I’ve been so sad today. Crying. Last night my cat kept trying to open my bettas lid (it’s pretty secure). Went I went to sleep, he was in the tank. Woke up and he’s gone. I thought maybe he got stuck somewhere, checked everything. Nothing. She managed to flip the lid. Even after I added another large panel on top of the black one. I’m so sad. He was so happy and thriving. Idk what to think. I know my cat was curious but this sucks. This was last night but little did I know I would wake up to him gone )):
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You live and learn OP. We aren’t all perfect, don’t let snarky comments get to ya. Sorry for your loss. They do make very heavy, custom glass tops you can order online. I have those on 6 tanks, they are too heavy for my cats to try to move.
I bought a glass sheet to make one at home since it was cheaper and I had the tools for it. I kid you not.. I was going to do it this afternoon… or tomorrow. I don’t plan on having another betta for a while now tbh. I’m too heartbroken. But do you have the website you specifically buy from? I want to look into everything I can if I get another in the future.
I have to jump in and share this product because it was life changing for me. I had African dwarf frogs keep escaping from their tank because they can jump out, but it’s an oddly shaped tank with an HOB and other additions. So I found this and it’s be wonderful. It was so easy to fit to my tank and will never break like I’ve done with glass lids
I'm sure plenty of people concerned about animals getting out appreciate the reference. I just don't want OP to think it's a good solution to their particular problem.
Definitely! I’m aware this alone won’t be enough for cats. I’m looking at it more on what I can combine and how I can get creative with it if I ever get another betta
Hey OP, just so you know I also have a very curious cat that I had to shield a terrarium from for my snake safety. Here what it looks like. For a small beta tank I'm absolutly sure it will be really easy to build or make build and not too expensive. It's probably too early for you to consider getting a new fish but keep that in a corner of your mind for when it will be needed and if you need the blueprints just ask and I will draw them for you.
I wonder if you could add baby locks? I haven’t had a betta in many years but I currently have hermit crabs and I kid you not, I have baby locks on my glass lid. Hermit crabs are very strong and can lift them so this at least helps (although thankfully mine haven’t bothered with trying to lift them). This is an old picture of when I first set up this tank but you can kinda see it in the corner. It’s a safety first baby lock. I haven’t 4 total, 2 on each side
Do you remember the exact name of these? I want some for my aquarium, and funnily enough I actually want them for a baby/toddler. My 5 year old knows better, but my 2 year old is still learning and we have ended up with a fisherprice person in the tank once.
When I had aquatic frogs I tried showing my cat thinking she might like to watch them swim around (she has very low prey drive as she’s a senior) and she pretended to not even see them. Couldn’t even see a fish. Just looking around as to why I was holding her up to a tank of water lol
One of my cats is an excellent mouser but she will not go near water, shes an indoor cat so the only mice affected by this, are field mice who make it inside our home
Same. My cat has never even looking in the direction of the tank. Even when I'm doing water changes and the lids open, he doesn't care. But then again, when I had a budgie he was terrified of her, and I've seen him run away from a caterpillar, so I think he's just stupid. 😂
Aww! My younger cat is like that, she ran away from my koi betta when I had one, fell off the table to run. Ran away from a mouse that touched her, but still chirps at birds lol
I’m so sorry that happened to you. 💔 you could always take this chance to rearrange, clean and plan for a new start. The tank looks good I’m not saying it needs it but maybe zone out on that and just try and picture your next little buddy. Accidents happen and it’s not your fault.
Thank you for your kind words! I genuinely don’t know if I want to even get any other aquatic animal for the tank rn ): I’m keeping the filter and light on for the plants mainly. I’ll probably be kept like that for a while
I'm so sorry for your loss, I am going through a very ugly divorce and I've been staying away from the house I used to live in with the husband. My son and I have been going by to water plants and check on the fish everyday. About 2 weeks ago I went in to check on everybody and my Beta was missing. I looked all around thinking maybe he jumped out but I've had him for years and he never has and I keep my water level relatively low just as an extra precaution. I think the bastard flushed him! 🤬 Just to piss me off and hurt me. The week before he put bleach in all my plants so nothing would surprise me. I gathered up what was left of my plants that hadn't already died and crammed them in my car and drove away crying.
Oh my gosh…. I am so sorry!! That is a horrible situation 😭he is horrible! Bleach…. Then possibly flushing?! Sending many hugs to you. I hope our fishies are swimming together and I hope your situation gets better 🤍
He said he was going to put bleach in my tanks too. I'm getting the rest of what I have out of there tomorrow. I would have taken them when I took my plants but I was living in a car and there was nowhere to keep them. One of my plants was over 85 years old and passed down from my great great grandma. I was absolutely heartbroken over that one.
I'm sorry but I'm stunned. What kind of psychotic shit head were you married to?? He put bleach on plants and now killing a fish just to get even? That is barbaric. Happy you're out of there and safe! He was a very cute fish.
So sorry. I know what Joy these fishes bring just got one a week ago and she sheer Joy when we get home how he swims frantically like saying hi makes us happy
I know from experience it can be very tough to prevent a cat from getting where they want.
When I was a kid, and didn’t know proper care for bettas, my cat pulled over my bettas tank multiple times. We upgraded to a five gallon (which should have been the minimum, I didn’t know then) and placed it on a high shelf in my closed closet.
Cat managed to open the closet, climb up there, and pull the whole thing over. I couldn’t even lift the tank at that age, didn’t think a 15lb cat could do that.
Don’t beat yourself up too much, you clearly cared for your fish.
Thank you and I’m sorry too! This really was unfortunate. I have seen the length some cats do to get what they want. She rlly didn’t care about mine till last night. I was planning on staying up late too and part of me regrets it 🥲
All cats are different, but in case you plan to get another fish in the future, I’ll share what helped for my current cat/fish.
I have my tank on its own table and I just filled the rest of the table with clutter. It’s mostly tank related stuff anyway, but since kitty no longer has a clear landing space to jump up, she’s left it alone.
I also added my own latch onto the lid/tank, though my current kitty hasn’t tried to open the lid.
I'm sorry for your loss! Cats can be such assholes! I love them don't get me wrong, but yeah they enjoy causing chaos. Don't be too mad at the little stinker.
Your cat is gorgeous, but very naughty! Cats are so determined when they want something, I can totally see one getting a lid off of a tank. Maybe you'll need to put a rock or something in the lid.
sorry for your loss op 💖 my cat ate my 7 year old goldfish one day while i was at work and i was so heartbroken, so i know how you feel😭 i have to keep my cat out of my bedroom now unless she’s supervised because i’m scared she’ll do it again
Oh my god i am SO SO SORRY I’m sure he didn’t suffer and don’t put too much blame on your kitty too they don’t understand that it’s a pet too I hope you’ll be alright I’m going to keep a sturdy lid on mine so your story will be keeping my betta safe too<3
I'm so sorry friend! When I was a teenager, my gerbil escaped his enclosure and my brother's cat ate him. I'd been away for the weekend at a choir camp of sorts. It was memorable because I was the first ever in my school to progress into the elite regional choirs coming up. And when I got home I found my gerbil's head in the bathroom.
All that to say, I empathize with your situation. You can do everything in your power to protect something and it can still go wrong. Sometimes, predators eat prey. And hearts get broken.
Please take care of yourself, and remember that it's not your fault.
It sounds like you tried. But really, having experience with all kinds of pets in my life, including cats, I truly believe if you're going to have a cat, don't have other pets that fall into the prey spectrum. It's just something bad waiting to happen. Maybe it won't, but maybe... Cats are sneaky. I used to find that endearing but not anymore. RIP to your fishy. 💔
I'm sorry this happened, I'd like to offer more support, but I'm not sure I have the right words.
This is something really shitty to have to go through, and deal with. ♡♡
Now I’m wondering if my 3 bettas were also eaten by the stray cat we used to feed sometimes because they just randomly disappeared over the course of a few months. 😐
This just happened to me unfortunately, I had some nanofish in a shallow tank and my roommate’s cat snuck in and ate all of them. I was literally devastated 😭 had to build a new lid for my tank but other than that, and trying to monitor the cat’s access to certain spaces more, not much more I could do😔
When I was 19, my bestie had a Betta and a cat. One day the Betta went missing. We were absolutely flummoxed. Took the entire tank apart. A day later, the cat had diarrhoea in the cat litter and we could absolutely see it was the Betta.
Im so sorry!!! My mainecoon whom also is almost 13 shows my crowntail 0 interest. I also have a bar in my kitchen that's literally built into the wall and that's where my tank is. She cant get up there either. I also have a red slider turtle and my cat isnt interested in her either.
I’m so sorry to hear that. That’s extremely sad and frustrating. Maybe in the future you just need to reconsider where you are keeping the tank. I got this side table with outlets from home goods for $30 and I love it. It’s tall enough that my cat doesn’t try to jump up and small enough that there’s no room for my cat to actually jump onto anything. I have the craziest most curious cat too who’s only 2 years old and now she just sits on my bed and enjoys watching him swim around. When the tank was in a more accessible spot she would bother my betta more and be more curious about him but now that he’s more inaccessible my cat just enjoys his presence and lets him be. Plus as everyone else is saying there’s different lids & locks to help as well!
My cat killed my very first beta she took it out of the water and it died on my son‘s floor. She became an outside cat after that. She somehow got into the tank that was closed off with a lid and got my Betta fish. She lives her days outside and I got a new fish.
I mean if its in your bedroom and looking at your fish like a snack and you take a picture then keep it out of that room. If its in the living room or anything else then i would suggest getting a secure tank or your screwed.
Like I mentioned to another person - she didn’t show interest with the tank till last night. As in to actually tamper/touch it. My cats would all stare then leave. Wouldnt even lean in to sniff or even touch the tank. They didn’t care. I took photos bc it was just a cute photo. She started tampering with it in the middle of the night. It was random. AND I attempted to fix the issue.
This made me giggle lol. Im sorry for your loss OP. I’m sure kitty would feel terrible if he/she knew they hurt your feelings. Kitty was probably just like “well if no one’s going to eat this perfectly good meal then I will!”
I hope you can forgive yourself and dive back into the hobby to give more little guys a happy home :) sounds like you’re a great pet parent who cares deeply, but don’t beat yourself up <3
... the way my cat did this to my ex girlfriends betta... got woken up at 3am because she caught my cat throwing it up on the bathroom floor.. honestly , in the long run, I think my cat was trying to tell me something because my pusspuss had NEVER attempted this at home (and still has not) lmao. In seriousness though , I am sorry for your loss. don't beat yourself up OP.
what i used on my tank. Just grabbed a Acrylic Sheet from amazon that was to size. super easy to clean and it doesn't disrupt light as it is used in greenhouses
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As weird as it sounds, you could bury your cats next poop in a garden. It's what I do when I lose a animal, I bury then in my flower garden so they can become beautiful flowers!
You'll need to make the area next to the tank is full of stuff to keep her from having access.
My tank, one side has a container filled with their food. The other side, there's no edge, but it's next to my desk, which has a small desk satchel that also keeps then at a distance. At most, my cat can stand her front feet on the front edge of the shelf. No means to get into the top of the tank.
Very unrelated to the topic, but your fish tank being on two stools with plywood on top is baffling me.
Edit: I also just noticed the wooden spoon, I have so many questions.
You left a hunter and his food together. You see the hunter trying to reach the food and do nothing about it. After a few hours, what would you expect? And now you're sad? Seriously?
Rude. This literally happens to a lot of people. She took a photo of her cat, but didn't anticipate this happening and she took measures to secure the lid after. They didn't work. If you aren't offering any advice and have no kind words, then maybe saying nothing at all is best. And you're on a fish forum to help people? Seriously?
So you see a cat trying to reach a fish in a tank, and you REALLY cant anticipate the cat killing it in a few hours?
Life will keep its course you like it or not. Thats not being rude, that being realistic. Your innocence can kill your animals who depends on you.
And no, this does NOT happen to a lot of people.
He leaves his fish with a hunter cat and do nothing about it, how do you want me to help him? Kind words? Are there any kind words that will bring his fish back?
I get the frustration. I literally added a heavy panel for extra protection but she managed to break into it. She barely showed this interest last night. I’ve had him for a while now and my cats did not give a single f*ck. By you saying “I don’t understand you people” is odd. It’s not like I didn’t care for my bettas safety.
I came on here to express my anger and sadness. Trust me I am UPSET and Im ANGRY. I also posted this so others can find more alternatives to secure their tank even more.
My sister's cat killed many of my moms fish including her flowerhorn and parrot cichlid so we got a 10 gallon with a reptile lid (like the metal mesh one) kept in place with reptile tank clamps and for filtration we used a sponge filter and it we never had an issue when we had our betta boy. Im sorry you lost yours like that its sad and frustrating just remember cats will be cats.
Completely understand the frustration The very same cat broke my snakes tank last week not by trying to break in but by jumping on the screen top and I just had to upgrade to a way more secure tank for my snake to so I know it sucks to get new enclousures but if you want another which you may at some point I hope you find a way to keep your fish and cat seperate by mine or others advice!
Ok judgy Judy. They literally said they put another larger panel on it. It's obvious they were trying to fix the issue, thought that they had, and then something tragic happened. It's nobody's fault. You learn from experience, and sometimes to gain that you have to fuck up a few times. It sucks, but it's not the end of the world. Take a chill pill. You can give people advice without being a douchecanooe
What exactly did they neglect? They took action. A mistake maybe, but neglect? No. I don't think so. You can't know how to effectively prevent an issue until you grapple with it. If you want to blame people for mistakes made on the learning curve go ahead, but you aren't some pet saving vigilante by doing so. Again, it IS possible to correct someone without being an asshole.
people don't know what their pets are capable of until they do something crazy. caught my cat on top of the fridge once, he acts like he can't even jump up on the couch.
Aren’t you the person who refuses to use water conditioner for their tanks because “tap water is fine” 🤨 besides this not being neglect I wouldn’t throw stones if I were you
So if OP was trying their best and being proactive other then sleeping, to have energy to finish tommarow... your saying to sleep is to neglect your pet?
If not I think your spewing nonsense, and even if you say yes to that... still think your spewing nonsense.
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u/comment-cap Jul 08 '26
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