Tarantulas+cat=???

[lta3398]

P.s. I have the one curious cat, Of which I have raised from a kitten, and I never had it declawed because I do not agree with it, either. She has done some damage to my furniture, but nothing that can't be covered up. As for my 2 other cats, I rescued them from the humane society, one 5 months before the hurricanes here in florida, and one right after because her family lost their home. Both cats were already declawed, but they were calicos, my fave, so I had to have them. And they get into more stuff than my one that has her claws! They can damage with their teeth too, I have found out! But that is the price you pay for owning them, right? As far as the T's and cats go, I have noticed after a day or two, most of the cats I have had in all the time I have been keeping T's lose interest pretty quickly, if they ever even had any interest at all! Just keep an eye on the cat to see how it reacts for the first few days, and decide what you think will work best at keeping it away from your T's if it will not leave them alone. Mine couldn't care less about the T's!

 

[BlkCat]

Before I moved, I had 8 cats. After i moved, i have 4. (my dad wanted 2 and my cousin wanted 2. Anyway, I have never had a problem with my cats coming in contact with my Ts. I have kept them on the top of a 5 shelf book case. I never keep the lower shelves empty. I dont encourage them to sit on any shelf. I never leave the cats alone with any enclosure when I have a T down for transfer. I have a stool and do all maintanence while up there. I keep alot of spare water dishes on one of the shelves so that i can change the water and dish while I am there and have the lid open or cracked.

 

[Merfolk]

I am also interested to know if T venom has any potenct to kill a house cat.

I got a 5 month old hybrid Siamese/stripped alley cat and he is the cuttest (and jumpiest) creature ever!!!

I tied his fur mouse to my rod and I actualy fish him across our house. Should see the acrobatic!!!!

 

[tarangela2]

Ts + cat = BORING!

i agree with the school of thought: the cat won't be interested because the T won't move much and most cats are out for at least a little adventure. my Ts are in ten gallon tanks on a shelf. my cat can see them easily enough and, when they are moving, shows mild curiosity. otherwise its just another object in the office to her. the cat walks by and gives a sniff or two and decides she has better things to do, like nap. even when they are moving, it still only holds her curiosity for a few minutes.

the only problem I had was the cat sitting on TOP of the tanks. I solved this by keeping the 'T Journal' and some other lightweight items on top of the tank to discourage her. depending on your T's set up, i would think you have little to worry about. in the worst case and if need be, a T could survive nicely for a while in a closed cabinet or closet, its probably harder on you thinking about your T in a closed cabinet or closet! ;P

 

[smof]

Heh, I have 2 cats. One is older and doesn't really care about ANYTHING any more, but the other is just out of kittenhood and is the definition of curiosity. But as yet he has shown totally no interest in my T, hasn't even acknowledged it. However he loves my crickets. He is no longer allowed in my room unsupervised, not for the T's sake, but because otherwise I would end up with a busted KK and crickets all over my bedroom.

However he is very useful when a cricket escapes and I can't be bothered to chase it around

And on the (off topic) subject of declawing, I'm also against it. Regardless of how much pain is caused and whether or not it can be controlled, I just don't see the necessity. I play with my cat and my hands get scratched up, and he shreds our chairs, but he's a cat, that's what you expect. If you want a pet that doesn't scratch stuff, get a small dog or something that naturally doesn't scratch. I am just as against the practices of docking tails and clipping ears. It's like performing cosmetic surgery on somebody else without their prior consent. It has no benefit for the animal, so I see no need.

But that's just IMHO. I can't control what anyone else does to their animals.

 

[solaceofwinter]

i have 3 slings 2 in tupperware containers, i came home the other night from work and one of my dogs had taken a container from the living room into the bedroom and was trying to get it opened. luckily i arrived at the beginning of this procedure or i would have lost a T. i have no clue how she got it but i am more careful about it now. she has never shown any intrest in them before. but the T was freaked out and had a 'wtf was that all about.' expression. as long as they cant get the lid off or knock the setup off the shelf or something you should be okay. but those two are the ones i would worry about most.

 

[Crimsonpanther]

id just keep them in your room with the door closed !
If its that much of a problem , shutting the door shouldnt be too much of a hassle , i have 17 T's and 2 adult male cats and no problems here !

 

[cacoseraph]

id just keep them in your room with the door closed !
If its that much of a problem , shutting the door shouldnt be too much of a hassle , i have 17 T's and 2 adult male cats and no problems here !

roger that!
double plus roger that!

the ONLY time cats are allowed in my bedroom/bugroom is when i'm there to supervise

i've read WAY too many threads that start "i don't get it! the cat ignored my bug for TWO YEARS and then crash!" to ever trust the "lack of interest" school of thought very far

perhaps a lobotomized quadraplegic cat can be trusted... but even then, they are awful crafty creatures sometimes

 

[MizM]

With both issues, the answer is the same: train the cat! I have never had a cat declawed and find it quite barbaric. Recently, I THINK it was in L.A. somewhere, they tried to pass a bill outlawing it. But it failed. IMHO, if you can't train a cat to avoid clawing you and your furniture, or if you can't keep it away from your Ts, then you probably aren't ready to own one.

Moving IN with a cat is a different story. They each have different personalities. Some don't mind a squirt of water one bit, while others need loud noises to deter them. A good deterrent is to clean out an aluminum can, put a few dimes in it, and shake it when the cat shows an interest in the object.

I would keep all of the suggestions in this thread in mind, but wait and see what the cat does. It could be like mine and not even CARE what's in those 70 clear containers on shelves!

 

[rbpeake1]

I would keep all of the suggestions in this thread in mind, but wait and see what the cat does. It could be like mine and not even CARE what's in those 70 clear containers on shelves!

I keep a plastic spikey anti-cat mat near my T's! I bought it in a pet store. The cats just look at the little plastic spikes, which look so less comfortable than any other place in the house, that they do not come near!

 

[greenbay1]

We have a large Maine Coon cat who doesn't pay any attention to the T's as long as those little active crickets aren't in the enclosure. She is really attracted to their fast movements. She will also wait while I get crickets out of the tub and if one gets away it becomes a cat snack. I'm very careful to make sure she isn't left in the room with the T's.

 

[wicked]

cat vs A seemani

I am afraid I just became one of the minority who's cats do find the Ts interesting. Long story short I gave my son the most perfect, beautiful and big Aphonopelma seemani I have ever seen for Christmas. Factor in house guests, one left open basement door and a plastic kritter keeper on a counter. In the middle of the night I heard a cat scream, I assumed two of my cats were having a spat over who got the top step again and went back to sleep. When I opened my bedroom door I was greeted by two unusually affectionate barn cats, then I was greeted by the sight of a smashed KK. By some stroke of unbelievable luck the T was found huddled behind a garbage can and the only obvious outward sign of injury is a broken palp with a small amount of fluid. We are keeping our fingers crossed that there is no internal damage. (Ironicly I hate KKs for the very reason I don't think they are safe, but with the holidays I had to wait till the store got more good solid glass tanks)
My list of suspects was long, we have eight cats, but the two at the door were my main ones. On closer inspection I found that one of them had a swollen front leg that was tender to the touch. Apparently the A seemani objected to being eaten. My other Ts are secured in heavy tanks inside shelves or on dressers with the back against the wall so it can't be pushed off. (12 + hours after incident cat's leg is still swollen but no other symptoms)

Conclusion= Aphonoplema seemani (zebra or stripe knee) venom will NOT kill your cat, but your cat can very easily kill or maim your tarantula.


On a side note, I found the use of the word 'disabled' to describe a declawed cat rather sensational in its context. My cat who tangled with the T is not declawed however he was born with a birth defect, where there should be foot bones on one of his hind legs there are only two toes. The two bones go in opposite directions and create a pressure point if he uses the 'foot'. So essentially I have a three legged cat, which does not hinder him in the least. He scales 6' chain link fence to get on the chicken house roof to catch birds. I have seen him run down gophers and he mouses like nobodys business. He doesn't take any crap from our dogs or anyone else for that matter. Right now he is limping around on two legs. Last time I saw him this evening he was stretched out on a blanket looking like king of the realm. I gave him a few strokes under the chin while checking his leg and he rolled his head back and gave me a look like "Hey woman, fetch me some soft cat food why don't you?" Disabled? I don't think so.

 

[Snipes]

I recently had an idea to get my cat from getting on the snake cage and pawing at it. I took some tape and rolled it over itself so it is in the shape of an 'O' and placed it all over the top of the cage. They HATE it when they get their paws stuck. Try it, set up tape areas and soon the cat will avoid it.

 

[Becky Wheeler]

Breed them for a race of superpets

hehehehe! you guys crack me up! that is sooo funny!, As for the cat i would teach it not to go anywhere near the tanks and also as stated to get a high shelf that the cat cannot reach or get yourself a glass door cabinet like i have. That way your t's are safe from animals and young children that might visit.

 

[wicked]

update

I thought about putting this in the bite reports but I don't think cats count.
This picture is about 10 days after the bite. Two clean puncture wounds show clearly and beneath them is an ugly open wound that may be from an abcess or an ulceration of a second bite. The cat licked and pulled all of the hair away from the wound. Beyond looking nasty there does not seem to be an infection. Swelling was gone a few days after the bite. The T is also recovering from his unexpected romp with the cat.

 

[Starving1artist]

RE: Keeping Kitty away from your "T`s"

The cat is a 5-year-old neutered male who likes to get into things. He still has his claws, which is a concern because one of my T's enclosures has a screen top.[/QUOTE]

I had a cat that I swore was created with demon spawn. I tried the spray bottle but he soon came to realize that the spray bottle only worked when I was home. I was trying to keep him away from my canaries. I live in a condo and looked up at the window one day to see him sitting on the canary cage. Little bastard!

My next step to ward him away was cactus. I`d place some cactus plants near the canary cage at his selected terrorizing spots. For the first couple of days I`d find the cactus on the floor. Within a week the cactus remained at ther location but his white fur was in the needles. He was still getting up there!

I tried packing tape. It worked like a charm! The clear packing tape and the wider the better. Place it sticky side out and a 1-2ft strip so when kitty comes near the tape it sticks to kitty. The more kitty fights the worse the tape sticks. Leave the cat alone and let him work on getting the tape off himself. Kitty will realize that you have nothing to do with this. It`s whats happens to him when he goes up there.

My cat would take his paw and do a "test" just to see if the tape was still there every once in a while that`s how persistant of a cat I owned!...Starving