My cat won't leave my lizard alone!

[amy surprenant]

I have a 1.5 year old male cat who is just the most affectionate lovable cat I've ever had. On Saturday night, we brought home a Chinese Water Dragon. For the first two days, Special Agent Meow didn't notice The Captain at all. We even lifted him up to meet the guy, but the cat was uninterested. Then on Monday, he suddenly noticed something was moving around in the tank and since then he refuses to leave the lizard alone.

At first it was just innocent staring, but it's turned into pawing at the side of the cage. Even the pawing I don't really mind; it's when the damn cat starts playing with the light cords that drives me nuts. He pulls on them so the lights slide across the top and I'm afraid he's going to knock one over or get electrocuted. The cat won't go on top of the cage because there is too much on there for him to fit.

The Captain doesn't quite seem to mind the attention, though. He will jump at Special and they will actually paw at each other from opposite sides of the glass. He seems actually pretty excited to get attention. I just don't want the wires being dragged all over the place and I'm tired of clapping and yelling at my poor cat, because he doesn't know he's doing anything wrong.

By the way...they are both terrible hunters...

catandliz.jpg

• amy surprenant
• Jan 27, 2015

 

[pinkdagger]

Can you get zip ties or something to bind all the wires together and adhere them to corners of tables/the tank, or the wall? The last thing I would want is for a heat lamp to get tugged on or dropped for the safety and well being of both the cat and lizard. Another concern would be if a cat gets curious to climb on top of the tank where they notice the mesh, so the mesh could get damaged, dented, or even break if a cat decides to lie down on it.

I would say keep the water dragon in a room where the Sam only has access when you can supervise him.

This is an article about birds, but it's a good and short read on how you can teach Sam to be indifferent towards Cass and other prey animals (especially that exhibit enticing behaviours like swift, quick movements like reptiles) so at least you can rest easier if you need to glance away for a moment: http://www.rationalparrot.com/zoosafety.html#catsdogs

 

[keyes]

How nice.  You got Sam a new toy!!

 

[roguethecat]

just a thought... if you are feeding crickets to the Captain, give some to the poor Agent to have some fun with. This works as a distraction for the Rogue (who isn't terrorizing lizards but fellow cats, shoes and vegetables), sometimes.

 

[LTS3]

 
Can you get zip ties or something to bind all the wires together and adhere them to corners of tables/the tank, or the wall? The last thing I would want is for a heat lamp to get tugged on or dropped for the safety and well being of both the cat and lizard. Another concern would be if a cat gets curious to climb on top of the tank where they notice the mesh, so the mesh could get damaged, dented, or even break if a cat decides to lie down on it.

Try the Command cord clips: http://www.command.com/wps/portal/3...s/Catalog/?N=5584719+5924736+3294529207&rt=r3 Or cable organizers: http://www.containerstore.com/shop/office/cordControl

Your cat may eventually get bored of the lizard. I had gerbils several times before and my cat at the time lost interest after a day or two. I even had a mouse once and my cat had zero interest in it.

 

[kittylover67]

so cool

 

[nebula]

In addition to the cord clipping, maybe you can fashion some kind of cabinet around it so they cords could be covered? You know, like a fish aquarium with stand

And maybe try a SSSCAT