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Trouble With Predator Honey
A little backstory - I was used to having two cats from childhood to adulthood that did not attack other pets. Budgies, gerbils, rats, guinea pigs, etc. - nothing. One of my cats used to try to clean the gerbils, and she would let one of my guinea pigs sleep under her chin, essentially using him as a pillow.
Then Tiger passed away and I got Honey.
I expected him to be more... Cat-like. But, not to this extent.
Despite my precautions, he managed to catch one of my gerbils on two occassions, one resulting in a very bad injury meaning that the gerbil had to be put to sleep.
He used to whack the rat cage, and chirp at the budgies (which are very out of his reach, as are the rats now - my gerbils are in my bedroom which Honey is no longer allowed anywhere near.)
However, this morning I came downstairs and the living room was absolutely caked in bird seed, seed husks and budgie feathers. It turns out that he had tried to attack the budgies, and my Dad had rescued them before going to work, leaving me to clear up the mess.
By my powers of observation, it appeared that the cage had been knocked down, obvious by the mess, but there was a bamboo cane on the sofa - which means that one or both of the budgies were set free out of the cage. (We use the cane as a perch for them when they feel the need to sit on picture frames.) Luckily both of the budgies are fine, but no doubt it was a close call.
Unfortunately, none of our doors close properly. The doors between living room to hall and hall to kitchen don't even have catches, they're never shut. The bedroom doors are useless and can be pushed open by a cat. ('Thus why mine has a lock inside, so I lock it every night, but hate having to do so.)
I keep trying to get my parents to turn my sister's old room into a 'pet room' because it is the only room in the house with a proper door handle, proper working catch and a lock as well. But they have totally ignored this.
I just don't know what to do anymore.
I refuse to lose another cat, but what can I do? I can't punish him, because it usually happens when I'm not there. I don't work, so I'm here almost 24/7, but I cannot watch him every second of the day. Things will always escape my eye, I'm not superhuman.
I'm not used to having a pet that is so typically like his species. I've had cats and smaller pets for like ten years, and only just encountered this problem. Honey will attack everything that moves.
I'm in a bit of a bad mood with him at the moment, because after clearing up the mess - he was bothering me for treats. But he was impatient, and ended up digging a claw very deep into my thumb. Thanks to a bit of OCD, any deep cuts that break the skin away cause me to viciously need to get rid of the skin, so I'm sitting here with a plaster on my thumb feeling very jittery.
I love him, but Lord is he a bother.
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