Guinea Pigs And Cats

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Becky3

Becky3

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Hello all,

I wasn't sure which category to put this in...

We have always had guinea pigs and nothing but guinea pigs. Both my husband and I love other animals too, of course, but we have always been concerned about adopting a cat or dog as we obviously don't want to jeopardise the safety of our pigs.

Recently we have been having a visitor - a young cat who for some reason seems to really like us! She only came to visit us occasionally at the beginning, but this has become quite a regular occurrence now with her climbing through open windows, walking into the house when the conservatory door is open and she has now even managed to climb through the window upstairs...

She is lovely and knows that she isn't allowed inside, but is incredibly curious. She's not shown any interest in the pigs as yet, but only managed to get into the room twice so far (which we fortunately noticed in time).

I just wondered if anyone has cats and guinea pigs? Are we right to be concerned or are guinea pigs generally too big for cats? (I think I've heard this somewhere.) For those who have cats, how do you make sure they don't reach the guineas?

Thanks in advance! :-)
 
I have a cat and in my view I am more concerned about my dog getting one of my guinea pigs than my cat. Not that I leave my guinea pigs unattended with either the cat or the dog!.

The dog shows more interest in my pigs and she does have quite a high prey drive so I usually keep her out of the way when I am cleaning them out etc.

The cat generally isn't bothered, infact he isn't bothered by them at all.

The dog will watch them when they're in their run but more because once they're done, she can eat their droppings, the cat doesn't even notice them.

I'd never leave cat or dog with my piggies alone though ever - even if they seemed like the most docile trustworthy animal.
 
Yes, I have a cat and guinea pigs. As long as four dogs and guinea pigs. Among other animals, with these dogs and the cat. Both of which are always going into my bedroom without being watched, where my guinea pigs are. The dogs are just concerned about eating poops that get kicked out of their cage, and the cat is ALWAYS sticking her paws into the girls cage to steal hay. I even have a video of it shortly after I adopted her.


Her and the piggie in the video, Bloody Mary, are always visiting each other. Bloody Mary seems to always be interested in Paisley and whenever Paisley is in the room will come stand at the cage, and chew at the bar until they touch noses for a bit.

I have never been concerned. Know your animals. I all my life had / have gotten crap for taking pictures of my dog, Simba, with my small animals...especially since he's a Terrier. But he'd never hurt them, and has never tried to for me to worry. He's the one most concerned about getting poops to eat! The only one I was worried about was my now 6 month old Miniature Australian Shepherd puppy, but, after watching him near the animals and then being introduced, he's been fine too. In fact, my rabbits adore him and they play outside together. When I have my small animals out with my dogs or cat, then they are supervised of course, but when it comes to them just being in the same room, it's not something I ever worry about, because I know how my dogs and cat are. If I, for example, had dogs and cats who had prey drive or got nuts about the small animals, and actually would cause harm intentional or not, it'd be a different story. This is where knowing your animals comes in. And I know a lot of people say that the unpredictable can happen, and you can't always trust them, but I've never had reason to not trust them, and I feel if you don't feel you can trust your animals yourself, then it just best to keep them separate for both peace of mind, and you're because you're probably right.

Sorry for the ramble! Apparently waking up at 4 in the morning for no good reason makes me have word vomit!
 
Also, excuse the girl piggies cage looking a mess. I've mentioned it before, lol, but they always make a mess of the cage. Flatten out all the cuddle cups, flip igloos, and spread hay everywhere after I try to make it presentable. :P
 
Guinea pigs shouldn't be left unattended with a cat or dog at any time. Providing your cage has a study roof, then it should be fine. If you have a hutch in the house you'll need to add locks onto the doors in case the cat can open the bolts.
 
I used to have a collie and he was terrible with the Guinea pigs he would pester them constantly he also ate their poo like it was crack sadly I lost him to a brain disorder cats will kill them without a shadow of a doubt so make sure they are secure.
 
Thanks for all your replies... it's really confirmed what I thought, although with us not having any experience with cats I thought this would be the perfect place to hear from other people!

I have one friend who told me that guinea pigs are too big for cats to bother with, but I've always found that hard to believe - and especially as we don't know this certain individual there is no way we can take any risks.

The cat still loves us and keeps coming back (well, it's cats now really - her friend keeps popping into our garden as well now), so we are definitely going to put some extra security measures in place, such as a door between kitchen and guinea room (it's 'open plan' at the moment) and covering up the cages.... we use C&C and they are all open (i.e. no covers), so really not great in this situation :no:

Argh. And they aren't even our cats!
 
My cat is old (17) a bit deaf, not great at seeing or smelling everything either and hasn't noticed my two new boys yet at all! - but I still wouldn't risk her being able to get at them as I know from the past she is a great killer - best be careful! Will be getting another cat when she passes so will need to be even more vigilant.

My main worry would be the cat swiping the pigs through the bars as cats scratches can be sharp and deep, but as long as the cat can't reach them they will be fine.

My thinking is that if the piggies get used to seeing my cat about they won't be so scared when the neighbours cats turn up looking for dinner :)
 
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