Not your average intro question...

[disco avenue]

I just moved to a new house. i own 3 rats, and i moved in to a house with a cat and a dog. the dog is not allowed to go past the hallway wich is some ways away from my room, i am not worried about him ever being in contact with the girls. the cat on the other hand likes to sleep with me he is very mellow and laid back. i know from past experiences #3( yes i named on of my girls #3) is very open minded. so once the girls settled in i picked up the cat and brought him near the cage where they could all smell eachother in a safe environment. Maurice and Eve went to hide in the corner of the cage and #3 came out and greeted the cat ( charlie) i then took out #3 and held her to charlie. no problem there. came back a few minutes later to do the same with eve. took eve in my hands and let her sniff charlie, charlie was nice enough to lick her gently. as charlie licked eve she squeaked the loudest i ever heard her squeak.

what should i do. so my rats get accustomed to the smell, the presence and the company of the cat?

 

[Godmother]

It might be asking a lot of the ratties to become comfortable with a natural predator. Maybe someone on the forum who has a cat can give you some advice.

 

[Moon]

I wouldn't insist on them meeting the cat face to face. My rats all deal with the smell of our cats just fine when they're in the cage, but seeing them is just too much for a coupl of them. Hopefully with time they'll get more used to the scent, but you may want to purposely close the cat out of the room so they get a break from him, so to speak.

 

[Dahlas]

None of the rats I have had here ever seem to mind the smell of my cats or dogs......I just had three boys staying in my play pen and they ran around the floor in the playpen right next to the cats and dogs, They climbed up on the shelf and was nose to nose with them as the other pets where walking around....it doesn't bother my rats at all either......

I know some people have had problems.......but I so far have not. Maybe they can sense the house has a relaxed feel? None of my other pets show any prey drive, never stare ( are NOT allowed to) at the cages or rats......they must ignore them.....even when they sniff noses I watch that the body language stays relaxed and uninterested....

Having said this I do not allow them to have direct contact outside the cage......sniffing through wire is as close as they get.....and not much of that is allowed. Better to let the rats know they are safe but teaching all other animals ignore them.....

 

[Fidget]

I brought a lot of ratties into the house when I had a cat. Of course everything was new to the rattie at the time. Guess I couldn't decipher between any concern over a cat and concern over a new environment. But none ever seemed intimidated by the cat beyond a normal adjustment period at first awareness or closeness. For what it's worth I think if you intro them your feelings will color it all. If you can relax they should pick up on your comfort instead of your nervousness. And of course the rattie might pick up on that particular cat's feelings toward them - just like we do - or don't - with safe or unsafe people or critters. I guess we're instinctively afraid of a lion, but if we see a human petting it our fear wanes and our interest increases.

 

[SQ]

I would strongly suggest the rats are kept safely in their cage, with very small bar spacing when the cat is in the room. When the rats are out, the cat should not have access to the room where the rats are. Better safe then sorry, it only takes a fraction of a second for something to happen.

I have heard of a number of cases where rats were eaten by the dog or the cat.

Cats are predators, no wonder Eve squeeked when the cat tasted (licked) her.

I think your rats would be very very brave if they are able to adapt to a cat in the same room when they are (hopefully) safe in their cage ... tails can hang out and cats like to play with anything that moves.
If the cat's paws can reach into the cage, I would never allow an unsupervised cat into the same room as the rats. Accidents happen.
I would strongly discourage you from holding up a rat next to the cat.
Putting rats under stress can cause illness.

I know that some people do mix species and for some, animals have not died.
Other people haven't been so lucky.

 

[MumsyRat]

I have both cats and rats. (And a dog too.)

I don't think you should force your cat on the rats or vice versa. Just let them be and let them get used to each other gradually. You said your cat was mellow and laid back so I'm pretty sure you won't run into any problems. I have my rats out on the couch all the time and the cats pretty much ignore them. On the rare occasion when the cats have shown an unwelcome interest in the rats the rats just bite them on the toe and the cat never bothers them again! In my experience so far when there is a case of Rat Vs. Cat, Rat wins.

And sometimes they become friendimies:

 

[jorats]

I would not encourage allowing your girls to meet the cat outside of the cage, nor lift the cat to the cage. That could have been a traumatic experience for Eve.
But... allowing the cat in the room, letting Charlie walk about, come and go naturally will eventually get the girls used to him and not be afraid. Does the cat have his claws still? If so, then make sure the cage is not in reach to the cat if the bar spacing is wide. Cats are naturally curious of small moving things, they may try to reach for them.
I have three older cats that my rats are totally ok with... but they are not ok with the two younger kittens because they run for the cage if I don't stop them.

 

[melon_mayhem]

I dont think it's a good idea to do any face to face meetings with the cat and the rat. Like everyone has said let the cat come and go and maybe your rats will get used to the cat being around and they'll learn to tolerate each other. I know my cats if ever given the chance would snach up one of my rats in a heart beat.

Even if your cat is laidback i dont think that its worth it to get your rat stressed out over something like this. Like SQ said stress can lead to illness then you'll have a whole nother problem on your hands.