Advice about keeping mice and cats.

Rachel021967

Hello. My daughter has been to a petting zoo a few times and is now interested in keeping mice. Problem is we have two cats who will occasionally hunt. We can keep the mice in a separate room from the cats. Has anybody kept mice and cats and how did you go about it?

the_devil_made_me_do_it

I have a cat and 4 gerbils. I keep the gerbil tank at a height away from the cat & this works fine. When I first got the gerbils, I had the tank on a low table & the cat tended to hang around the cage observing the gerbils. Since I moved the tank into another room and put it at a managable height, the cat seems to have forgotten about the gerbils & no longer bothers them.

Rachel021967

Thanks the devil made me do it. What precautions do you take when letting the gerbils out of the cage?

the_devil_made_me_do_it

I put them in hamster balls & I don't let the cat in the room whilst they are out of the cage. To be honest, I only get them out once a week whilst I clean the tank.

Mine were from the adoption centre in Pets at Home, & their previous owners never handled them, so they are now not used to being handled. This makes it difficult to get them out on a more frequent basis as they don't appreciate being disturbed.

I guess if you get them from babies & handle them alot, it won't be too much of a problem letting them out more frequently.

Dizzyduck

I wouldn't do it.
I shared a house with somebody who had gerbils, my cat was a hunter but he always got into her room and into the cage. Luckily he was always caught before he did any really damage but he was persistent.

Rachel021967

Thanks the devil made me do it and Dizzyduck. I must admit thats my main fear is of the cat eating my daughters beloved mouse.

heretolearn_2

I used to have 2 cats and a hamster that lived in his cage in the living room. When I got the hamster, I armed myself with a water pistol, and sprayed the cats everytime they went over to the cage. After a couple of days they didn't go near it!

Then of course, you have to keep the cats shut out of that room when you've got the small squeaky thing out of its cage.

Curious_George_2

my cat is hunter of the century and doesnt give 2 hoots about the hamster (who lives in the front room)

the only thing we did different because we had 2 cats at the time was buy a cage that was plastic instead of bars,
the only bars are on top... hang on, will go find a pic

ok... its exactly like this one http://theonlinepetstore.co.uk/prod_show.asp?id=1788&ref=froogle&prodid=1788
except our wheel is solid sided (i hate the bar ones... easy way to a broken leg)
and we got ours off ebay for less than half the price of this one...

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Oh yes, get a plastic wheel without any gaps. You want to avoid the mice getting their tails trapped. I bought quite a large one, this allows body and tail to fit in comfortably.

Rummer

We had mice and our cats spent their lives trying to kill them , mercifully due to our care and attention to safety they never managed but it wasn't for lack of trying. They were fun to have however we had all boys and found their scent very strong.

meritaten

at one stage I had one dog, one cat and a hamster. the dog and cat had the run of the house and the hamster lived in no2 sons bedroom..........except the hamster decided he preferred spending nights on MY pillow and used to escape from sons bedroom....past the dog on the landing past the cat at foot of bed and i used to wake up with it sleeping in my hair!!!!
and the hamster was more at risk from the dog than the cat - the dog hated it and the cat ignored it!