Cat Toy Terror

My husband was gone for the weekend visiting relatives in Ohio. His aunt, a loving cat owner, sent him home with this cute cat toy as a gift for our rats.

My son, Zander, took out Bela onto a couch to play with her with the toy - and as soon as she got near it, she freaked out, leaped from the couch, and darted under a storage shelf. Zander had to squeeze himself underneath to get her out - but she was clearly traumatized and didn't have any interest in playing for the rest of the evening. Even this morning, she was still looking a little timid.

The evil cat toy did not have this effect on any of the other rats - even Ruby, the most timid of the group, was chewing on the plastic and pulling at the feather.

I am guessing there must have been cat smell on the toy and this is what freaked Bela out. I know that many people keep both cats and rats without incident, but we have never had any cats in our house as I am severely allergic to them. Plus, one of our dogs does not get along with cats, as the neighbor cats would willingly attest. Clearly, Bela still has an instinctive fear of cats and a strong survival instinct.