cats and hamsters

does anyone have any experience with cats and hamster, guinea pigs, gerbils, etc.? our cat seems to be lonely, but i'm thinking she wouldn't like another cat. she will probably get jealous of another cat. does anyone know if she will interact with a furry friend?

Yes! Cats reactwell to hamsters and gerbils.....THEY EAT THEM!

You can't mess with millions of years of evolution...cats eat rodents....plain and simple.

Cats and rodents/birds should really not be allowed to interact.
Cats/Dogs/Humans and most all predators carry pasturella bacteria in their saliva which will kill rodents/birds.

They don't even have to bite them, a small lick, and then the rodent/bird ingests it while grooming...

If you don't think she'll like another cat, you might consider a spayed female rabbit as a companion.
They can be litter box trained, and a lot of cats get along well with rabbits when introduced properly

Originally Posted by Arlyn

If you don't think she'll like another cat, you might consider a spayed female rabbit as a companion.
They can be litter box trained, and a lot of cats get along well with rabbits when introduced properly

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good idea, cats and bunnies can and will interact with each other, if the proper introduction is right. Maybe get a book and read up on how to do that, and you can have yourself a cute little bunny, and a cute little kitty together.

thanks for your responses, i'll think about that. that would be so cute!

Hi - been there, done that and while you might get lucky, it definitely does not always work out. The rabbit very well could get the short end of the relationship, and I wouldn't try it just on a bet. Plus taking care of bunnies can be a lot of work - lots of mess to deal with, etc. and they have fussy tummies.

Originally Posted by matttt

does anyone have any experience with cats and hamster, guinea pigs, gerbils, etc.? our cat seems to be lonely, but i'm thinking she wouldn't like another cat. she will probably get jealous of another cat. does anyone know if she will interact with a furry friend?

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well I wouldn't really suggest it, but if you are in the room with your hamster, you should let your cat lie down next to the cage.
If you'r not in the room, that's a different story.
My cat has knocked over my hamster cage 3 times, luckily, he is still alive.

I would caution getting such a pet with a cat. Cats are predatory animals and gerbils and hamsters are prey animals. If you have a separate room to house the rodent in that the cat can't enter, then it would be okay.
This is what I did in university for many years. The only time the hamster and cats saw each other was when the hamster was out running in his ball, and even then I still had to supervise them.

Not a very good idea as your cat will always be looking for ways to get at the hamster. I remember when I had one, and one night I was downstairs watching T.V. when I just had the urge to go upstairs. Well lucky that I did because there was my cat with my hamster in her mouth (one of the little tubes had fallen off of her Habitrail cage)! Thankfully she didn't hurt the hamster and the little thing was fine (just quite shaken obviously), but it sure did freak me out.

I have 2 cats & 2 Geribls. I have never had a problem with either of them. I wouldn't suggest a bunny as they can make an awful mess & some cats don't seem to like them at all. I have my Gerbils in a 10 gallon fishtank with a lid I bought from the pet store. I don't have to tape the lid down or anything. The cats love the Geribls. The gerbils couldn't care less about the cats. I let Lily sniff a Gerbil while holding it & it she wasn't hardly even interested. I might be a lucky one, but my cats & my Geribls get along great. All of those cages(Habittrail, SAM, etc) won't hold up to a cat, but a fishtank with a proper lid does. I would suggest keeping a small animal in a fishtank & bringing it out when you are home to watch you cat with it. Eventually, the small animal tank might be able to be left out while you are gone untouched.