Pet sharing is a common theme in animal jokes and videos, but it becomes a problem when one pet turns out to be a predator and the other is its natural prey. In the wild, it doesn’t cost a cat anything to deal with a hamster, because it is capable of killing prey several dozen times more. Therefore, many people are concerned about how strong the hunting instinct is in cats, and whether it is possible to get a rodent.
Do cats eat hamsters?
A small animal can spark excitement in a cat, but it’s unlikely that your furry pet will be able to eat it; she will just play with him. The hamster runs the risk of being harmed by its tenacious claws or sharp teeth. The feline representative will not eat the animal; she will strangle him and play with him like a soccer ball.
Street cats make good hunters, because this is their main source of food. And even if the cat has lived at home for a long time, he has perfectly preserved all his street instincts. Such an animal can eat a domestic rodent at any time.
How to help a rodent recover from playing with a cat?
But if a dwarf is in the paws of a pet, this does not mean that the cat killed the hamster. The small pet should be removed immediately and the damage inspected. Any wounds from a cat's claws or teeth can be dangerous due to the risk of infection. In addition, the rodent can get sick due to the resulting stress. In such cases it is important:
The small rodent must be protected from contact with the cat.
- Treat wounds with an antiseptic, preferably as painless as possible.
- Take your pet to the veterinarian.
- Create a calm environment for your pet to relieve stress.
- Isolate the hamster.
Djungarik may not recover due to his wounds and repeated stress. Usually, after such incidents, rodents become restless, too mobile and cannot calm down. Veterinarians note that not only small Djungarians suffer from stress, but also large Syrians. They, like purrs, can also have a heart attack from a sense of danger.
Will a kitten and a young hamster get along together?
Imagine a situation: you have a cage with a hamster at home, and you bring a small kitten into your apartment. At the first moment, the rodent will arouse genuine interest in the kitten. He can sit by the cage for hours, observing the behavior of the hamster, but he will not take him seriously.
As the kitten grows up, it will begin to get used to the hamster more and more and will gradually stop paying attention to it. The smell of a rodent and its presence surrounded the cat from the very first minute of settling in your apartment. But it’s still better not to leave animals alone!
First aid for a hamster if a cat bites him
If your cat and hamster “quarreled” with each other, and the hamster was bitten by the mustachioed pet, immediately treat the wound with an antiseptic, this will eliminate the process of infection. Then take your pet to the veterinarian: it is better not to self-medicate, because it is unknown what consequences this can lead to.
After such a situation, it is necessary to try to create as calm conditions as possible. The stress the hamster receives can later lead to regular anxiety. Avoid any contact between the cat and the rodent.
ATTENTION! The opposite situations also happen: a hamster can bite a cat. There is no need to fear that the feline will catch some kind of infection from him. All rodent diseases are absolutely not dangerous for other pets.
Is your hamster attacking your cat?
A hamster, a seemingly cute and harmless rodent, is still capable of biting. And here there are several reasons:
- instinct of self-preservation (most often it is triggered in females during pregnancy);
- the animal felt pain;
- entering a new environment;
- sudden sharp sounds.
How to smooth out relationships
Even if your pets have a good relationship, you should not neglect safety measures. After all, a cat is an unpredictable animal; you never know what it will do next minute.
What you need to know to avoid tragedy:
- The animal's cage should be in a hard-to-reach place. Trying to hunt a large animal can greatly frighten it, which will subsequently negatively affect the baby’s nervous system. In addition, the rods are not always able to protect it.
- Buy a cage with secure door bolts. Cats are smart, observant creatures; after several attempts, they can easily open the door on their own.
- Do not leave your pet unattended while he is walking around the apartment. This is, in principle, dangerous for him, and when there is also a cat in the room, it is doubly dangerous. The predator rushes instantly and can strangle you in a split second. In addition to such death, the hamster can expect a heart rupture, shock, severe fright, after which the baby will begin to get sick regularly.
- After a rodent appears in the house, do not deprive the pussy of attention and affection. This can greatly offend her and set her up negatively towards the new tenant. Don't forget to pet her, pick her up, and play with her.
- Play active games with your domestic predator more often, take him outside for a walk, or take him with you to the dacha. Try to use his energy as much as possible so that he has no strength left to hunt for the animal.
- Do not show aggression towards the feline, do not punish for what is inherent in nature. The animal can get very angry and do everything to harm. Thus, not only will you not save the hamster, but you will turn the other pet against you.
- If you have great authority with your pet, you can take advantage of this. A stern reprimand can scare a predator; he will never approach a small rodent.
Nature has decreed that these animals are incompatible. Before you put a cat and a hamster in the same apartment, think about whether it’s worth your nerves or not.
After an unpleasant meeting, try to create the most calm conditions for your pet’s life. The resulting stress can result in anxiety in your hamster, regardless of its breed. The Syrian hamster is larger than the Djungarian hamster, giving the impression of a stronger and more resilient fighter. But in a practical sense, each of them is equally worried and nervous. When taking care of the rodent, any possible contact between the cat and the hamster must be completely excluded.
How to make friends between a cat and a hamster
The Internet is replete with stories about the friendship of a variety of animals: an iguana and a dog, a goat and a tiger. All this seems incredible, but the decisive factor is to bring them together at as young an age as possible. Although friendship in the animal world is generally an amazing phenomenon. You can never say with absolute certainty whether two animals will become friends or become irreconcilable enemies.
The most defenseless option for dating will occur when your kitten is no older than two months. At such a young age, cats themselves are quite defenseless: a small kitten will not be able to injure a rodent when it decides to play with it, and in the future your pets can even become good friends. But here it is worth considering the character and temperament of all animals: not every cat can become a good friend for a hamster .
REFERENCE! You can train your cat not to touch the rodent by giving her a light flick on the nose every time she begins to behave aggressively towards the hamster. Sooner or later, your “murka” will learn its lesson and stop reacting to the animal.
Allow the animals to build relationships on their own, but do not forget to supervise this process. In the case of an adult cat, the chances of becoming friends with a hamster are significantly reduced. But it’s still worth trying to bring them closer together. To do this, pick up the cat and place it next to the hamster's cage. Pay close attention to how the cat reacts to the rodent; don't give him a chance to grab the hamster with his paw.
Carefully remove the hamster from the cage and quietly move it closer and closer to the predator. There is a risk that the rodent will get scared and try to slip out of your hands. The cat's instincts will kick in in this situation, so be very careful.
If your attempt to make friends with your pets is unsuccessful, don’t be too upset. Adult cats and hamsters get along with each other in very rare cases.
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The cat is more likely to play with the hamster rather than kill it. However, this does not mean that after a few strokes your pet rodent will be safe. A cat may go on a killing spree within seconds or minutes if:
- the cat is hungry
- hamster resists
- The cat is especially excited
Inexperienced cats may take longer to reach this point. If your cat was hand-raised or weaned from her mother at an early age, she may become confused about how to kill prey. This can help you buy time to get your hamster before it's too late. Other cats, however, will kill outright.
Just because your cat doesn't kill the escaped hamster doesn't mean the rodent will survive. Cats can inflict serious injuries while playing with prey. Subsequently, they can become infected, which can cause serious health problems. Therefore, it is extremely important to establish precautions for both pets to ensure that this never happens.
Do cats want to attack hamsters?
More than anything else, cats try to attack hamsters for fun. Even domestic cats are known to hunt for sport. If they have no intention of eating or killing their prey, they may still do so:
- play with her until she collapses from exhaustion
- Bring it to you as a trophy or to teach you how to hunt
- Injure her for training and fun
- Chew a piece for taste
- Scratch it to stretch the joints and muscles of the paws.
Bored cats have even been known to play with food that doesn't resemble the prey at all. It is a natural instinct to chase, hunt and fight. This not only entertains the cat.
This not only keeps your cat entertained, but also prepares her for the next hunt, whether or not you provide her with a steady supply of food. If you give a cat a hamster that is alive, interactive and runs fast, it will not be able to resist such a challenge.
Do cats hunt hamsters?
If your cat doesn't try to catch or eat the hamster, she may still chase or track it. This is often the first (and last) warning the owner receives. A well-behaved cat who has never bothered the hamster can sit and watch it for long periods of time. Then, unexpectedly, she:
- crouches to the ground and wags its tail
- starts creeping up on the hamster
- He gets to his feet but doesn't move forward.
- pretends to rush at the hamster.
- She runs towards him, but stops halfway.
- makes a jerk to the side as if he wants to run away, but hesitates, then stops.
This happens when your cat is trying to decide how likely it is to catch the hamster. Cats are intelligent predators and understand that (generally speaking) they only have one chance to catch their prey. Prolonged hunting is not their style, and they prefer quick bursts of energy that end in destruction for the prey.
Perhaps your cat is inexperienced in hunting and is trying her hand at it. Perhaps your cat saw an opening, but when it saw that it was close, it abandoned its plan. This is a dangerous situation and you should not take it lightly. The cat should be removed from the space the hamster is in, or the hamster should be returned to its cage.
Even if your cat won't hunt your hamster right away, she will do so when she has had enough time to strategize and attack. According to the US National Academy of Sciences, these little "false starts" are part of the hunting process, even for domestic cats.
The situation gets even worse if the hamster realizes that he is being followed and runs away. The cat will most likely give chase and try to grab the hamster as quickly as possible. This can be deadly in itself, even if the cat did not intend to kill it.
How to protect your pets from each other
Even if your animals have become good friends, you should never forget about safety measures. A cat is an unpredictable animal: instincts can take over.
- You need to feed your animals in different places. You should not allow situations where the hamster starts eating from the cat's cup.
- The hamster's cage should be located as far as possible from the places where the cat likes to rest. There is no need to provoke conflict again!
- Place the cage at a sufficient height so that the cat cannot reach it. Otherwise, the animal can stick its paw through the bars and seriously harm the hamster.
- The cage door must close securely so that the cat cannot open it on its own.
- Pay more attention to your cat so that she does not have attacks of jealousy. Feed her tasty treats and carefully demonstrate your love.
- Give your domestic predator active games more often, take him outside with you, and direct all his energy into a peaceful direction.
- Do not scold your cat for natural instincts that she cannot change. This way you risk turning the animal against you.
- A hamster cannot be in a cage all the time; it should run around the room, but only under supervision. The cat can pounce on him so quickly that you won’t even have time to blink an eye.
How to keep your neighborhood safe
The following rules will help create a comfortable environment for both pets:
- The cage should be placed in a place that is difficult for the cat to reach, preferably not on the floor, excluding the possibility of hunting. Hunting an animal can frighten it, and hamsters cannot live under stress.
- Cats are very observant, so be sure to close the latch on the cage. It is desirable that it be reliable.
- Let your hamster run around the room only under supervision. If the cat is nearby, it is doubly dangerous for the fluffy. The cat attacks quickly, and before you even have time to blink an eye, he will be in the clutches of a dangerous predator. And even if he doesn’t eat the hamster, he may have a severe fright, after which he will get sick.
- Cats are very jealous creatures. After a competitor appears in the house, do not deprive the cat of attention. Play with her more often, feed her her favorite food and show her love and care in every possible way. Feeling affection from you, the cat will not be aggressive towards the hamster.
- Walk with your cat, take it with you to the dacha, try to play active games so that it does not have the desire to start hunting for the hamster.
- Do not scold your cat for instincts that she cannot change, otherwise the animal will turn against you. But if you have a strong influence on them, take advantage of this and try to teach friendship with a hamster.
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A hamster and a cat are always a dangerous combination. A cat is an unpredictable creature, no one knows how everything will turn out in the next second. Even if their relationship is friendly, remember that misunderstandings can occur between animals.
