What happens when a hamster meets a cat?

As a small mammal, a hamster has a strong innate fear of predators like cats. When meeting a cat, a hamster may show extreme panic—violent trembling, squealing, and scrambling to flee. While fleeing, it usually darts into any hiding place such as a burrow, crack, bush, or behind furniture to avoid direct contact. If escape or hiding is impossible, the hamster may adopt a passive defense—playing dead or curling into a ball—to lower its presence and hope the cat loses interest or ignores it.