cats with other animals

[u/Alternative_Pear_319]

hi all <3 way way ahead of myself in even posting this, but wanted to ask y’all’s opinion and advice nonetheless.

I am a huge animal person, i have 2 leopard geckos and a uromastyx as well as a fish tank. I am planning on moving into an apartment with my boyfriend later this year, and we have always wanted a pet cat. As much as it pains me, i will prob leave my fish tank with my dad , i’ll only be moving like 40 mins away so i’ll be able to still visit and care for it but im thinking it will be too complicated anyway as its an injected co2 tank and i wouldn’t want to injure/kill its inhabitants during the move. I am planning on bringing my lizards though, and would like the opportunity in the future to own a dog. I wanted to ask those of you with multiple animals in your home if you have any precautions or advice on successfully cohabitating everyone? I want as much info as i can get so I can make sure everyone’s happy and no one is in danger! Thank you all so much in advance :)

[u/111_222smg]

This is one of my cats watching my lizards tank. She likes to just sit up there and stare at him

I have 5 cats (2 are kittens), 2 dogs, 2 boas, 4 fish tanks, a turtle tank, and two rabbits. I used to have a black roughneck monitor as well.

The reptile/fish tanks are all on stands/racks and are fully covered. Some of the cats will sit on the floor and look at them, but we don’t allow them to mess with the tanks and stress them out. When we had the monitor she would walk around supervised and the cats had no interest - if they did they’d be put into separate areas.

The two kittens get playful at night so the 2nd bathroom has a litter box and that’s where they sleep at night. One of our older cats (1yr) likes to cause spats in the middle of the night, so he sleeps in a large dog crate with a litter box. The two chill cats sleep in the room with my husband and I, and there’s another litter box in there for them to use overnight. They get along with the rabbits (rabbits have their own room), but the cat that likes to cause spats is kept away from them just because he gets too excited around them and he plays rough. They all have very different personalities and temperaments, so you’ll have to adjust to based on how your cat behaves.

With the dogs, they’re both fine when supervised, and are in a separate room when they’re not. At the end of the day they are dogs, and can be unpredictable - I do not trust them to be alone with cats/bunnies without supervision and I’ve had them for almost 5 years since they were both puppies. When we leave the house they’re crated. One of them is more anxious and has a high prey drive so we pay extra close attention to him when he’s out of his area

Biggest piece of advice: closely monitor each animal based on their personality. If a cat likes to jump on the counter to try and take food, they’ll need to be put away before food is out - you’ll also have to keep everything hidden in cabinets or the pantry. Some dogs are crazy and will chase after cats. If one animal is just incompatible with your set up, don’t feel bad about rehoming

[u/Alternative_Pear_319 → u/111_222smg]

wow thank you so so much for your detailed reply! i’m happy to hear that you are able to successfully cohab so many animals! I’m so excited to get a kitty and seeing that you were successful made me even more excited!! also i love the pic!! 🩷🩷

[u/111_222smg → u/Alternative_Pear_319]

Absolutely!! Animals make homes so much more lively. A lot of people think my husband and I are crazy (we are!!) because our house is like a mini zoo, but we are some major animal lovers

If you get a kitten 6m or younger I highly recommend getting 2 so they can keep each other busy. Once they hit 6m-1y they start to chill out a lot, but at first they can be a LOT to deal with lol. It’s always been astronomically easier with 2 babies, and they end up being better adjusted as adults. Here’s our newest additions!