# Will a new kitten get along with my gerbils?



## mike55 (May 8, 2011)

Hey all. I've been thinking about getting a cat for the last few months, but the only thing stopping me is the fact that I have a pair of gerbils and I'm afraid the cat would...have his way...with the gerbils. Does anyone have any experience owning cats as well as smaller animals? Is this just a terrible idea?


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

I would think keeping the gerbils in secured housing would prevent any unwanted interaction. We have lots of members will a wide variety of pets in their houses.


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## MinkaMuffin (Apr 1, 2011)

As long as the gerbils are out of sight of the cat, everything should be fine.


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

I agree with Marie. If they're in a secure cage, they should be fine. We have many members with guinea pigs, rats, snakes...you name it. I have an aquarium with fish (not quite the same, I admit), but the cats never bother with the fish. They sometimes sit beside the aquarium and watch them, but they never try to get at them.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

I used to own a hamster and fish. The cat never cared for the fish, at all, and was only somewhat interested in the hamster. He'd watch him in a kind of "what's that thing?" way, but I never let the cat and hamster have any intereaction unless the hamster was in his cage (and a couple of times when he was in his activity ball). It depends on the cat, but basically, just don't have the cat around the gerbils when they're out of their cage and there won't be a problem.

ALTHOUGH! I just remembered, a few times my hamster got out of his cage... one time in particular stands out, the cage had been left on the kitchen counter for some now forgotten reason and the hamster walked over the stove and fell to the floor (papers were knocked over) and was wandering about the house with the cat all night long.


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## melysion (Mar 12, 2007)

I imagine it will be fine as long as the gerbils don't escape from their cage. We had a hamster that kept doing that and .. well ... one morning we woke up to find a little hamster head under the bath mat. We had several cats at the time .....


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## Abbie (Jan 13, 2011)

We have two cats and a hamster. We've never had any problems. Evie is fond of watching Hammy in his cage (from the floor, his cage is elevated on a unit that the cats can't climb up), but we have Hammy out and neither cat bothers. But I'd recommend you keep them separated, if you have the gerbils out keep a keen eye on the cats. I don't know what your cage is like, but mine is an Habitrail Ovo loft and suite, so there is no cage (wiring) for cat claws to get through. I'd also recommend keeping the cage on a unit or shelf high up if possible.

Otherwise, so long as you take normal precautions you can happily keep gerbils and cats! (I'd love to have two gerbils, I keep pestering my OH for some!)


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## mike55 (May 8, 2011)

Thanks for the responses everyone, I appreciate it! Right now the gerbils are housed in an aquarium tank with a mesh screen top. The only way the cat would be able to get at them while they're in the tank is if he could knock the top off (it isn't held on by anything other than a lip). I suppose getting a more secure top shouldn't be an issue though.

One more question: would it be preferable in this case to get a kitten, as opposed to an adult cat? I figure that if the kitten is raised from a young age with the gerbils, at the very least he'll be less fascinated with them. Thoughts?


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## Abbie (Jan 13, 2011)

The tank sounds fine, exactly what I was thinking of getting for some gerbils.

Both my cats were adults when we brought them home and they met our hamster. Mitzi doesn't bother at all and Evie only watches him in his cage, not out of it.


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## Beans (Apr 25, 2011)

Well, this could just be a special case, but my friend (who I'm getting my kitty Cosmo from) has a gerbil that has free roam of the house, & they also have like 7 adult cats & 3 kittens. The gerbil is perfectly fine.


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