Small pets , like rats, together with cats?

Hi all
So. My son wants a cat, preferably aroudn 100000 cats I love cats , I think they're very sweet so I don't mind.
But, I also love rats (fancy rats ) . I used to have rats , for years , up until 10 years ago . I stopped because I was in a bad place and well , now I'm ready to get rats again, just as he wants a cat !

Is it possible, together ? I have seen videos of cats and rats together, but I think it may be rare?

I hope it's possible, I would love to get some ratties again

a reply to: ancientlight

Tbh that is a risk that the outcome be it bad would be absolutely devastating.
I personally advise against such a thing.

originally posted by: ancientlight
Hi all

So. My son wants a cat, preferably aroudn 100000 cats

I love cats , I think they're very sweet so I don't mind.
But, I also love rats (fancy rats ) . I used to have rats , for years , up until 10 years ago . I stopped because I was in a bad place and well , now I'm ready to get rats again, just as he wants a cat !

Is it possible, together ? I have seen videos of cats and rats together, but I think it may be rare?

I hope it's possible, I would love to get some ratties again

Nope. The cat WILL eat it. Long time experience with cats here, they love mice and birds. All cats do by their nature. I'd be more shocked that the rat lived after a day or two alone.

It looks like I have to convince my son (try again) that rats are better or just give up .
I thought about keeping them separate , but that would be very fussy and just too stressful.

Ugh. Or I tell him , he can get a cat as soon as he's 18 and moves out

a reply to: ancientlight

For what it's worth:

My mother (God rest her soul) was more or less a pet addict. She would acquire every kind of animal you could imagine as a pet and some you couldn't, more or less on a whim.

One time, after I came back from college to visit her, she had a pet rat, rabbit, cat, and dog. She kept them more or less all together. The rat and rabbit were kept in separate cages, most of the time, but often times when I would come to visit they would all be out in the yard "playing" together at the same time. By playing, I mean they would all be in a big fur ball mock fighting each other and rolling around the yard each wrestling with each other at the same time. I would sometimes watch this go on for 5 minutes at a time. They never hurt each other, never drew blood, and seemed to enjoy it. I found this totally bizarre considering that some of them could be considered natural predators and others prey.

So I know it CAN work, but--as always--your milage may vary.

a reply to: ancientlight

Definitely recommend that. Btw, i have close family with a bunch of cats, more than 10 in one house. Don't recommend that at all, without diligent upkeep of cat boxes and house cleaning, it can get very gross. Not sure of the age, but if he isn't the ocd cleaning type, it will likely get out of hand with more than a couple. Just volunteering that, I've always had cats, but that was an eye opener for me. Depending on age and your choice of parenting technique, might be a good idea to ensure he knows what he is getting into, and perhaps getting you into as well if that's the case.

Cats are born killers. It's in their nature. They kill so much wildlife. I would not risk trying to pretend a rat would be safe near a cat.

For what it's worth, I had 2 Ferrets that were not kept in cages. They were allowed full run of the house just like the dogs and cats. I had 2 Great Pyrenees, a Rat Terrier and and several cats at the time and they all got along great. The Ferrets played with the cats like they would with each other, rolling, tumbling and chasing each other around the house. They rode the dogs like they were horses or when the dogs were sleeping, they would snuggle down in their long hair and sleep on top of them. The dogs never tried to hurt them and went out of their way not to step on them.

When my sons where younger, we "adopted" a kitten, that turned out to be a 5 year old cat. He was 90% an indoor cat, except when he would escape for a day or two.
Then my oldest, got a rat.
I really thought there was going to be a problem. Warned my son multiple times, not to let the rat out of his site if he let the rat out of his cage.

Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. The cat loved that silly rat. He let the rat climb all over him, sleep with him, everything.
The key is just to supervise them.
I believe SOME cats, not all, know that another animal is a "pet" not lunch.
I think pets can have a sixth sense, about your attachment to another animal, kindness, ect. I think it is the opposite as well, and they know people that don't like animals. But, some animals just can't control their nature, and that is ok too. They just need to be the only pet.

I would love to have another rat, as Odin was awesome, but the hubby hates them, so not happening.

Hedgehog!

They can get along great with cats and zero risk of them being eaten. We let our fella free roam the Apt they'd chase EACH OTHER for hours.

Our poor cat had a tough time though when the hedgehog passed away (cancer). The two were inseparable.

Depends on the cat. I had one like that who understood the difference between pet and not. He would hunt a lot of his food, mostly wild rabbits, but left my domestic rabbits alone. Even one pet rabbit in the house, and tiny serama chickens that were pets wandering around the yard.

One in a million really and because of this I never tried to replace him when he passed away at 17.

Maybe if we get a kitten , at the same time as rats ? From some stories here it defintely seems possible.
Kittens need diapers though

My brother had a rat that he found at the delta ( I know. Rabies... nope he lucked out) it was a black and white rat so I think it was domesticated. Anyhow the house had three cats and two of those cats gave birth to litters. The rat was just part of the family. No one hurt the rat. My brother kept the rat in a cage when he was not wat hing him. But the rat would be all over the house. The kitties did not seem to mind. splinter ( the rat) lived two years!

a reply to: ancientlight

All of our kittens used the litterbox within hours with the exception of one two week old rescue who took about a week to train.

If they are old enough to be adopted, they will most likely go in the right spot pretty quick.