Once they get a taste for it it will happen hun - it's very normal also x

some cats can live happily with animals like that forever but some will eventually remember they're carnivores and that a gerbils a fun lunch (sorry to put it like that but it is true) xx

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Poor little thing!
I agree with what has been said above, best to keep anything the cats are likely to get in another room.
Good Luck

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Thanks for reading my post - Have a good day!
Mummy to Cody-Lee - 2 Year Old Patterdale X JRT

Could you not get a more secure cage at all?

the other two will be getting a new cage, hes more cleaver than meow, but as my ex pointed out yesterday meow has very short wiskas i never noticed befor! x

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[B]

Oh dear - sorry about your poor little gerbil. Unfortunately cats and small rodents generally don't mix and other than keeping them in separate rooms I don't know how you will be able to stop Coleo from going after them.
Other than telling him off at the time I don't think you can punish him as it is just a natural thing for him. You could not give him any treats for a couple of days but I think that might only make you feel that you had done something to punish him - sorry to say, he won't notice at all.

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If cats could talk they would lie to you
http://www.lambchopsiamese.webs.com

i know, my ex was luck he traned is cat (a whild at at one) to get on with his hamster, cat used to carry it around and wash it if only all cats did that

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[B]

Either put gerbils out of the cat's reach or get rid of the cats or the gerbils. Cats are hunters. Gerbils are prey to cats. You can't punish a cat AFTER anything he has done. Like dogs and other animals, they do not understand past, present and future. They just are, in the now. You can't say to a cat "You ate that gerbil half an hour ago, you're bad, so I'm going to punish you".

Love the last line of that response, lol! Made me giggle

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Thanks for reading my post - Have a good day!
Mummy to Cody-Lee - 2 Year Old Patterdale X JRT

Poor little gerbil - must have been so scared.

If you can't keep the gerbils in a separate room to the cats, I think it would be kinder for you to rehome them.

I usually keep hamsters but when my last one had to be put to sleep recently I decided I would not get another. Although I did keep Snoozy Fudge in a cat free room there were times when I opened the door and a cat got in. I was also too scared to take the little hamster out of the cage in case it escaped. With eight cats in the house it wouldn't have stood a chance.

My cats are fine with my bunnies but I think hamsters, gerbils and mice are just too much temptation for them.

I agree with the others - you can't punish a cat for just being a cat.

we aren't repurchasing hammies after my two ate the 3 we had. In a closed room they were with a rubber door bung and the blighters still managed to get in - then smashed the cage to pieces! It's what they do - i didn't blame them at all - but it doesn't stop you feeling cross for a while! I ended up cross with myself in the end for not having protected the hammmies well enough. Ah, well - it's the circle of life thing.

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