Advice?

[dragons_fire77]

Recently I lost my baby chin during a surgery. She was very closely bonded with her cage mate. Now my other female has been jumping around her cage angrily and yelling and barking all day and night. I think she misses her friend as much as I do. I was wondering if I should adopt a new female to keep her company? I try to comfort her as much as I can, but she is still acting very upset. She is only 3 1/2 months old.

 

[tunes]

I think I answered this for you through Yahoo, but I'll reiterate it here so other folks having the same issue can read it.

I would hold off on rushing out to get a new cagemate. Give your chin time to grieve a bit. Offer her a chin safe stuffed animal for now to cuddle with. Sometimes that's all they need to get through the grieving process. Your first little girl died in a pretty traumatic way and it's possible that the surviving chin was party to that, even if she wasn't injured by the cat herself. That could be part of why she's so upset. I would offer her a stuffed animal to cuddle with for now and monitor her closely. Make sure she's eating, drinking, peeing, pooping, normal activity - all the stuff that would be normal for her. If all those things are fine, and she settles down with the stuffed friend, then you might consider getting her a new friend.

I will say again, as I said in my email, that I would look for a cage with 1/2 x 1 inch wire openings. That will absolutely prevent your cat from reaching in and grabbing your remaining chin. With him already having done this once, the odds of him not trying again are pretty slim. The wire you wrapped the cage in is a good temporary idea, but I would want something more secure and permanent.

Again, I'm sorry about the loss of your little one.

 

[menagerie]

I agree with Peggy, concentrate on making her feel safe and more comfortable. I'm sure she is extremely traumatized by the cat attack and fatal injuries to her friend.

I would also get a cage with 1/2" x 1" bar spacing so there is no way that the cat can get it's paws inside again. But I'd also do everything to keep your cat away from the cage because of the stress factor. I'd go as far as keeping the chin and cat in different rooms. My dogs are not small friendly and therefore are not allowed anywhere near the small animals.

 

[dragons_fire77]

I actually got your yahoo response about 3 minutes after I posted this . Yes, I am definitely going to go with the chin cuddle-buddy.

My cat has never been allowed in the same room as the chins, but somehow he got inside. After the money spent on the surgery, I really can't afford a new cage, but I did go ahead and solder some wire around the cage. Thank goodness for engineering classes!

You're right, I'm so glad she wasn't injured by the cat, but she must be pretty scared after watching it happen. I didn't really think about that. If you guys can provide a link for a cage that has the appropriate wire spacing, I can save up for it next month. I was going to save up for a ferret nation, but I think those bar spacings are too large as well.

 

[tunes]

Martin's has that small of wire spacing now. These are their chinchilla cages: http://www.martinscages.com/products/cages/chinchilla/

It looks like quality cage has smaller wire spacing as well: http://qualitycage.com/index.php?main_page=products_all&disp_order=2

There is a place in Texas that makes them with that size spacing, but I think their cages are junk and I won't recommend them.

I agree with you though. I love the FN142's, I think some of the pet folks here have them set up incredibly well, but if your cat is going to attempt to enter the cage again, he'd find it pretty easy with that particular cage.

 

[menagerie]

I can save up for it next month. I was going to save up for a ferret nation, but I think those bar spacings are too large as well.

The Critter Nation is basically the same cage as the Ferret Nation but with smaller bar spacing.

 

[3CsMommy]

A cat can get a paw through the Quality Cage standard 1"x1" wire; I found that out the hard way. The cat that did it here only did it once and learned that the thing in the cage is sharp. (Crash was fine, the cat's ego recovered, and I didn't quite have a heart attack. I've also learned to latch my door when I go to the bathroom b/c the cat can open them on his own.)

Keeping a layer of fleece over most of the cage has had a calming effect on my guy after our cat incident; there's also a deterrent for the cat that you can get at Walmart, etc. called the Ssscat. It's essentially a can of air with a motion sensor on it that you set up near what you don't want the cat to mess with. When the cat crosses the sensor on the can, air is released and makes a hissing noise that of course to cats means "knock it off", "go away" etc. If the cage you currently have is elevated at all, the Ssscat can go right underneath it and hopefully remind the cat where he doesn't belong.

I'd definitely get the Ferret Nation cage when you can afford to upgrade. If nothing else, it's harder for an animal to climb from the outside, so even if a paw can squeeze through the bars, the chin still has plenty of space to get away (if she doesn't feel like going on the attack instead).

 

[mishellyshel]

what about wrapping the current cage with the clothwire or wirecloth or whatever the stuff people use to baby proof an existing cage??

sorry to hear about your little one's cage mate.......a cuddle buddy is a great option for now.

 

[suzi1780]

sorry to hear about your chin, poor baby

I have 4 cats and thankfully have never had any issues with them and my chins. I have a FN142, but the cats could really care less about the chins and don't stick their paws into their cages, in fact I don't really think they could if they wanted to the spacing looks to small to me. I use soft paws http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754502 on my male cat because he likes to dig the carpet, they might work well for your kitty to give you a little more piece of mind.

 

[CJR]

So sorry to hear about the cat incident and the loss.

Those soft paws things look really cool though.