copypasta from tumblr

k guys i need some help here

my bro really really really wants a fluffy pet rodent, but the cat has the brain of a desert survivor and kills everything for food

mice, voles, rabbits, she’d drag anything she found back when she lived with my gran and while she’s gotten incredibly lazy and fat we still can’t trust her not to go wild at the sight of a fluffy little hamster

she’s stupid enough to try to catch magpies and after all these years she has failed to learn anything other than “if i yowl enough i get what i want”

the door to his bedroom is also shitty and doesn’t close fully so she could sneak in and start clawing away easily and we don’t want him being traumatized because the cat decided to be a greedy shit

is there anything we could get for him that’s a small cute furry mammal and won’t get eaten by our mildly deranged cat?

i keep tarantulas which she won't touch, but i'm not letting anyone buy him a giant fragile spider that i'd have to care for constantly also reptiles aren't an option since i've asked a billion times for a lizard or a snake

Try something like a Chinchilla or a Degu, they're adorable and so fluffy. Degu's are basically like little creatures that like climbing all over their cage and Chinchillas are REALLY fluffy hamsters (They're practically a hamster with a bigger body and tail) and my friend who has a cat just like yours has a pair of Chinchillas and they're fine (:

They're so Adorable o3o

those are wayyy too expensive for us, we need something cute that's also cheap

I don't have a recommendation as to what kind of pet would be good in this situation, because really, it doesn't sound like there's anything to be done about that... But years ago, I was given my friend's hamster when she moved and couldn't take it with her. This hamster came in a heavy duty fish tank instead of the usual hamster cage with bars, and over the top was some strong wiring. At the time I had several cats as well, one of which was extremely predatory and pretty creative. However, she never managed to get to the hamster in that tank, thankfully. If you can also try to find a place in the room to put the hamster's cage that is difficult for the cat to get to, to try to discourage it.

I know that's all obvious stuff, but I don't think there will ever be any small rodent that you could get that wouldn't potentially be food for a cat. You'd have to get another cat or a dog perhaps to avoid that entirely.

If the door was fixed how much would that change what kind of pet your brother could have? Because it might not be too hard to fix it so that it closes and stays closed. It really depends on what's wrong with it, but it's usually a cheap repair and isn't hard.

So not the advice you were asking for lol. I just don't really have any suggestions that'd be safe from the cat. One of our old kitties was like that; I can totally sympathize. I wouldn't have traded her for the world, but she was like Lucifer off Cinderella sometimes.

apparently the builders gave us a bad door so i'm not sure what we could do, but i don't do the DIY in the house. i love her to bits but goddamn she can be a real pain in the ass sometimes

gran does want us to get a kitten but crystal is a vicious little thing around other cats i still hope we can eventually though? she can get over her spoilt tantrums, everybody would love to have a kitten around

Hedgehog? I don't think the cat will enjoy taking a bite out of something spiky.

i made a latch for my door out of push pins and hair ties that holds it pretty well, and my cat can't push it open. maybe he could try that?

There's always the idea of putting locks on the actual cage itself. Assuming he'd use a tank with a heavy screen top, you can get locks for those. Or you can always put books or something else heavy on top. That way if the door opens, the critter will still be safe. And you could also put something in your brother's room, mainly around the cage, that will keep the kitty away...like a citrus spray (cats hate citrus) or a store-bought cat deterrent.

If you have a secure enough cage, I think anything should be fine. Just, you know, make sure you get a really awesome cage. But what about a guinea pig? They're a bit bigger and might not look like prey, and I had one once and they're easy enough to care for and they're cute and social.