Guinea Pigs & Next Doors Cats

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bob2sea

bob2sea

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I bought two female guinea pigs for my girlfriend as a loving gift and we planned to have them in the house, sadly, it turned out they were both pregnant and we now have 6!

This means that we have to move them outside during the summer as 4 of them (the girls) live in a double hutch and the two boys live in a normal hutch.

We have plenty of space in the garden, but next door have two cats and were slightly concerned as to what they are going to think of the new ginners out in the garden.

Does anyone else have issues with cats, if so how do you deal with it?

Thanks in advance!
 
make sure the cages lock properly and try and discourage the cats from coming in the garden, if you see them spray them with water to stop them wanting to come in your garden
 
As long as your hutches are secure (firm mesh, kept locked) you won't really have any problems. Our neighbour's cat often sits on the hutches and stares in and I've caught it once in the shed, but it would never be able to get into the hutches; the worst it can do is frighten the pigs. ALWAYS use a covered run, with a heavy lid if possible, and secure it to the ground, regardless of cats etc. Runs should always be kept supervised too.
 
As long as your hutches and runs are secure your piggies should be fine. Our three actually come to see what our cat is up to when he sits outside the hutch/cage :)

If you are worried, a squirt of water should send the cat scarpering, as Sarah says ;)
 
As others said, as long as everything is secure, they should be OK. Just watch for cats sticking paws through the bars on the run, one of my cats is bad for that! He then sticks his hook in piggy (or rabbit!) bums!
 
daleksarah said:
make sure the cages lock properly and try and discourage the cats from coming in the garden, if you see them spray them with water to stop them wanting to come in your garden
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As mean as it sounds. This is something I agree with.
Although our neighbours cat...Purred at me when I did this...

But make sure, as everyone else said, you have a nice, secure, covered run.
Don't fall for those runs with net covers, either. I have one of those and believe me, they won't keep anything out.
Get one with a decent wood/wire top.
 
We have a lot of cats around our estate - I also have one of my own. I wouldn't trust any of them - even my Bella, it's their instinct to hunt, but to be honest when the pigs are out the cats come and have a look at them but none ever seem THAT interested - I think a fully grown guinea pig would possibly be a bit big for the average cat to take on.

When the boys are inside and i'm around I let them out to run about. Obviously I keep a VERY close eye on Bella, and would NEVER tempt fate by leaving her alone but she shows no interest whatsoever, I guess she is used to them as part of the family! One time she went up to Chip and they both had a nose-to-nose sniff at each other, i so wish i'd had a camera that day! It was Bella who turned on her heel and ran - but saying that Bella is a strange cat!

Like everyone else is saying a good sturdy cage and they should be fine, make sure it's on level ground, one of mine managed to sneak out under the tiniest space on the grass last summer! He had a piggy adventure all round the garden but decided that he liked the safety of his cage better and when we finally caught him he was trying to find his way back in!
 
MaxandChip said:
We have a lot of cats around our estate - I also have one of my own. I wouldn't trust any of them - even my Bella, it's their instinct to hunt, but to be honest when the pigs are out the cats come and have a look at them but none ever seem THAT interested - I think a fully grown guinea pig would possibly be a bit big for the average cat to take on.
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My neighbours cat brings in adult rabbits, he wouldn't have any trouble getting a pig. :( I am always wary of him. But I've let my dogs chase him out of the garden so many times...he doesn't come back :(|)
 
Thank You

For all your comments. I think it's because they are new, we are just a bit nervous thats all. We have a nice sturdy cage (supplied for free from the pet store that supplied us with pregnant Guinea Pigs!)

We have a nice wooden run with sturdy mesh, so I think they will be ok.

One other thing though, we were in a garden centre the other day and we noticed there was some lion scent that is meant to keep cats out of your garden. We were going to get some of that but we didnt no if it would concern the ginners as well :{
 
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