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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.
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