Cats and hamsters?

[Hamshak]

Originally Posted by pinkneon

Plus hammy has nowhere to come out to play if the cats are around ...

The cats and dog are locked up if I have to get into the cages for any reason, even if it's just to reach in to grab the food bowl or water bottle. My SO suggested a rolling cart to move the cages into the closet at night so the cats and dog can continue to sleep with us, but the room will still be closed off during the day. We'll see what we come up with that works for all of our animals fairly.

[xbuttons94]

My cat knows she isn't supposed to be in our room. We moved house and have kept the door closed ever since she has been here. She will sit outside the door and won't come in. She has seen the cages but she is afraid of the hamsters and darts down stairs! She is good because she won't enter the room and she won't bother the hamsters.

[CMB]

My old cat never went upstairs. My hamsters were in my bedroom so they only ever saw each other occasionally when in their excercise balls under close supervision. The cat would also move away from the ball if it went near her. She was an adoption. She followed us home one day and never left.

[Cinnamon Bear]

Originally Posted by pinkneon

Plus hammy has nowhere to come out to play if the cats are around ...

The hammie isn't going to be thinking about playing, he'll probably be scared straight hiding somewhere. He'll still be stressed even in a hidey hut

[Hamshak]

My hamster Bulma is female. As I've said we keep the cats separate from her aside from the one incident, when we tried leaving her cage out at night instead of moving it to another room. After the cat got too friendly we moved her and she calmed right down. The cat shows unusual interest in her, he hears her wheel through the door when she wakes up and sits at the door to the room. We've kept them separate since the first day she got here and the cat noticed her and we immediately removed the cat from the room.

[herbi7]

Hamsters and cats don't mix very well but there is a great YouTube vid by erin'shamsters on sensible practicalities. Sorry don't have a link but i'm sure you'll find it if you Google cats and hamsters or something, that's how I found it. My foster cat waits by the door where my hamsters are kept. He would sit there all night.... I experimented when I had willow, leaving the bedroom door open when she was asleep, thinking he might not be that interested if she wasn't moving about but he immediately leapt on top of her cage and had to be swiftly removed! I think over time a rodent of a certain personality can get used to a cat... I looked after 2 gerbils for a friend once and the bolder of the two enjoyed teasing my cat, sitting just out of reach through the bars and leaning forward so the cat would swipe at him and then jumping back. It kept them both amused for ages but I didn't risk it with willow as she was very sensitive and easily scared. I also heard a story where the family's cat sat permanently on top of the cage and the hamster chewed his claws through the bars! I keep my foster cat away from my boys all the time which is a bit inconvenient, I hadn't expected tohave another cat and the boys will be living full time in the bathroom so they don't come into contact. So far it's working for all of us but I miss having the hams close to me. I'd rather that than them being stressed out though and as they like to play in the bath its all nice and contained.

[kelza]

I think its unfair to the other animals who are use to sleeping with you to be suddenly locked out of the room at night. That being said, keeping the mice and hamster safe is very important. I like the idea of a cart to move their cages. Another option is to place the cages on a piece of furniture that is too high for the curious feline to jump on.

[Hamshak]

Originally Posted by kelza

I think its unfair to the other animals who are use to sleeping with you to be suddenly locked out of the room at night. That being said, keeping the mice and hamster safe is very important. I like the idea of a cart to move their cages. Another option is to place the cages on a piece of furniture that is too high for the curious feline to jump on.

Their cages are stacked now, high enough to discourage him but I also wouldn't put it past him to try if he was frustrated. I'm leaning toward the cart option as my older cat and the dog are not amused with not being allowed in, and I want all my furbabies to be happy. Worst case scenario, we keep gently moving the cages each night until we figure out a cart. It's helpful to hear everyone else's stories and know I'm not alone in this struggle, I just want to do what right by all of my animals.

[freyashamsters]

Being predators, cats and dogs will show some interest in hamsters, you can't teach/train them not to unfortunately, however, having not remembered a time when there haven't been cats in our house, I do have some experience with this

1. Make sure your cage is fully enclosed. Lots of people say that it's okay to have an open top bin cage/tank with cats and dogs as long as you're careful but it's really not worth the risk, it barely costs any more to build a lid/buy a fully enclosed cage in the first place and this can prevent so many awful things happening

2. If you can, keep your cage on a high surface or shelving unit with no space for your larger animal to sit on - this way they can't stress out the hamster. Out of sight, out of mind

3. Don't buy cages with tubes on the outside, as some cats can actually paw them and open them and accidents can happen. This actually happened with my sister's hamster (she has the Pets At Home Large Wire Hamster Cage), partly due to the fact that she had completely stuffed the tubes with bedding. The tubes did fall and the hammy did escape, but we were incredibly lucky in this situation and managed to deal with it before anything bad happened. After that, we rearranged the tunes so that they were all on the inside XD

4. Try not to give your cat access to the room yours hamsters are kept in. Repeating the phrase, "Out of sight, out of mind" if your cat can't see/access the hamster, then there's less they'll try to do to get it. If this isn't a possibility for you, the least you could do is only allow them supervised access. This is what I do, and my hamsters are okay

5. Just try not to stress too much. As long as your cage is fully enclosed and your cat has no/supervised access, there's really not much to worry about. My family owns 5 cats and two dogs (however the dogs don't have access to the room the hamsters are in at all) and my hamsters are fine

I hope this helped

[kylieblue]

I've never had problems between my hamsters and my cat. The hamsters appear to be oblivious of the cat. My cat has free run of the house, and she's interested in the hamsters, but not obsessively; they're always around, so while sometimes she'll sit and watch the hamsters, she mostly ignores them unless something different is happening. Like last weekend, when Sasha (hamster) escaped her cage while I was cleaning. I'd left a tube uncapped by mistake. I got distracted, and when I came back 15 minutes later, Sasha was gone. I was frantic, imagining her killed by the dog or cat. The dog was asleep on the bed. I found the cat in the storage room (an extra bedroom piled with boxes) intently watching a crack between the boxes. The storage room is on the opposite end of the home from Sasha's cage -- she'd gone a long way, and if the cat had wanted to get her, she could have. Instead, she followed Sasha, and in doing so she showed me where Sasha had escaped to. I might never have found the hamster again if not for the cat. I closed off that room and set a bucket trap, and successfully caught Sasha that night. Sasha was fine, uninjured, and enjoyed her night on the town. The cat got lots of praise and special treats.

When the hamster is out, the cat is allowed in the room but not too close.