I have a 3 year old long haired cat living with me temporarily, and possibly permanently. The deciding factor is whether I can teach him to ignore my chinchillas. They are caged, and the cat is declawed, but he displays undue interest and it makes me nervous. So far he has responded well to a spray bottle, but I was wondering if anyone has managed to make an older cat 99% trustworthy with small animals?
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Teaching An Old Cat New Tricks....
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My cats are always curious when new critters show up here, whether they be guinea pigs or skunks or whatever. Usually supervised meetings are in order until everyone learns to get along. I have yet to loose another small critter (except mice) to my cats. My latest rescue a rabbit, freely hops around the house now in amongst the cats and they know to leave him alone. A spray bottle will only stress your cat out more, and really shouldn't be used as discipline. Just a firm voice is usually all it takes to stop unwanted behaviour.
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This guy has never been around another small pet until now. Does that matter? I'm sure it is easier to teach kittens than a 3 year old cat.
He seems to be doing very well so far. I'm so proud of him! I'll let you know how things are going. Thanks for the advice.
He seems to be doing very well so far. I'm so proud of him! I'll let you know how things are going. Thanks for the advice.
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when they arrive here. All of them learn not to mess with the little critters, and I have never lost a guinea pig, rabbit or hamster yet. My cats vary in ages from kitten to adult. my oldest cat is 12
I had a guinea-pig before I got my first cat when the cat was a kitten, and I have to say that they got along pretty well but only when the guinea-pig was in his cage, or in my lap. Whenever I let the quinea-pig out of the cage to run around the apartment, I'd have to lock the cat in the bedroom, because she definitely would "hunt" the guinea-pig- once I forgot to lock her in the bedroom and I noticed it when the cat was stalking the guinea-pig, about to pounce! I didn't want to try and see if she'd actually harm the little critter, or if it was just play. But when the guinea-pig was in his cage, the cat would ingore him completely, so no problems at all. Of course she'd get interested in the critter at times (like when he was making that dreadful noise demanding food
), but she'd only sniff and perhaps touch him with her paws, no harm done. I think it's just normal to display a bit of curiosity, but the novelty wears off in time.
