i have a 8 month kitten but have wanted rats for so so long...

[juicychops]

Shall i get my rats? or will it be too traumatic for the rats and too much hard work stopping kitten going for them?

My hammie grew up with cats forever watching him and will eat his tea in a slow and leisurely fashion while they are sat right next to his cage

i know its probably stupid to even consider, but do you think that they would get used to eachother so that the rat could be out of its cage without the cat killing it?

I think that it will be traumatic for the rats, tbh. Years ago, I kept rats and then got a terrier - and then had a baby. We ended up with a 3-zone house, which was very hard work and the rats had a much more limited life than was good for them. I suspect that a hamster could be too dim to be all that worried by the presence of watchful cats, but rats certainly aren't and will be stressed.

Good point NBNC. Whaetever the furry creature, I definitely wouldn't let it out in the cat's presence.

However my rats got on with my alastian like a house on fire and would sit on his back and be walked around the house!

I would never, ever trust either a cat (or a terrier) with a rodent. No matter how long they seem to have been besties...

I have rats and a cat. Rats are kept in a cage in the bathroom, door always shut so cat can't get in the room. Rats can safely play out of cage in the evening.

On the odd occasion where dd has left the door open then the cat will go in and try and torment the rats through the bars. There is no way I would keep any form of rodent unless I had a room where the door could be shut to keep the cat out.

My Cat brings me in rats

He left a HUGE whole dead one in DS's bedroom last week!!!!!!!

Nice, milliways, nice...!

The Joy of cats

rats arent accutally affaird of cats my black dumbo blackstar bit a cat on the nose because it came into our room.but if you get a kitten you can train them beacuse rats and cat do get along great.www.freewebs.com/wolfmagicrattery

Hmmmm.... we got 2 rats when our old cat was about 15. She ignored them

We now have a new kitten who attacks everything - feet, hands, toys, furniture. She seems horribly fascinated by the rats cage. They don't seem to care about her one bit but I am too nervous to let them get together. Poor things are confined to the cage most of the time now

You are all nutters to keep such pets.

No no no lynette! They are lovely with their little pointy teeth, beady little eyes and long scaly tails...

Actually they are but I've learnt the pointlessness of trying to persuade rat-haters of the error of their ways.

The problem would be the poor tiny kitten.

Rats are lovely and intelligent creatures, however they and humans have one thing in common as we are the only animals who will fight to the death. Rats have a similar survival instinct.

Minced kitten, not so nice.