Do piggies always feel anxious if cats are around?

YorkshireLass

YorkshireLass

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The family has been clamouring for a rescue cat for ages and I have read round and round the topic. The consensus seems to be that even if the cat isn’t bothered/doesn’t see them as prey and they are securely housed, the piggies might well be in a constant state of unease. There are some people who think it can work but I think I am fooling myself and don’t want to induce a heart attack in the boys. I have wondered about an older/disabled cat but assume the piggies wouldn’t be that rational and might still be anxious.

So I think I am asking if I am being sensible and there really is no chance until we have a pig-free house?
 
I have cats and they may sit and watch the pigs in their runs and also when they are allowed in the room when I’m in, but they’ve never bothered them. My cats are all from a rescue I volunteer at so I don’t think being a rescue cat makes any difference. As long as you are aware of where the cat is in relation to the pigs then I don’t see a problem. Good luck on selecting your rescue cat, there are many kittens (and cats) out there looking for homes at the moment!
 
Oh, and the pigs aren’t bothered by the cats at all. Mine have sniffed each other and then just wandered away unconcerned!
 
Mine are not particularly bothered by my cat, they do have their own room however although 2 live in my bedroom where the cat has access, he doesn't sit and pester them though, which probably helps.

I would never allow my cat unsupervised access to the piggies, however there is certainly no stress being near eachother. My cat purrs and tries to rub on them when the piggies are unwell out of the cage getting cared for, and when the cat was sedated after a vet visit and asleep next to me while I syringe fed one of the girls, she cuddled up to him and also went to sleep (only allowed as there was no way the cat could react while sleeping off the sedative)

It will depend on the piggies and cats personality, and whether you allow them to actually sit and hunt, stalk or otherwise badger the piggies both in or out of the cage making the connection to being a predator. They are still animals at the end of the day so even the best behaved predatory pet should not get unsupervised access to prey animals.
 
My three are in a double stand C&C in the living room and we have one cat. Cat is currently asleep under their cage and they are 100% unfazed, out in the open and eating hay + drinking. All cats and pigs are different of course and our cat decided early on that she would be ignoring the pigs, but our piggies seem quite happy to (from a secure vantage point) co-exist with the cat without any observable stress.
 
We don't have a cat, but a friend used to sometimes babysit my pigs and she had a cat who was very fascinated by the piggies and at least one of my pigs was equally fascinated by the cat. The other pig ignored him, but she used to come and touch noses with him through the bars. I wouldn't ever let a cat or dog have unsupervised access to my pigs, but I don't think just living with one in the house is necessarily going to be a cause of stress.

My pigs are remarkably unconcerned with other animals generally... they've had a chipmunk check them out through bars while outside, they had a dog come and check them out through the bars outside, and they seemingly didn't even notice or care. They don't know they're potential food, apparently!
 
I would agree totally with Freela, mine share their house with large high prey drive dogs as well as cats. They never take any notice of them, no one has told them they are a threat, as far as they are concerned they are just big things that walk past the cages, just like humans! They are not even bothered by the occasional barking.
Admittedly they have all grown up around the other animals so I was amazed at their reaction when one of the rats got into the bedroom and I discovered it sitting on top of one of the cages, until it saw me and did a wall of death around all the cages while I was removing it! The guineas took no notice what so ever!
Providing owners have common sense, there should be no reason to worry.
 
I have 3 cats (two who are indoor) and 3 guinea pigs although I’ve owned cats and guinea pigs since 2008 (my first pair of guinea pigs in 2007). The cats have all been brought up around guinea pigs from kittens and are always taught that the guinea pigs are out of bounds. I’ve never had a guinea pig who is anxious around the cats and I’ve never had a cat who seems interested in the guinea pigs. Of course, I’d never leave a cat to be unsupervised around the guinea pigs but all in all, they don’t seemed fazed by each other
 
When I first moved my pigs inside I worried about this as I had an elderly indoor cat at the time. The cat was more interested in sleeping, and in fact liked to sleep on the cage roof (warmth rises I suppose). The pigs got used to this and took no notice of her.
Then this old cat died, and I got two young ones from the cats' home. They were very interested in the pigs, but the cage is very secure and has small mesh so not big enough for paws to get through. The pigs took no notice of the new cats, they were used to the old one being around. Since then I've always had a pig who has got used to being around cats, so they teach any new ones that it's nothing to worry about.
Piggies are (mostly) smart and learn about threats very quickly. So they also learn what isn't a threat.
 
All this is very encouraging, thank you for the replies. Very different responses to what I was getting elsewhere so it gives me hope!
 
The fact that a cat is a predator doesn't mean the pigs will always be stressed. We are also predators, and as long as we treat them well, they become quite relaxed around them.

If you have a cat that is doing a lot of prowling or attempted pouncing, trying to get its paw into the cage, that kind of thing, that will stress them out, but if the cat is chill around them, I can see no reason they would be bothered by it.
 
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