Keeping Tarantulas safe from Cats?

[TGod]

I am and have always been a cat person, I have one myself. Right now tho I'm finding it difficult to like them. My Mrs tho has 2 which lately have been hell bent on trying to kill her Tliltocatl Albopilosum and they very nearly succeeded the other day so for now until we can cat proof the T it is staying at my house.
As I said I have a cat but most of my T"s are safe in a cabinet and the others she has shown no sign of being a threat to and thats probably because she's middle aged and she's not into everything like my Mrs"s kittens.
Her T was kept in a open cabainet with only a small distance between the top of the enclosure and the roof of the cabinet and we thought the cats wouldn't get in there but they can be very crafty it seems. Anyway has anyone had any bothersome experiences with cats and their t's? What did you do to cat proof them?

 

[Finikan]

There have been a lot of posts on cats knocking Ts down and killing them. I say, get rid of the cats.

 

[CommanderBacon]

Fortunately, my cat doesn’t care about my Ts, but if I had that problem, I would shell out the money for a cabinet with clear doors to keep the cats out. A friend of mine custom built a massive cabinet because the new kitten knocked over a few of her Ts trying to climb up it. That ain’t gonna happen again.

 

[kingshockey]

all my ts are on my harbor freight rolling tool cart she is ontop of my vented sling storage box i keep my slings

 

[BoyFromLA]

I say, get rid of the cats.

It’s not cats at fault, it’s people who let cats nearby tarantulas unguarded, at fault.

 

[spideyspinneret78]

Either get a locking cabinet or designate a room that cats aren't allowed in (maybe baby-proof the door) to avoid any sad outcomes.

 

[Finikan]

It’s not cats at fault, it’s people who let cats nearby tarantulas unguarded, at fault.

Alright, alright, getting my personal opinion out of the way....
I'm guessing if there was a chance for a tarantula room it would have been done already, so, could you put the enclosure in a 10 gal tank with no lid on it? Cats can't knock that over.

 

[basin79]

I'll tell you what I find odd whenever I see a cat and tarantula in the same sentence.

You don't or rarely see dog and tarantula in the same sentence with regards to enclosures.

This ISN'T aimed at you OP but the amount of "Help my cat knocked my tarantulas enclosure onto the floor" type threads is ridiculous.

As in if you had a dog you'd (hopefully) make sure the dog couldn't get to the tarantula's enclosure but it seems cats get a pass.

 

[TGod]

Alright, alright, getting my personal opinion out of the way....
I'm guessing if there was a chance for a tarantula room it would have been done already, so, could you put the enclosure in a 10 gal tank with no lid on it? Cats can't knock that over.

That is a good idea. I'll do that

 

[mack1855]

Cats are natural born killers,pure and simple.
They kill birds,poor innocent mice,and,of coarse T,s.
They Kill,kill,kill .They don't really like us.You cat people are in denial.
Sorry @BoyFromLA .They have you fooled.

Edit:Trying to be light hearted.really,just keep the T,s in a separate area.If no place can be secure,then you will have the issue.
Dogs don't seem to have the same issue.IME.

What did you do to cat proof them?

Don't have cats.Get a dog/parrot.

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

Put double sided tape everywhere you don't want cats walking or scratching, within a few weeks they'll probably get the point. It worked for our cat, but that was before we had tarantulas.

 

[CommanderBacon]

Cats are natural born killers,pure and simple.
They kill birds,poor innocent mice,and,of coarse T,s.
They Kill,kill,kill .They don't really like us.You cat people are in denial.
Sorry @BoyFromLA .They have you fooled.

Edit:Trying to be light hearted.really,just keep the T,s in a separate area.If no place can be secure,then you will have the issue.
Dogs don't seem to have the same issue.IME.

Cats *are* predators. They are an invasive species and kill for fun. Outdoor cats have massive ecological impacts, and people still seem to find any idiotic reason to let their cats outside and avoid sterilizing them.

That being said, I absolutely love cats. I have worked with cat rescues for 20 years. I just think a lot of folks who keep cats drastically underestimate their cats’ prey drive and tend to cruise along on their cats’ self-sufficiency without realizing *why* they don’t need as much attention as a dog or a bird. They’re clever, they’re ambush hunters, and they will absolutely get into your collection.

If you have cats and tarantulas, you must absolutely secure your tarantulas against your cat. It is up to us as keepers to keep all of our animals safe.

 

[viper69]

My cat was never interested in Ts because they were out of his sight, thus his hunting genes were never activated.

 

[TGod]

Cats *are* predators. They are an invasive species and kill for fun. Outdoor cats have massive ecological impacts, and people still seem to find any idiotic reason to let their cats outside and avoid sterilizing them.

That being said, I absolutely love cats. I have worked with cat rescues for 20 years. I just think a lot of folks who keep cats drastically underestimate their cats’ prey drive and tend to cruise along on their cats’ self-sufficiency without realizing *why* they don’t need as much attention as a dog or a bird. They’re clever, they’re ambush hunters, and they will absolutely get into your collection.

If you have cats and tarantulas, you must absolutely secure your tarantulas against your cat. It is up to us as keepers to keep all of our animals safe.

I must chime in on that first bit. Cats are actually very important for human survival. They do a very good job of keeping the rodent population down. They are 2nd to none in hunting success and without them humanity would be fluffy ducked. If it means they kill a few birdies in the process unfortunately they're just a double edged sword.

 

[basin79]

My cat was never interested in Ts because they were out of his sight, thus his hunting genes were never activated.

Alright, alright. I'll have you know not everyone has commonsense............ bloody show off.

 

[CommanderBacon]

I must chime in on that first bit. Cats are actually very important for human survival. They do a very good job of keeping the rodent population down. They are 2nd to none in hunting success and without them humanity would be fluffy ducked. If it means they kill a few birdies in the process unfortunately they're just a double edged sword.

No, they can fill that ecological niche inside your home. They were introduced most places and are extraordinarily harmful to the ecology of north and south America. Seriously, any biologist will tell you this. Do the smallest amount of research before writing off their impact as “a few birdies”.

Edit: I’d like to acknowledge that they *were* important and very much *did* fill that niche, but their populations were not controlled and now they are a huge problem. They need to be kept inside and sterilized.
Furthermore, being outside is not safe for the cat.

 

[viper69]

Alright, alright. I'll have you know not everyone has commonsense............ bloody show off.

Just stating a fact, and that is not showing off

They were introduced most places and are extraordinarily harmful to the ecology of north and south Americ

Very true

 

[TGod]

No, they can fill that ecological niche inside your home. They were introduced most places and are extraordinarily harmful to the ecology of north and south America. Seriously, any biologist will tell you this. Do the smallest amount of research before writing off their impact as “a few birdies”.

Edit: I’d like to acknowledge that they *were* important and very much *did* fill that niche, but their populations were not controlled and now they are a huge problem. They need to be kept inside and sterilized.
Furthermore, being outside is not safe for the cat.

Fair point. My cat is an outdoor cat tho. She gets to scratch that hunting itch so I'd imagine that's why she leaves my Tarantulas alone.

 

[Nocebo75]

If it means they kill a few birdies in the process unfortunately they're just a double edged sword.

A few birdies...

"Pet cats kill 83 million native reptiles and 80 million native birds in Australia each year."

Source : https://theconversation.com/austral...-explains-how-but-doesnt-go-far-enough-154931

It's a big problem and not only in Australia.

That said and back on topic... I love cats and have two that share living space with my Ts and snakes. Never had an issue and shouldn't be a problem as long as you always remember you have cats. Make everything you are worried about "cat proof", unreachable for them, too heavy to move, locked or, ideally, a combination of the three.

 

[CommanderBacon]

Fair point. My cat is an outdoor cat tho. She gets to scratch that hunting itch so I'd imagine that's why she leaves my Tarantulas alone.

No, that’s not why. My cat doesn’t touch my tarantulas, and she was born feral and has not been outside since she was 5 weeks old. It depends on the individual cat’s disposition, their age, etc. They don’t need to be outside, although I was told that compared to US cat rescues, who will not typically adopt cats out to people who will let them outside, UK rescues seem to want keepers to let their cats outside, which is wild to me.

Cats have been in Europe for thousands of years vs maybe 400 or so in North America, though. The animal population here has not been able to evolve or behaviorally adjust to a predator like a cat in that time, and they are decimating songbird and small mammal populations here.

Furthermore, they are likely to be eaten by coyotes, hit by cars, or killed by jerks. It’s best for cats here to stay indoors.

That being said, people who keep them need to understand that we have encouraged and rewarded cats’ killer instincts the whole time they’ve been domesticated, so it’s up to us to protect our other pets from them.