anyone have a fish tank and cats?

[elaineandmichaelsmommy]

I was thinking that it might be nice to have a fish tank at home. We have 2 cats though and neither of them is declawed. Is there anyone who has cats and fish who can tell me if it's possible to have both in your home and if so how you do it? Thanks.

jen

[ribbit1019]

I had a 30 gallon and one undeclawed cat. She would watch them but never tried to go "fishing". I think you just need to get a really good cover/tank.
Me personally though, I am done with fish tanks, too much of a hassle to clean and maintain.

Christy
Wife to Richard
My Waterbabies
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[DebbieJ]

My cat met my son's fish (birthday gift from my aunt).

Guess who won?

We don't have a fish anymore.

:)

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03
Breastfeeding After Reduction is possible! www.bfar.org

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[Ceepa]

We had five cats and a fish. Be sure the tank has a relaible cover on it and you should be fine. I wouldn't recommend just a bowl because there is too much access to the fish and it may not have enough water to keep it weighed down in case a cat knocks into it.

Four of our cats didn't care at all. One cat came from the street so he probably was used to getting a meal whereever he could find it. He never tried to touch the fish but he would sometimes sit and stare very intently. For him we just gently reminded, "That is not a sushi bar."

We enjoyed having all of them as pets together.

-Ceepa

[bostonsmama]

Growing up at my mom's house we had 2 undeclawed (indoor/outdoor) cats and both a small 25 gallon tank and huge 50+ gallon tank (about 4 ft long). I honestly don't even think the cats figured out what was in there, although maybe one time the cat was transfixed by the little swimmers....but she hated water much more than she liked fish. Perhaps it was that she had other creatures to gut and kill....like birds, bunnies and opossums. Our male cat wasn't home much. Either way, we always had a good glass cover on both sides of the tank. Maybe you could try it, but if you know your kitty to be mischievious, you should avoid it. Our kitties were a bit older by the time the fish came (maybe 5). I'm sure it makes a difference.

[writermama]

Our 2 (fully armed) cats loooove our fishtank. There's a low table next to it that one of them likes to sit on and just stare into it -- we call it "watching kitty TV." Neither cat has gotten into the tank, and only once or twice has tried to get on top of it. It has a good cover and I doubt they could get to the fish even if they knew what to do with them.

As a bonus, the baby loves to watch the fish, too. It's a great way to calm the fussies.

Up until the baby, I was on the fence about the fish -- keeping the tank clean is a lot of work -- but as a surefire cure for fussies, it's worth it.

[amp]

I have several times in the past. For any tank, just make sure you have a cover. Mine always watched but could not get into the tank and since there was a lid, they never messed with it. Larger tanks work better, unless you're putting it in a place where a cat can't get to it. I had a 10 gal tank for awhile and never had a problem. Recently though, we had a small 2 gallon plastic tank for a Beta and our cat knocked that tank off the counter twice. Not pretty. The first time I managed to save the fish and frog, but not the 2nd time, when we were asleep. The tank was just so light that he batted at it and pushed it until it fell off (and it wasn't near the edge.

As far as the fish go, they got very used to the cats and didn't really have a lot of fear of them.

[shilo]

i could have written christy's response. we've had both at the same time for several years, they watched and pawed at the front of the tank sometimes, but couldn't get to them anyway b/c of the lid/light assembly. fish tanks are a fair amount of work, and even for me - a huge fish lover - the novelty wore off pretty quickly. i think it's fine if you want to have both together, but start small and inexpensive with the fish in case you decide it's not for you - it can be a _very_ expensive hobby, but doesn't have to be. i probably won't ever do a fish tank again - too much work for me.

lori
Sam 5/19/05 How lucky I am that you chose me.

[R2sweetboys]

We had a 30 gallon tank for quite a while with two cats and I honestly don't think they ever really noticed. It did have a cover which I recommend, but I don't know if it would have mattered with the cats. And I should add that one of the cats was our hunter, always bringing us his "prizes"(including our hamster who escaped from the cage! :( )but he never bothered the tank. All cats are different though so I'd keep a cover on it and make sure it's not easy to knock over.

Our tank really just became too much to handle after having two kids. We ended up finding homes for our creatures and took it down. I just wanted to add that because, depending on the size of the tank and type of fish(ours was salwater so a bit challenging), they can be a fair amount of work to maintain. We now have a beta in a little tank-not that's pretty manageable! :)

~Leslie

SAHM to...
Ryan 8/14/00
Matthew 2/14/03

[cstack]

I've had fish tanks with my cats with no problems. The bigger tanks are a pain to clean. Each kid has had a smaller tank (with lid/filter/etc) that was easier to clean.

NOW, my SIL has always had cats. Her son decided that a fish would be nice for mom and bought her a Betta. She named the fish "Sushi". The cat ate it. She got another. Named this one "Saki". The cat ate it. Got a third one. Named is "Samurai". The cat did not eat it this one. However, they would put him in a little cup when cleaning the bowl. Her DH cleaned the bowl and forgot to put the fish back in and left him inthe cup. Samurai committed Hari Kari. My SIL gave up.