Kitten and Chinchilla
Emily Chang
anyone can give me advice? we have a male chinchilla as pet for 6
years. Now my husband wanted to adopt a kitten. Does anyone know
whether they can get along? I am fraid that the kitten may attack my
chinchilla or pass bacteria/disease to the chinchilla.
Thanks!
- emily
Drew Carter
Hi Emily,
Proceed with caution. Your cat, no matter how tame, is a natural
predator. Your chinchilla is natural prey. It's quite possible that the
cat will think that the chin is a really large mouse, ready to be eaten.
Even if the cat ignores the chin, the chin may see the cat as a
predator, and become very, very, nervous. Not a good situation.
Even if they appear to get along just fine, never, ever, under any
circumstances, leave them alone together. It only takes a few seconds
for the chin to run. The instinct of cats is to chase, and kill, running
furry things. It would only take seconds for a cat to kill, or seriously
injure your chin.
Having said all this, it's also quite possible that they would totally
ignore each other, and get along just fine. If you do get a cat, be
prepared for the worst-case-scenario: They both live in different parts
of the house, and never meet.
Drew
Antje Schulte
wrote:
Hi Emily,
My parents' cats grew up with my chinchillas and lived together for
about three years (until I left home). The chins seemed to be too big
to trigger the hunting instinct in 8 weeks old kittens, they started
offering to play. Which isn't really a good thing because cats tend to
play with their claws extended... The chinchillas of course didn't
want to play and peed at the cats, so the matter was settled in a few
days. The cats ignored the chinchillas, the chinchillas didn't bother
about the cats. It would be a different story with bigger cats or cats
more active, my parents' cats are more after chasing flies and the
like, but of course some cats hunt rabbits or even hares. Now, a
neighbor's cat visits us every day and isn't interested in the
chinchillas.
Personally, I'd never leave a cat or a dog alone with a chinchilla.
There's always a chance of them hurting the chins, even if playing.
But when the cat is kept out of the room when the chinchillas run
free, you should be okay.
I don't think you have to worry about diseases, though. Spreading
diseases to chinchillas is as unlikely as spreading diseases to
humans. Which means, it can happen, but only when you're very sloppy.
For example, if you don't get rid of the cat's worms regularily or if
the cat contracts e.g. rabies, but that a cat should be vaccinated and
treated goes without saying.
Antje
--
Das Ende ist nah! Wissenswertes ueber den Erdrotationshamster
und das Grosse Rummsen: http://www.antje-schulte.org
Emily Chang
small kitten may not have the interest to hunt my chinchilla. But my
chinchilla never sees any other kind of animals before except his own
kind (we used to have a female chin and she died last year >_<) so I
worry more about my chin.
The adoption center woman told us to bring our chin to the animal
shelter to see if my chin is okay with other animals. Do you think it
is a good idea??
By the way, what is the worms in the kitten/cats?
BarbAlton
the devil out of the chin and then put it with a bunch of other animals it
doesn't know - it will definately be very scared
I can't believe a person at a animal shelter would suggest such a thing -
as for the chin getting use of the kitten - it shouldn't be any problem - I
have had cats and chins for 9 years and never had a problem - of course the
chin are in their cages when the cats are around and when I let the chins loose
the door is closed and the cats aren't allowed in at that time -
Barb
Mt. Zion Chinchillas
Nic
particular cat is. I knew a cat that started hunting from a very young age,
and very soon was doing 'self-catering' - bringing home (and eating) mice,
bitds and *rabbits* :o
Nic
"Emily Chang" <emil...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:6adad981.03062...@posting.google.com...
Drew Carter
>
> I do think that since my chinchilla is big, a
> small kitten may not have the interest to hunt my chinchilla.
> The adoption center woman told us to bring our chin to the animal
> shelter to see if my chin is okay with other animals. Do you think it
> is a good idea??
No I don't. This is not a good idea at all. The chin will be very
unhappy about being taken out of his home, and taken to a place that has
all sort of strange noises and smells. Please leave your chin at home.
Drew
Dusty Mom
had never seen anything but our dogs. I'm very sad to say, I no longer
have cats.
They were never loose with the chin's but would sit & stare for HOURS.
Needless to say, the chin's didn't quite care for it & we could see a
definant difference in their behaviour. They didn't seem to feel free
to do what they wanted because they were too busy trying to keep an
eye on where the cats were. Granted, 1 cat is alot different than 3,
but I would highly consider not mixing the 2 species. Our cats had
been in the family a long time & this wasn't something we expected to
happen, or chances are we would have never gotten our first chin. I
grew up with cats as my siblings & I do miss them more than words can
say. So really think & prepare yourself in advance. Start thinking now
about who you want or can give up if it doesn't work out. Chins are
nothing less than AWSOME creatures, but giving any animal up hits the
heart hard!
emil...@hotmail.com (Emily Chang) wrote in message news:<6adad981.03062...@posting.google.com>...
Dusty Mom
worm is highly contagious, tape worms are caused by swallowing fleas.
So if you do get the kitten, really watch for that. As far as taking
your chinchilla to a shelter, I agree with the other post & it only
goes to prove, just because people work with animals, doesn't mean
they know what they're talking about.
If someone in the family wanted a snake & they took me to where it was
to see my reaction....they would loose alot of my trust. They trust us
NOT to put them in that position & will remember if we do. (Not to
mention the possibility of airborn bacterial infections & things of
that sort. The majority of animals in shelters have had a rough life &
have been exposed to things we may not consider)DON'T GET ME WRONG, I
AM PRO-ADOPTION FOR ANIMALS!!!
emil...@hotmail.com (Emily Chang) wrote in message news:<6adad981.03062...@posting.google.com>...
Emily Chang
the kitten and I have to get my husband to read all your posts which
are very helpful. I think if the kitten and the chinchilla can't get
along, I would have to give up the kitten. We have the chin for 6
years and we just love him too much. :)