten, before it was killed too.
Well, she told us, she couldn't get rid of the dog (not that I had ever suggested it) because it was "a purebred pit bull"
and her kids would be "heartbroken" if she gave away their dog.

Uh huh. So how did they feel about the four dead kittens?!?!

I know that's a pretty extreme case of stupidity and recklessness, but it's really not so different when you put other animals together that either need constant vigilant supervision and/or training, or animals that should simply never be allowed access to each other under any circumstances.




Needless to say, I close the door now when the rats are out!

 

[Joanne]

I have two cats and two dogs. The cats are thankfully over 12 now, and so do not really try hard to bother the rats. I also trim their toenails on a regular basis as they are indoor kitties. The dogs are Portuguese Water dogs, and are retrievers and don't have a strong hunting instinct like our beagles had years ago. But even if the dogs don't want to EAT the rats, just a playful paw could injure or kill a little rattie. So, the critters are allowed to interact on a very limited basis, with direct, hands-on supervision. I have always had dogs and cats, and I feel confident I know their body language well enough that I can anticipate actions and reactions. BUT, it is NEVER 100% safe.

 

Personally I don't trust any cat or dog around my rat's, in cages or out. Cat's can stick their paws in cages and hook out eyes. I never trust them!

 

[*Rebel_Angel*]

There was a stray cat, or so I think...but anyway's that is not the point. The cat made it's way into the rat room and the girl's were running scared, finally they froze in a corner of the cage behind their running wheel...I kicked the cat back outside and let the girl's relax. Kaina snapped out of it a bit, but Aili is still quite shaken and hiding still...

Is there a way I can help her through this? I tell her that the cat is gone, give her long cuddle's and kisses...poor baby just laid there. What else can I do?

 

[TorachiKatashi]

My rat room is also my cat room (and also my bedroom, but that seems to be last on the list.) Not the ideal situation, but we unfortunately don't have an extra bedroom to use as a rat room. It all seems to work out fine, though. My cat couldn't care less about the rats 99% of the time (likely because he's deaf.) One of his favourite spots for looking out the window is right next to the CN, but the boys don't really seem to notice. Oskar and Vin don't really like him, but they aren't terrified - they might run into their hammock if he jumps from one spot to another, but they get over it really quick. Whiskers couldn't care less. He's on the bottom half of the CN, and I've seen them go nose-to-nose more than once through the bars (usually ending with Whiskers nipping at him and Snowy running away). The bar spacing is small and Snowy is declawed (not my choice) so I'm not worried about that. I take precautions with the little boys, through, because I know they can be spooked by the cat. The cat is locked out of the room any time the cage doors are open, and if I'm moving the little guys around the house, they're in their carrier.

In the future I hope to have a dedicated rat-room that will be cat-free, but in the meantime, I'm not worried about it.

 

[Joanne]

Give her time, she will come around. Once the scent of cats dissipates and nothing happens, she will relax. My rats always react to the cats being near, and will hide/freeze.