Most people think that felines and rodents don’t get along—and they’d often be right. Even if pet cats and hamsters have been living comfortably together, playtime could quickly escalate to something dangerous. And sometimes, it can be challenging to keep a cat away from a hamster’s cage.
To keep your cat off the hamster cage, try putting the cage in a room that is inaccessible to your cat. In addition, you can cat-proof your hamster cage and the place around it and use safe hamster hideouts inside and outside the cage.
Having a cat and a hamster as pets in the same house can pose challenges and risks. You should know how to create the best home environment for both. This article will discuss what you can do in more detail.
1. Relocate Your Hamster Cage
Even if you have trained your cat to be friendly to any other pet and your hamster may look relaxed before your cat, you can’t fully predict your pet’s behavior. Animals are bound to act according to their instincts. Cats are natural predators, and any rodent is their favorite prey.
The best and most efficient way to keep the cat off the hamster cage is to place the cage in a room that is inaccessible to your cat. By not having a cat around, you won’t risk your hamster’s life and will make your little friend’s everyday life less stressful.
Here are some tips to keep in mind when relocating your hamster cage to a separate room:
- Choose a quiet room for the hamster. Even small rooms are suitable for a hamster to stay in. Hamsters’ habits and nature actually require a quiet environment. Keep in mind that the room should be well-ventilated and bright. However, keep the cage away from windows, where there’s too much sunlight as it can be bad for your hamster’s health.
- Close the door each time you enter and leave the room. Cats are curious pets, intrigued by new spaces in the house, so make sure you properly separate the cat and hamster spaces.
- Block the gap below the door. If the gap underneath the room’s door is too wide, use a towel or a doorstopper so that the hamster can’t leave the room. This is especially important if you leave your hamster playing outside the cage.
2. Cat-Proof Your Hamster Cage
Even if you put your hamster cage in a separate room, you should still take precautions in case a cat enters the hamster’s room. You can cat-proof a hamster cage by using a glass or plastic cage instead of a wired cage. This way your cat cannot attempt to reach the hamster with its paws and claws.
However, some glass or plastic hamster cages may not provide sufficient ventilation. Make sure the top lid of the cage is made of wires or enough holes and has a lock. In this case, the cage should be high enough so that a cat’s paws and claws cannot reach your tiny hamster.
In addition, choose the heaviest cage possible (usually, the glass one is the best). This way, the cat won’t be able to move or knock it off, risking the cage breaking.
A cat-proof cage should be spacious enough for the hamster to move away from the cat. It should also be high so that even if the cat jumps on the cage, its paws cannot reach the hamster.
3. Cat-Proof the Place Around the Hamster Cage
In addition to the above steps, ensure the place you put the hamster cage is secure. You can cat-proof the place around the hamster cage by taking some steps like the following:
- Secure the cage against a wall. Doing so will prevent the cat from gaining full access around the cage.
- Put the cage on aluminum foil, or a surface covered in double-sided tape. Cats dislike the noise aluminum foil makes when they step on it. On the other hand, the double-sided tape can be uncomfortable for them. However, it can be inconvenient even for you to get to the hamster cage.
4. Use Hamster Hideouts In and Out of the Hamster Cage
Even if you have taken all the precautions to keep the cat off the hamster cage, you still need to consider situations when your cat finds a way to reach your hamster’s cage.
Furnish the cage with hideouts your hamster can go to if attacked. Make sure there are hideouts near each corner of the cage.
In addition, you can put hide holes around the room—outside the cage—so the hamster can find refuge if attacked by a cat while out of the cage. Just make sure that these hideouts are safe and cannot be moved or destroyed by a cat.
Conclusion
Even though your cat and hamster can be trained to be relaxed around each other, keep in mind that your pets’ behavior cannot be fully predicted. You need to take precautions so that even when driven by instinct, your cat can’t harm your hamster’s life.
Keep your cat off the hamster cage by first placing the latter in a separate room, which the cat doesn’t have access to. In addition, cat-proof the hamster cage and the place around it to prevent any incident if the cat enters the hamster’s room. Using hamster hideouts is also an important precaution to take.