File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
'Sup, /an/.

My wish to own a rat is finally coming true! However, I'm concerned about the cat already living in the house. She's quite the huntress, and can get anywhere in the house she sets her mind to. But if we close any doors, she starts clawing at the rented carpet. Which is bad.

Any suggestions on how to keep my new baby safe?
>> Anonymous
kill one of them or both
>> Anonymous
Keep it in a cage.
>> Anonymous
Kill the cat. Cats are niggers.
>> Anonymous
>>195474
kill the rat. rats are jews
>> Anonymous
A squirt bottle is all you need.

Whenever the cat goes near the room the rat will be in, or near the cat, squirt it. A lot.
Eventually she'll get the idea to gtfo.
>> Anonymous
>>195474
>>195475
fuck you
>> Anonymous
I kept rats with four cats (two indoor, two indoor/outdoor) with no problem. The outdoor cats are accomplished hunters, but all four of them were completely put off by our domestic rats.

Here's what I'd recommend, if carpet clawing is a problem:

Make sure you have a very sturdy cage. Rat cages should be anyway, though.
Keep it low to the ground, or on the floor itself. Don't give your cat a chance to knock it over.
Give your rat a very private home, like one of those opaque igloos or a wooden box, especially if the cat's presence bothers him/her.

I'm not sure how your rat will react, but ours were always completely unafraid of the cats. They would grab at whiskers, faces, and tails that got too close to the cage and the cats hated it. We'd even let them loose in the same room - when one of our rats realized a cat was there, they'd investigate, and fearless prey really wigged out all of our cats.

Supervise the first meetings, regardless. Let your cat sniff out the cage and the rat inside. You should get a pretty good idea right off the bat if your cat is going to go nuts trying to get at your rat.
>> ratS Anonymous
you really need 2 rats, as rats are social, but 3 is better :P
>> Anonymous
Don't have cats so I can't answer this, but rats are social creatures and do MUCH better with a same sex friend or two. Just human contact does not fulfill a rat's need for a friend (say, for example, at 4 in the morning when she wants to play and you're asleep, or when you're at school/work.) Caring for two rats is the same work as caring for one, so it'd be best if you went out and found her a friend right away.
>> Anonymous
male rats can get as big as a small cat

just buy something appropriately sized to be a feline death machine
>> Anonymous
A dog of course, there are dog breeds that love hunting rats and other small vermin.
>> Anonymous
Arent male rats also supposed to piss all over everythign constantly?