# Keeping hamster relaxed when kittens are added to home



## UnderThePaw (May 15, 2021)

Hello! I joined this forum just a few weeks ago on the cat boards as we are bringing home two kittens in a few weeks, but so far haven’t said hello on here although I’ve enjoyed some reading as we also have this lovely gent, Sandy, a 27-month-old Syrian hamster. Sandy is very chilled out and has had dogs visiting our house before without any concerns even one of our family’s dogs who is always curious but we have never had other pets before. We have been having a think about how to make sure he is super secure with the new additions. One thing I would like to do to put my mind at ease and ensure there is no way they could ever get to him, is put his cage, a Ferplast Mary, inside one of our larger unused rat cages, a Mamble 100, and secure the outer cage. So no chance of cats jumping directly onto cage and no chance of him ever being knocked. We will obviously also endeavour to supervise at all times but to let Sandy stay where he is in the kitchen where he loves to see everything going on and be safe and have no significant changes to his environment I think it seems a good safety net. However, I’m just thinking about ways to make it most reassuring for him when he does come across the cats. I would plan to let them see him in his cage from kittens so on both sides they can get used to each other early, does this sound sensible and does anyone have any other tips? Thank you!


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## ForestWomble (May 2, 2013)

Welcome to the forum 
Sandy is a handsome gent, his colouring reminds me of one of my childhood hamsters 
Putting his cage inside the rat cage sounds like a good idea.
Personally I wouldn't be encouraging the kittens to know where he is, when I was a child the family got kittens, my hamster was in my bedroom and the kittens knew nothing about her until they were old enough to climb the stairs, they showed interest to start with but every time they jumped on the table, they were picked up and removed, after a while they stopped jumping on the table and even ignored her in the end.


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## UnderThePaw (May 15, 2021)

Thank you so much for your reply, much appreciated and that’s a really good point about not letting them see him. It’s just that where he is I thought they probably would suss him out before too long anyway and it was more for him so I could definitely be there when he first clocked them outside his cage and didn’t suddenly have one jump up in the night and panic... though I really don’t think he would, especially when no chance of being near his own cage. I think you’re probably right. Thank you once again! It’s great having advice and other people’s experiences, it helps a lot with navigating new things!


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