Something is wrong...

This morning when I wake up, I hear no pitter-patter of little feet stampeding through the house. No dishes being knocked off the counter. No newpapers rustling on the coffee table. No crunching of food. No digging in the litterbox.

I think, "Oh, my goodness there must be a carbon monoxide leak in my house, or they've found a torn window screen and escaped. Oh, no!"

Panicked, I jump out of bed. I look under it, nothing. In the closet, nothing. Kitchen cupboards and drawers, nothing. Behind the shower curtain, nothing. I'm freaking out at this point.

But as I walk into the living room, I can see one fuzzy black tail through the doorway leading into the dining room. Kipper. Oh, thank goodness at least HE knows better than to leave me.

I round the corner and suddenly see all eight of them, and the dog, crowded around the fish tank I set up last night. 9 pairs of eyes glance quickly at me, then back to the tank in fascination.

3 hours later, not a single one of them has moved. I could get used to the silence.

Maybe they thought that was breakfast!

oh wow I laughed hysterically!!! My hubby looked at me like i was crazy! (oh, wait, I am...) Hee hee. Great post... now I want to go dig out the aquarium from storage!

LMAO! Fish make excellent, umm, distrations for kitties. Although Rosalie seems partial to the snake. She's constantly sitting on top of his tank watching him move around, lol.

Actually, yes, mine were fascinated by my rough green snake. SO fascinated that the ingenious Tom I had at the time managed to un-suction cup and de-weight the tight fitting top, knock it off, and grab the snake! He came trotting down the hallway as happy as he could be with a green shoestring in his mouth.... wait.... that's not a shoestring!!!

Bad kitty got locked out of my snake room for a while, and poor snake got released into the wild after that, since he had been wild caught anyway. I figured he'd been put through enough stress!!!

I just got a betta fish last Saturday, and Bailey loves to sit next to it and just watch him.. She puts her paw on the glass and hes mostly figured out its nothing to be afraid of

That is hysterical!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our cats were completely and totally uninterested in the fish - that we bought as entertainment for them! We were stuck with fish. We were going to let them happily live out their lives.... as we're down to the last two (after two years) we're thinking, it's almost over! We came down one morning to find no live fish... and then we notice all these teeney black specks floating around - what the heck got into the fish tank?

BABY FISH!

We let them grow a few months then gave the whole set-up away.

Sounds like a bunch of Black Mollys. My mother hated them when we had them for the same reason! Baby fishies Everywhere!

We've had bettas for years. We have 6 right now, but after I put them all in places where kitties couldn't reach they lost interest. Bettas aren't a very active breed anyhow.

But in the new tank, the main attraction is an albino clawed frog. He is only about an inch now, but will get to be the size of a dinner plate. We also got a plecostomous to help keep the tank clean and 5 small fish. 4 are irredescent white, the other is white with black spots. I think they are Mollys but I'm not sure. But in groups they are very active, chasing each other and the frog around the tank. This is what seems to fascinate the cats. Unfortunately when the frog gets big enough he will probably eat the fish but that's something I knew getting into this.

Your pleco is probably safe as are the other fish for now.. but when the clawed frog gets bigger they eat fish. I'm sure you already know that but just in case... I don't want your fish magically disappearing! My betta's in a 5 gallon tank by himself so he's got some room and plenty of plants to hide in so I don't mind the cats watching him sometimes.

He's used to them putting their paws on the glass by now, he just goes about his business

I'm dumb I must've accidently skipped the last part of your post... Silly me.

Originally Posted by atinsley

Your pleco is probably safe as are the other fish for now.. but when the clawed frog gets bigger they eat fish. I'm sure you already know that but just in case... I don't want your fish magically disappearing! My betta's in a 5 gallon tank by himself so he's got some room and plenty of plants to hide in so I don't mind the cats watching him sometimes.

He's used to them putting their paws on the glass by now, he just goes about his business

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Originally Posted by atinsley

I'm dumb I must've accidently skipped the last part of your post... Silly me.

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Yeah, I bought the cheapest ones I thought were pretty for this reason. I won't replace them if he does eat them, but I've read that if you start them out with "friends" young, they might not. Plus he's only an inch big in a 5 gallon tank so I figured we could use something else to spruce it up a bit. The plecostomous should be safe though, because they have spines and only a stupid frog would continue trying to eat them once they figure that out.

Yeah, I've done lots of research on this. Even joined a froggy forum.

Originally Posted by SamhainBorn

Sounds like a bunch of Black Mollys. My mother hated them when we had them for the same reason! Baby fishies Everywhere!

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The were Danios, because they seemed to be the most active freshwater fish - darting about everywhere! We did end up enjoying them, but the tank was just more maintenance then we wanted to manage just for us.

Cute story; they were probably trying to talk each other in to being the first one to "make a move!"

I have this wonderful picture in my mind of a fish tank surrounded by your furry brood. Poor fish must've been nervous!

When my now ex husband and I were dating we had Spaz and our roommate Gene had a 4-6 ft red tailed boa Delilah. Gene had her out and Spaz walks up and thumps Deli8lah on the head. Delilah hisses and Spaz runs off then comes back and just watches her. Spaz was too big to be food and Delilah was too big for Spaz to carry around or bother so when Delilah kept escaping from her tank to lay on the dining room table we let her until we fed her.

Mine love to look out the window or if I have the door open Nuts especially likes to look out the door at the outside cats. His mom, 2 brothers, his sister, his grandmother and grey kitty(who just showed up and the others don't mind him.) Attitude will look out(her and Nuts are brother and sister) as well but Nuts seems to enjoy it more. Attitude prefers looking out the windows.

Taryn

When Lucy was a kitten, she was fascinated with the tank but none of the cats are now that they are older. One day, I spied Petunia (RIP) sitting on the sofa beside the tank. She was oblivious to the tank, flicking her tail back and forth. The fish though were following the tail with each flick.

I grew up with 3 cats and a 55 gallon tank. Every few years we'd restock the fish and it was entertainment all around. We set the piano bench right up to the tank and soon all three cats were there (for hours!) Watching the group swim from one side to the other. All three heads moving at the same time and at times all their tails twitching at the same time in the same direction.

Pure entertainment for all.

Plecostamus get to be like 2 feet long...so he's not going to fit in a 5g for long!!!! Better have a new home lined up for him in about a year. Some pet stores will take them back when they outgrow a tank.

My cats liked their fish tank for about a month. Then they didn't care anymore. I had neons and (male!) guppies.

Originally Posted by Willowy

Plecostamus get to be like 2 feet long...so he's not going to fit in a 5g for long!!!! Better have a new home lined up for him in about a year. Some pet stores will take them back when they outgrow a tank.

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I think we bought the small variety of plecostomous but I am aware that sometimes what the pet store says isn't accurate. He is only about 2 inches right now but the frog will eventually need at least 10 gallons all to himself so I'm keeping an eye out on craigslist for larger tanks. I'm thinking with the frog, the plecostomous and the other fish I'll need at least a 20 gallon.