Question

[MBll]

Right Iv had cats before but last 1 was put to sleep about 3 years ago due to being ill ...wasnt easy thing to do but she wasnt getting any better. The cats i had in the past that were kittens that grew up with me hamsters when I had them & didnt bother with them.

Now i have pet rats & the last of my my old rats was PTS a couple weeks ago again being ill, not having cats in the house they were givin free range for about an hour which they would run in & out of the living room /hall. I now have 3 new baby rats which they will not be allowed to do this till there are used to being handled which i think will take some time :? :( ........after reading all this lol my question is ......its only now Iv been thinking should I get an older cat even with the rats being in the same house.

Now... obviously I would need to watch & be carefull on things like cat jumping up on cage etc & when or if the rats get used to being handled they have sometime out of the cage when that time comes i can put the cat in the bedroom for awhile.

I guess Im trying to ask in a round about way & getting no where lol ....othere view/oppion on this???

[Rosie]

For what its worth why rock the boat. If you have three new babies that you know will eventually be happy running about the house why take the risk of getting a cat that may well not settle with them. That would mean the rats would have to be confined.

[Fran]

I have no experience of rats, well not live ones anyhow :-D Really wouldn't know how to advise you. Good luck with what ever you decide!

[Snoof]

I have a cat and 3 rats. When they freerange they're in the lounge, and the door is shut so the cat can't get in. He's never bothered them - he will come into the lounge on occasion to look at the cage, but when they move too fast he legs it at great speed.

If there's a way they can freerange with the cat not in the vicinity (although I would always prefer shutting the cat out to shutting the cat in, only in part because the cat is hard to shut in anywhere - also because he's used to having the run of the house rather than being shut in a bedroom - rats don't need huge amounts of space to freerange) I don't see why not. You'll just have to make sure the cat can't open the cage beforehand and keep an eye out while he or she is playing Rat TV at first to make sure there's no badgering.

[Julie84]

I agree with Snoof. I have two cats and four rats (not noticed it before but I seem to have an even number obsession! :o ).

The rats were all between 10 and 8 months old when my two boys kittens moved in. The first day was VERY stressful. Top rat in the cage (cage in living room) froze as soon as she saw the cats and refused to move, for food, water or anything else and the cats were a bit freaked every time the others moved a bit fast or came close to the bars. I dosed us all with some Rescue Remedy (I was in tears by this point thinking I'd ruined everyone's lives! :oops: ) and over the course of the next couple of days everything settled into place. Beau eventually started moving again and decided she could be alpha over the cats as well, seeing them off if they sat too close to the cage and the cats have always remained slightly wary of the rats which can't be a bad thing.

Murphy (cat) did climb on top of the cage once and he got little nibbled feet - nothing serious, no blood or anything, but enough of a shock that he has never done it again and Tom obviously watched and learnt. Although I don't like any of my animals to be hurt or upset, this was a much more effective way for the animals to respect each other than me saying 'no' or trying to keep them out of rooms etc.

The rats used to free range in the living room but I found it hard to keep the cats out of the living room and like Snoof, don't like locking the cats in a room (simply because they cry so much that I would be scared we might get complaints!) so I take the rats up to one of the bedrooms upstairs and shut the door behind me. The cats hardly notice so don't think they are missing out on anything and the rats are safe and have a whole room to create havoc in.

Mainly I would say, the most important thing is to have a secure cage that the cats can't into, or pull down or over and the rats can't escape from. I wouldn't advise keeping them separate as I think it is good for animals to learn respect for one another as long as it is done safely. Cats will soon learn it's not a good idea to stick their nose through the bars of a rat's cage and will settle for watching Rat TV from afar (which is apparently fascinating! :lol: )

[Snoof]

I also have a fleece "cozy bag" that hangs around my neck with a strap and is big enough to fit all 3 of my rats. If you get something like that and use it to transport the rats to the bedroom instead of locking the cat in there, you can let them freerange up there :)

[MBll]

Well at the minute their not going to be free ranging anywhere as I cant get a hold of them lol :? Think its going to take some work & a long time before anything happens as the nooo i have 2 biters (1 bite me on the nose so have 2 extra holes) :shock: & the other 1 freaks out at everything & bolts for the nearest cover. :? :? :? Bloody nightmare trying to clean the cage out.

BIG SIGH

I have thought about the bag to carry them around, only place is ebay for that as i cant get it where i am.

I will update you later about them & my search for a kitten or older cat (whatever) IF i still have fingers left to type. :shock:

[Snoof]

You can find some here: http://www.ratwarehouse.co.uk/

Also, two of my rats were very shy at first. The bag helped during freerange - I would put them in it (Canis-Equus put hers at the cage door and said "all aboard the rat bus" and that worked for her - I think hers were more skittish at the start than mine) and then sit on the sofa with them in it. They could wander if they were comfortable doing that, or they could stay in it. And if they were wandering and got scared they had somewhere to retreat to.

The difference in their comfort levels was astonishing, and I kept it up until they stopped wanting to get into the bag and just ran up my arms. Haven't used it in months now.

Edit: Now I'm looking at it, I can't find them. But you can use the contact link on Rat Warehouse to get in touch with the lady running it and ask her - she'll no doubt be able to help you.

[Julie84]

I also like the bags on www.yourpetonline.co.uk (http://www.yourpetonline.co.uk) - I have the elephants and giraffes one and it is quite big and snuggly (and washes well) andnot too expensive. Acrorats also do them.

Snoof, when my cage was in the living room, I used my pouch to take my ratty girls upstairs to free range. The cats hardly took any notice because I wasn't shutting doors (apart from the door to the study of course) and they weren't being locked in anywhere.

Now I have my cage upstairs in the study just because it turned out easier for me (it was moved temporarily when we were sorting out the living room) and I just shut the door to the study and open the cage door and they do what they like.

[Snoof]

I have a Duval cage, Julie (the large one) and if I just leave them doing what they like Sylvester's bound to decide he's climbing on the lid, which brings it down with a resounding crash that makes porphyrin practically shoot out of their noses :roll: So I tend to stay nearby :lol:

[Julie84]

Who said rats were intelligent?! :roll: :lol:

I have a Moore and Florrie almost got herself trapped between a closing top and the sides once so I rarely open the top now! :shock: I have the cage on a table which is next to (ish) the window sill so I just open the bottom door and leave them to come and go as they choose. Those top opening bits are great for access but such a hazard and I always catch my jumper on it! :lol: