I am baffled!

So i have 4 kitties, 2 birds and a hairless rat. I also have three fish tanks. Well we all know that these are three things that cats are known to love. Well i have a question and maybe someone has a clue to the answer, My rat Sabastian has figured out how to open his cage. He doesn't just simply open his cage and stay in there, he opens it and comes out into the open. Now the kitties will sit and stare at the birds, try to climb up their cage and have even knocked their cage down and attacked them, luckily they suffered only minor injuries. They will sit and stare at the fish, get on top of the tanks and try to put their paws into the water and we have had some fish mysteriously just disappear. Now Sebastian on the other hand is different, he will get out of the cage and run around the apartment all day while we are gone at work and when we come home the cats are all just circled around him starring at him. If he moves towards them they just jump back like they are scared of him or they will just sit there and let him climb on their paws or whatever he decides to walk on. I am amazed of this. I thought most cats were hunters when it came to rodents but my 4 are definately not. Has anyone ever experienced something like this.

Well...I had a slightly different situation involving a non-hairless outside rat. DH and I came home one day to find the five cats we had at the time standing in a circle around this big field rat. I thought they were hunting in packs . I don't know for sure what would have happened next - but with my Siamese there, I have a pretty good idea - so I felt sorry for the rat, waded in amongst them and got him a safe passage out. So I can understand the standing around a rat in a circle part. Even if the cats were friendly, I don't think I would want to be the rat in the middle of that circle .

When I was a kid, my brothers had an old fish tank with about 100 little lizards in it. One Sunday night, after we got home from church, the cover had been knocked off and we had to pick up at least 50 lizard "halves" that were strewn all over the floor! The cats had them a little feast while we were away!!

Maybe they don't recognize he's a rat because he's hairless? Just kidding. How large is he? They might realize that a rat can do a fair bit of damage, and are wary of his sharp teeth. Maybe it's more fun to watch him running around, too. Jamie is all set to kill birds and rodents, but he's caught bats a couple of times and let them go in our living room. I swear he likes to watch them flying around.

Originally Posted by jcat

Jamie is all set to kill birds and rodents, but he's caught bats a couple of times and let them go in our living room. I swear he likes to watch them flying around.

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Bats in the house! AAAAAH Run away!!!! Duck and cover!!!

Rats in the house! AAAAAH, well actually I have one of those. Binky cat and Pixie rat seem to play this game of Tag Your It. It goes like this; Kitty charges the rat and tries to scare her with her stealthy quick semi-attack. They both then have a breif nose sniffing session. The rat counter attacks by stepping on kittys tail. "OOU, I have been touched by a rat", goes kitty,"Run away!" And it all starts over again.

Originally Posted by nurseangel

Well...I had a slightly different situation involving a non-hairless outside rat. DH and I came home one day to find the five cats we had at the time standing in a circle around this big field rat. I thought they were hunting in packs

. I don't know for sure what would have happened next - but with my Siamese there, I have a pretty good idea - so I felt sorry for the rat, waded in amongst them and got him a safe passage out. So I can understand the standing around a rat in a circle part. Even if the cats were friendly, I don't think I would want to be the rat in the middle of that circle

.

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I would feel bad for the rat too. I like all animals, whether they are reptiles, birds, rodents, domestic pets, and even farm animals, I would have had to break the circle up too. The poor guy was probably so scared even being a wild rat which most people think are mean.

Originally Posted by Catkiki

When I was a kid, my brothers had an old fish tank with about 100 little lizards in it. One Sunday night, after we got home from church, the cover had been knocked off and we had to pick up at least 50 lizard "halves" that were strewn all over the floor! The cats had them a little feast while we were away!!

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Wow, didnt realize cats would bother lizards, I guess they probably would chase anything tho. Guess they have a big hunting instinct.

Originally Posted by jcat

Maybe they don't recognize he's a rat because he's hairless? Just kidding. How large is he? They might realize that a rat can do a fair bit of damage, and are wary of his sharp teeth. Maybe it's more fun to watch him running around, too. Jamie is all set to kill birds and rodents, but he's caught bats a couple of times and let them go in our living room. I swear he likes to watch them flying around.

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That is exactly what Hammy said about the hairless thing, he is not a big rat, he is actually pretty small. My kitties love birds too, i have two parakeets that got out the other morning, i caught one before i left for work and the other after work, it was an interesting event trying to keep the cats from attacking them while me being 9 months pregnant chasing the flying bird around lol it was hillarious but i got both of them safely back in their cage.