Hamsters and cats!

[ranoutofquinoaandprosecco]

So we have two fab felines but my daughter is desperate for a hamster.

I'm making sure she does all the research however does anyone have cats and hamsters coexisting the felines are good hunters.

We do have enough downstairs space for the hamster to have a couple of rooms that the cats could be kept out of. Would that work?

It would work for the cats. Possibly less so for the Hamster.

I think project “learn how to open doors” would commence.

I use to have a pet mouse in a cage decades ago
cat use to sit on his cage watching it go round in circles on its wheel
cat got distracted mouse climbed to top of cage & bit it on its bottom!
Cat didn't sit on cage anymore
Our animals watched to much Tom & Jerry (all of our animals were eccentric - like their owners -s- -e- -r- -v- -ant--s)

Thanks @Fluffycloudland77 and @mumwon

I think we'd have to get a door wedge to stop the cats going into the room when we're not there and then I suppose a bite on the butt may be a of warning!

My DD ha said she drawing up a contract tomorrow as to how she will look after the hamster and try and get her dad to sign it! If he's really busy with work he could sign anything! She wants to call hers Skittles and my DS his Chef Gordon! Really must stop putting them in front of the tv when I'm wfh!

We had a hamster and at the time 2 cats, once the initial novelty had worn off they pretty much ignored him. The hamster escaped when I was in labour with my dd and we thought he would not last long as one cat was a prolific hunter (asked my mum who was looking after ds to look in all the various usual hunting present drop off points etc), I came home from hospital 5 days later to find hamster back in his cage surrounded by a stash of cat biscuits. Think they viewed him as family! 😁

Our cat slept on top of the hamster cage while we are dinner. Hamster cage was in the dining room, doors shut when we weren't there.

Cat knew when it was nearly dinner time and would wait outside the door.

My nephew had hamsters and a cat and the cat spent a lot of her time outside his bedroom because she could clearly smell the hamsters who lived there. Obviously the hamsters are going to be safe in the cage but the real risk is that they get frightened if the cat gets in.

I can see why your daughter would want a hamster. They are much more compliant than cats and fit nicely into a child's hand. My nephews' hamsters did survive and died of old age rather than at the paws of the cat so it can work if your daughter is old enough to understand she must be careful to check where the cats are before she takes the hamster out of the cage. If she gets more than one hamster, take any insistence that they are both males/females with a pinch of salt. My nephew found he soon had more hamsters than he expected!

Honestly think this depends on the cat. Our indoor cat views any indoor creature as family. He's had budgies fly round him (both on purpose and on one occasion not when a bird learned how to open the cage door and was out all night with the cat), similarly we've had hamsters escape and been found unscathed. He's had a variety of rodents on his back too (deliberate) and now loves with a house rabbit. He also turns his back on the birds feeding next to "his window" when they land on the ledge next to him.

That said though if your cats regularly go hunting I'd be concerned. We've had a hamster escape due to cage failure (the tubing came apart on a particularly hot day), another where the hamster learned how to open it's own door and another time through human negligence. They all came back fine.

I would keep the cat out of the hamsters room and make sure to reinforce the cage door and tubing. The tube that failed on us was Rotastak. I put little luggage locks on the cage doors to prevent the animal (or child) opening it, and I'd make sure there was some sort of routine check too that the hamster was secure. It sounds like it could be very traumatic for you all if the hamster(s) did end up as Kitty's next meal.

We had a cat, hamster and a guinea pig. The car soon lost interest. The hamster was hard work as the little bugger could get out of his cage. Not quite seeing the attraction of hamsters.

Thanks for all the replies. Bless her she's saved her own money and have prepared a contract of how she'll look after it for us to sign!
I've spoken to her about how she'd feel if the cats did get it, eek,
I just need to win my DH over!

There’s a section on here for small animal pets. If your dh is saying the cats will eat the hamster & then one of them eats it there will be no living with him.

Think about putting the hamster in a large tank, not a cage. Our cats lie on top but the gerbils can't reach them.

We had a hamster in a cage and a real hunter of a cat. One day my daughter left her door open as we were leaving the house (I know I should have checked) to go for her birthday party. Came back to a bloodbath. The cat had knocked the cage over and the base had come off. She was heartbroken. Haven't had any small animals since. Poor hamster