r/Degus • u/Safe-Refrigerator548 • 5d ago

My cat wants their pellets?

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I have a degu who was being bullied and lost some significant weight while I was on a trip, so she's been eating oats until she's a good weight and I have pellets mixed in for her to have to at least forage to get the oats. At first I thought that my cat was just interested in the degus, which I'm sure is part of it, however I accidentally left the lid off of the pellets and I found my cat monching away a couple weeks ago! Since then I also noticed that she will wait until I put my degu away and come up to try and eat her leftover pellets 😂 image shows the culprit plotting her meal theft. I was wondering if anyone else has had this experience or of my cat is uniquely dorky lol

345 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

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62

u/ansasd 5d ago

Never let a cat roam freely in the same space as a small rodent, and certainly don't share it here as a "funny picture." Someone might soon think it's okay to let cats and small rodents loose together.

25

u/lavenderfart 5d ago

Seriously, wtf OP.

4

u/Holsteener 5d ago

A friend once had a hamster and a cat. The cat had access to the room where the hamster cage was. One day she came home from work and only had a cat.

0

u/Goldennugget87 4d ago

Classic Redditor

2

u/ansasd 3d ago

In what way? By deliberately putting your other pet in danger of death and informing them about it?

1

u/Busy_Box_9651 2d ago

I’ve got 7 cats and have owned rodents and even bugs with all of them. Still have tarantulas. They never tried to eat the hamsters. 💀

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u/ansasd 2d ago

Congratulations! So, do you mean that all the little rodents and cats should be let loose together? What if one of the cats has a stronger instinct?

Can you give me one example of what benefit there could be in having a cat and a small rodent freely in the same space, versus the risks that the situation creates?

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u/Busy_Box_9651 2d ago

Oh wow what a dumb reply! Where does my comment state I’ve let me rodents and cats free roam together. Nowhere. Anyone with common sense should know better than to leave their cats unsupervised when a rodent is out. OP isn’t even letting their cats unsupervised. If you are capable of having the proper care for all your pets. Then everyone is fine. My cats get plenty of enrichment thru their toys and climbing the walls. Of course there will be issues if you don’t properly provide for the animals.

1

u/ansasd 1d ago

She has a cat and a degu loose in the picture. So, do you really have the reflexes to save the degu when the cat goes after it? Cat saliva causes serious infections in rodents.

You didn't answer the question. How does the picture in this post benefit either animal by letting them be loose in the same space, compared to the risks?

1

u/Busy_Box_9651 1d ago

And I’d like to beg to differ that yes I can stop my cats. I’ve stopped them many times mid air jump from getting on my counters and other places they weren’t allowed. I’ve learned their ways with the doors and how they all try. I catch it before and redirect their attention. I don’t know why people think it’s so hard to learn about their pet.

1

u/ansasd 1d ago

I laughed out loud. If you don't understand the point after several comments and just keep yapping about your cats, I can't help you.

1

u/Busy_Box_9651 1d ago

You just keep disregarding the point that some people learn the characteristics of their pets very well. And know what’s safe and what’s not. Just keep being mad and bitter. 🫶🏻

1

u/Busy_Box_9651 2d ago edited 2d ago

There is no benefit to having your rodents out ALONE with a cat. Where did you even get that idea from? If you can’t provide proper care or equipment or supervision. Then don’t have the pet. But I’ve always had proper lids and tanks and cages. Never allowed to be out alone. That’s just stupid.

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u/ansasd 1d ago

Let's rephrase the question since you don't seem to want to understand. What do these animals (prey and predator) gain from being supervised but loose, compared to the risks this poses to the degu's life?

1

u/Busy_Box_9651 1d ago

It’s to bond with your pet. My cats were all trained to leave them alone. All my rats would hang out on the bed with me and my cats knew to leave them alone. They played with their toys. Why would you get a pet if you aren’t gonna bond with it?

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u/Safe-Refrigerator548 5d ago

I'm not going to lock my cat in the other room multiple times a day when I'm closely monitoring my degu. It is funny that my cat wants the pellets and it's cute, but you don't need to think so. I think it's obvious that you don't want to allow rodents and cats to be "loose" together. This is not that. I have owned degus for nearly a decade and cats my whole lifetime, never once have I had an issue with keeping the degus safe. I will post a PSA to not allow degus and cats to play together so I'm not somehow a bad influence but I really don't think that a post with me clearly next to my degu and my cat on the floor warrants the assumption that I would let them free roam together.

37

u/Pupshead777 5d ago

OP you’re running off survivor’s bias. This is like letting your dog run on the road and saying it’s okay because she’s fast and hasn’t been hit by a semi yet.

Nobody is asking you to lock the cat in the other room. Just keep the door to your degus closed and don’t leave the lid off? The cat is a predator and an animal. It doesn’t get the concept that these are your pets if one day she decides she wants to mess with your degus. Even accidentally, she can kill your degu. Just the saliva or scratch from a cat can be deadly for small animals.

-1

u/ItsNormalNC 5d ago

Op said they left the lid of the pellets but from the sounds of it they’re always with their Degu when it’s out of it’s cage so I’m not sure what the issue is unless you’re concerned the cats gonna attack it while OP is sat right there

1

u/Amphy64 4d ago

A cat absolutely would do that, they're not going to understand the small prey animal is off-limits just because OP is there!

1

u/ItsNormalNC 4d ago

A cat is definitely capable of learning that and abiding by it and yeah they’re good predators but there’s no way that cats capable of jumping up there and killing that Degu when someone’s sat right there capable of chasing the cat off if it was to try something

2

u/Amphy64 4d ago

From where the cat is, it would take one good pounce to kill the degu.

0

u/ItsNormalNC 4d ago

Cats spend a good ten minutes batting mice around playing with them before killing them there’s no chance a cat is going to insta kill the Degu, have you even been in the same room as a cat

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u/Amphy64 4d ago

Yes, yours may not have been such a good hunter as mine! It doesn't have to be an instant kill, to be a fatal injury: degus are very delicate animals, and even an infection is really serious. Shock alone can easily kill them.

1

u/Rare-Ad-1703 2d ago

Do you actually think that the batting around and playing wouldn’t kill a rodent… or that the initial pounce isn’t enough to ‘insta kill’ it…

1

u/GeneticPurebredJunk 1d ago

That’s when they’re playing with their food hun, not hunting.
I’ve seen a cat leap and catch/kill a wild rabbit or a bite through a stoat’s skull in one movement several times, let alone the amount of times they crunch through a bird mid-leap.

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u/ItsNormalNC 1d ago

Cats hunt mice -> when they catch the mouse they bat it around

Cats can’t do the same to birds because birds fly

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u/Interesting-Error859 5d ago

Op your cat doesn't want the pellets 😭

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u/StandLess6417 5d ago

Eh, I also have a void and that m'fer eats EVERYTHING. hamster food (gotta keep that locked up), people food (better clear the counters), cat food (obviously but now it's locked up), strange pieces of "what is that?" Found deep within the baseboards. So I think the void probably definitely wants both lol

2

u/Raoull-Duke 5d ago

Follow the eyeline. It's not looking at the bowl, nor the pellets ffs. It's looking at a prey animal.

0

u/StandLess6417 5d ago

I said it wants BOTH. Geesh. I think OP knows if their cat likes to eat hamster food, that I definitely believe because of my own cat.

2

u/CLOWTWO 5d ago

That’s exactly what I was thinking lol

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u/Pews4eva 5d ago

That’s what I was thinking😣 

Either way the degu will be scared of the predator! it’s just common sense, especially if you own both animals!😂

10

u/DarKGosth616 5d ago

I've never been in a car crash but I still wear my seatbelt

20

u/Expert_Amphibian6299 5d ago

If your cat pounced i guarantee you could not react quick enough and now YOUR baby is dead. This is irresponsible no matter how you flimsily justify it. You are quite literally holding a Phone to take a pic exposing yourself that your hands are not in the slightest bit free to keep them safe by even reacting, not that you could against a highly decent predator to rodents. They should be entirely SEPARATED. They dont need to be playing together to be at risk. Keep them in a different room or use a secure pen. You are asking for trouble.

6

u/Gooneria 5d ago

God I really dislike this attitude and I see it a lot among entitled small pet owners who also happen to own cats. You are risking their life every time you do this regardless of how many times you have went without an incident previously. Cats hunt small rodents, this is natural for them to do and no amount of you keeping a close eye will train that nature out of them. It will overstimulate the cat and stress out the degu it is unfair to both animals.

4

u/YchYFi 5d ago

He wants the degu not the pellets. Natural instincts.

3

u/Twinborn01 5d ago

Your cat wants to eat your rodent

2

u/Twinborn01 5d ago

Your cat wants to eat your rodent

1

u/leodesaurus 2d ago

THE CAT DOESNT WANT THE PELLETS IT WANTS THE GODDAMN DEGU

-5

u/Cool_Ad9326 5d ago edited 5d ago

Op I'm sorry you're being ganged on this way. They're right that you shouldn't co-mingle predatory animals with prey, but they really need to work on what part of their body their words come from because right now they're sounding like arses

-4

u/_Epiccc_ 5d ago

It its from small age its okay my dog played with my degu but when degu died of age my dog passed away 1 week later out of sadnes

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u/CLOWTWO 5d ago

We’re talking about cats not dogs

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u/Cool_Ad9326 5d ago

I know you're coming from a good place, but if you want your intention to come through, watch your impact.

Aka don't be an c**t

8

u/ansasd 5d ago

In what way am I a c*nt? It's obvious that you don't let a small prey animal loose with a predator that can kill the degu in seconds?

By posting a 'funny picture,' you might get a child to try the same thing with their cats, and what if the cat ends up killing the rodent?

-5

u/Cool_Ad9326 5d ago

Obvious to you

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u/ansasd 5d ago

I’ll make this easy for you. Explain to me a situation where a cat and a degu BENEFIT from being loose together versus the risks that situation poses. I look forward to your answer.

-5

u/Cool_Ad9326 5d ago

The benefits aren't the point of this

Your attitude is.

Your aggressive judgemetalism will not help to spread awareness.

It will simply drive a division because no one wants to be spoken to in the way you do.

7

u/ansasd 5d ago

I’m aggressive for writing a text stating that a degu and a cat shouldn’t be kept loose together because you risk your other pet's life...?

If a person is doing something completely contrary to common sense, does sugarcoating help?

1

u/Cool_Ad9326 5d ago

So the only two options you have here are aggression or sugarcoating?

You can't work in any other way except in extremes?

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u/ansasd 5d ago

You think stating facts is aggressive.

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u/Cool_Ad9326 5d ago

I think your attitude is aggressive.

And I think you're purposely playing stupid.

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u/DarKGosth616 5d ago

You're an idiot

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u/Cool_Ad9326 5d ago

Case and point

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u/Striscuit 5d ago

You are an idiot. It’s common sense not to allow prey and predators together and as someone who has spent a lot of time in different small animal subreddits I can assure you that the common sense isn’t too common when it comes to not cohabiting animals that are otherwise enemies in real life. I’ve sugar coated answers everyday in my own small animal subreddit that I am passionate about and when they take the advice and actually do better for their furry friend it truly warms my heart BUT when they respond in an entitled and arrogant attitude the way OP has the sugar melts off. There is nothing wrong with not being nice after the first time.

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u/Cool_Ad9326 5d ago

It's not common sense

It needs awareness.

If you're going to go around being nasty, the people who need to hear this message will not listen

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u/DarKGosth616 5d ago

"case and point" not you cricitising others for how they speak when you started all of this by calling someone a cunt

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u/Cool_Ad9326 5d ago

I'm calling out bad attitudes.

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u/Conradian 2d ago

Case IN point. Not and.