My cats pay no attention to my snakes at all, and i have 3 cats. The only cat that pays any attention to the snake tanks is my 12 year old cat whose always looking for somewhere warm to sleep, so she will occasionally get on top of a tank cover and sleep near the lamp. She's a featherweight size cat so there is never a problem. At her age all she does is eat, and sleep. My dogs pay more attention to the snakes when i take them out then the cats do, so when snakes come out, the dogs go out.