Help, hamsters been attacked by my cat

[sophielouiseholt]

Hi everyone, new member here! Just looking for some advice.. so my hamster is a little escape artist we’ve had two new cages each in which she’s ate a hole through the plastic to escape, now her cage lives on top of the fridge as it’s the safest place in our flat as we have a cat, but not last night the night before she’d managed to chew herself out of it and we spent all day right up until night time searching for her, we pulled every single bit of furniture out you could imagine, looked in every crack and cupboard and just could not find her, then at around 9pm we heard a slight movement and scratching sounds which sounded like they came from our hallway cupboard, the cat was locked in the living room and we left cheese in the hallway in case she came out, unfortunately the noises we heard were not her in the hallway, but instead I awoke to her screaming and squeaking, I ran into the living room with my partner and the cat was throwing her about, there was slight blood on the floor, she has a cut across her face and her back leg seems to be dragging behind her (It doesn’t look injured so I’m wondering wether this has happened due to her jumping off the fridge?) anyway we broke them apart of course and Minnie our hamster ran into the bathroom, she was a little scared but seemed relieved to see that we’d saved her and she came over to us and we got her back in her cage, as soon as she’d got in the cage she was stuffing her cheeks with her food and had a huge drink, she was also running through all her tubes and I’d put her wheel covering the hole and she was even trying to get under the wheel to get out again.. she’s not been acting out of the ordinary at all, just sleeping a lot, I’ve give a tap on the cage this morning and she popped her head out of her little house and she really does seem okay, I feel absolutely terrible, I honestly think I’m more traumatised than she is, the guilt I’ve got is unreal but we saved her from death so I’m happy about that at least, i have contacted a vet who said it’s really encouraging that she’s been eating and drinking and isn’t acting unusual, they’ve said if I’m still worried I could make an appointment but I have read online that hamsters aren’t easily repairable / treatable if she has got a fracture it’s usually the case they are put to sleep? I’m unsure of how true it is but I’m stuck on what to do, she just wants to sleep and I’m checking she’s okay every two minutes, this is not the first time she’s escaped, last time she escaped she fell into our mop bucket, which did have bleach water in it, I honestly can’t even deal, if she survives this cat attack I’m changing her name from Minnie to warrior because she’s honestly got no fear whatsoever ! Even after it had just happened she tried getting out of her cage again, so sorry for the extremely long post, I’m just basically looking to see if there has ever been any incidents in which a cat has survived anything like this? I am preparing myself for the worst but like I said she seems okay, but I don’t know if she’s got anything wrong internally etc... any advice would be great, please no negativity because I feel dreadful and blame myself (rightly) as it is,
Thankyou everyone!

[Amethyst_ice]

Hello and welcome to the forum , though sorry under such sad circumstances.

Here on HC we try to give friendly but honest advice.

It sounds like your cage may too inappropriate both in size, type & location but I'll address that later.

A cat attack like you described and also a potential fall from the top of a fridge would warrant a vet trip. Hamsters are pray animals and hide their pain or injuries well.

You said you saw blood. At the least, I would expect a good vet, not just an exotics, to put the hamster on pain relief, anti inflammatories and perhaps some antibiotics for potential infection to any wounds caused by the cat. Hamsters can die from shock but if this happened a few nights ago, hopefully she is ok.

Regarding the cage, remove the wheel and tubes. If she has injuries you want her to be resting and not using the limbs as much as possible, both for a potential break, fracture or even a sprain.

If your cage fits on top of a fridge, I don't suppose it is very big, you mention tubes, is it maybe taller than wider? The general accepted minimum size now is 80 x 50cm and hamsters prefer more floor than height.

Also, the fact she has escaped and fallen from this height many times, seems too risky to keep the cage there.

I appreciate you have a cat but if you cant house her in a bedroom where you can lock the door, it seems to be inviting further accidents where she may not be so lucky.

Some hamsters do chew plastic cage bases very well. A large glass tank set up is usually what members go to as an alternative. Or there is a thread (somewhere) where someone reinforced the corner with plates of metal.

I hope you can update us and she is ok,

Amethyst

[Imogen]

Originally Posted by Amethyst_ice

Hello and welcome to the forum , though sorry under such sad circumstances.

Here on HC we try to give friendly but honest advice.

It sounds like your cage may too inappropriate both in size, type & location but I'll address that later.

A cat attack like you described and also a potential fall from the top of a fridge would warrant a vet trip. Hamsters are pray animals and hide their pain or injuries well.

You said you saw blood. At the least, I would expect a good vet, not just an exotics, to put the hamster on pain relief, anti inflammatories and perhaps some antibiotics for potential infection to any wounds caused by the cat. Hamsters can die from shock but if this happened a few nights ago, hopefully she is ok.

Regarding the cage, remove the wheel and tubes. If she has injuries you want her to be resting and not using the limbs as much as possible, both for a potential break, fracture or even a sprain.

If your cage fits on top of a fridge, I don't suppose it is very big, you mention tubes, is it maybe taller than wider? The general accepted minimum size now is 80 x 50cm and hamsters prefer more floor than height.

Also, the fact she has escaped and fallen from this height many times, seems too risky to keep the cage there.

I appreciate you have a cat but if you cant house her in a bedroom where you can lock the door, it seems to be inviting further accidents where she may not be so lucky.

Some hamsters do chew plastic cage bases very well. A large glass tank set up is usually what members go to as an alternative. Or there is a thread (somewhere) where someone reinforced the corner with plates of metal.

I hope you can update us and she is ok,

Amethyst

100% agree here with you Amythest!

Although, I am quoting you because I do have a question and didn't want to make another thread; you mentioned hamsters being able to chew through plastic.... never knew that!

As with this though, I recently bought a detolf (as a lot of people may be aware now since I've made a thread on this previously elsewhere).

With that, what about the wood? Would hamsters be able to chew through that or no? Is it rare? And if it does start to happen, anyway to stop them from doing this? Just looking out for the future!

[Amethyst_ice]

Originally Posted by Imogen

100% agree here with you Amythest!

Although, I am quoting you because I do have a question and didn't want to make another thread; you mentioned hamsters being able to chew through plastic.... never knew that!

As with this though, I recently bought a detolf (as a lot of people may be aware now since I've made a thread on this previously elsewhere).

With that, what about the wood? Would hamsters be able to chew through that or no? Is it rare? And if it does start to happen, anyway to stop them from doing this? Just looking out for the future!

While most hamster may just have the odd tiny nibble of a cage, the ones who generally chew their way out tend to be understimulated or in too small of a cage. There are of course those who are never happy being "caged" and will be determined to escape no matter what enclosure they are in.

Again, some have chewed their way out of wooden cages but if the substrate is deep enough they shouldn't really find a need to start trying to.

It is always important to do regular checks of your hamsters enclosure though as the tinies little hole can easily be made bigger in an evening and hamsters can get through very tiny spaces

[Imogen]

Originally Posted by Amethyst_ice

While most hamster may just have the odd tiny nibble of a cage, the ones who generally chew their way out tend to be understimulated or in too small of a cage. There are of course those who are never happy being "caged" and will be determined to escape no matter what enclosure they are in.

Again, some have chewed their way out of wooden cages but if the substrate is deep enough they shouldn't really find a need to start trying to.

It is always important to do regular checks of your hamsters enclosure though as the tinies little hole can easily be made bigger in an evening and hamsters can get through very tiny spaces

So helpful, thank you! I've seen my hamster nibble on the plastic (but not constantly) that comes up slightly from the two wheels it has. But he has up to 16 cm of deep substrate. Thank you once again! <3