Hamster and Cats

[Violashift]

Dd would like a hamster but we have two cats of a year old.

Does anyone have cats and a hamster? It's not a good idea right?

Can’t help but find some of these replies a bit OTT! If the hamster is kept in your daughter’s room, she just needs to keep the door closed, particularly when she’s playing with it. We have two cats and a hamster - never been an issue as my daughter knows to be careful and the cats don’t go in her room….

@TheHauntedPencilCase That must have been really upsetting. A similar thing happened when my DSis stayed with her now DH for the weekend the first time. She took her dog with her, who ate her future stepson’s pet hamster. (He was aged 9 then.) Thankfully, her stepson forgave her dog and they became best friends, but it was a really inauspicious start to my DSis’s relationship with his dad. She was absolutely mortified, as you can imagine.

So re cats and hamsters, it would be a definite no from me, please don’t do it. That’s also because I have 3 cats who are very keen hunters.

Don't do it. I've had two hamsters and though I was a nice little girl looking back it's a shit deal in life being a child's pet even in a house without cats.

You might think it's okay if you keep the cats out of the hamster's room. Otherwise they tend to stare and terrify it even if they can't get to it. But even so, hamsters are not as stupid as you think. They know there is a predator in the house and live their short life in terror even if your cat is not a mouser. They don't know that.

The reason why it's a shit deal is that they live in solitary confinement in a tiny cage (hamsters can rarely live together because they either mate or fight or both). When I did remember to get mine out they were probably terrified because they were hamster-sized and even though I was only eight I was 20 times their size. I don't think being allowed to run around in a brilliant white slippery bath was that much fun either. But otherwise they'd have gone under the floorboards like all sensible creatures with an escape plan.

They're not very friendly, probably because they're terrified of being squashed, dropped or eaten and they are nocturnal so get pissed off when you want to wake them up in the daytime. Rabbits are another terrible choice as a child's pet - even worse because they also live in solitary but usually outside so don't even get visitors except once a day meal time.

If your little girl really wants a pet rats and gerbils aren't bad because they seem to like humans and you can keep them in single-sex groups so they can play together when your child is bored with them. But again. no cats.

We had a very unfortunate end to a hamsters life when it escaped and the cat found it before I did …

If your little girl really wants a pet rats and gerbils aren't bad because they seem to like humans and you can keep them in single-sex groups so they can play together when your child is bored with them. But again. no cats.

Although the hamster came to a grizzly end, the rats didn’t give a stuff about the cats. We had 3 pairs over the years. Lovely wee beasts, rats.

Depends on your cats, really.

I had hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs all throughout childhood with two cats in the house.

Neither cat ever even noticed the rodents, could not have been less interested.

My neice did ..hamster was kept in her room and everyone was vvvvvv strict re shutting her bedroom door to keep the cats out. No ideal and when hamster died they decided to not replace so cats now allowed in neice room. I wouldn't as it's very stressful.

My Ds's hamster escaped it's cage one night and squeezed through the very smal gap under the bedroom door. Unfortunately the cat was sitting right outside..........

I feel like I need to clarify my hamster is in no way stressed out by my cat. She is super cuddly, handled daily (and fed by hand) and will curl up in a pocket or in a hand quite happily.

My cat and hamster have been in coexistence for almost 2 years, hamster isn't the least bothered and neither is the cat.

Cage is fully secure and there is no way a cat could open it so it's worth making sure you get a decent cage.

I wouldn't be letting the hamster run around with the cat loose in the room, that would be madness.

hamster isn't the least bothered and neither is the cat.

Told you that, did they? What's your name? Dr Doolittle? 😁

Well actually...

Haha if only but I meant based on their behaviour. Cat doesn't even look at the cage let alone go near it and the hamster quite happily goes about her day to day activities.

I'll be getting rats when she goes and have spoken to a lot of breeders who have no issue with the fact I have a cat and there are plenty of rat owners who have cats/dogs.