Cats and Guinea Pigs

[o0ojessio0o]

I was going to try to adopt a couple of guinea pigs in the near future. The problem is I have cats. But they're lazy and fat. If I make a cat-proof cage with a lid the cats will probably want to sit on it. Will this scare the pigs and give them tiny little heart attacks? (When I let them out to play around on the floor of course I'll close up the cats in the bathroom or something.)
My cats were afraid of some dwarf hamsters I had a few years back and the hamsters were not afraid of the cats, but I know hamsters are very different.
Should I just wait until I move out of my parent's house to get them? I'm 20, not a kid, and since I proposed the idea to my mom she's been looking at petfinder at all of the cute guinea pigs on there.

[fairysari]

Glad to hear you are going to adopt. If you build a C&C cage and make a lid out of wire shelving, that should keep the cats out. It seems that many members have cats who don't seem to mind their cavies, and they let them interact, but you should definitely know your cats and how they react before trying it.

They pigs sgould be okay with the cats sitting on the cage. When I brought my pigs to my parents house, they got scared and ran and hid in their hideys when the dogs started barking. So they should be okay as long as they have a safe place to hide.

[Sabriel]

My little cat sits on top of the cage all the time. I put my clothes in a cubby I made with extra cubes and she likes to sleep on them. *Grrr*. Spinel could care less. To him, a cat up there is no different then clothes or the other things I rest on top of his cage.

As for out of cage time, the pigs love the cats. Shampoo (my fat lazy cat) is a scaredy cat and runs away from them, but Ukyou thinks they are kittens. The girls piggy train after her and Spinel likes to sleep next to her. Kero's Ok with her till she tries to drink his water. (Both animals have a water obssesion).

I should add though that I stay with the pigs at all times when they are out and about. Mine have a tendancy to get into things they shouldn't.

[Guinea_Pig]

I have a cat with 5 guinea pigs. He doesnt bother them. He seem frightened of them!

[Buggie_00]

I had three guinea pigs and two cats. I made a "cat proof" C&C cage using the shelving units suggested in an earlier reply. One cat could really care less about the pigs, the other was VERY interested in them. Sitting on top of the cage didn't bother the pigs at all and the cats slept up there and had a good view on the "little furry things" below. My only problem was that my mischievous cat Jennie was always sticking her paw through the grids trying to swat at the pigs, since she and Joey aren't declawed I was worried that she might catch one sleeping and hurt them. I got one of those "small animal play pens" from Wal-Mart. It's colorful and just about a foot high, I took apart sections of it and zip tied it over the parts of the cage the cats put their paws through and they could no longer get them in there to swat at the piggies.
As far as floor time went, the pigs were more interested in the cats usually. But NEVER NEVER NEVER leave the cat unattended with the pigs. Instincts are instincts and if a pig starts running around, even if you've never had problems before...the cat might try to catch it and hurt it.
Good luck.

[janetangel]

My cats totally ignor the piggies, even at playtime. I have two old kitties and one young one. My young one would love to have the geckos and has tried to get them, but the piggies do not phase her. I think they are too large for her to go after. I still do not keep the piggies unsupervised with the cats or dogs, but I am not stressed about it.

[North]

i just have one guinea pig, but my family has SIX cats!! Whan shes in her cage they leave her alone (all but the newest one and she keeps trying to bite him so i thank he'll lrean REALLY quick not to stick his foot in her pen !!). you mite whan't to be carful if you put her/he on the floor becouse they WILL try to get her/he at least once, and i find that the lazy ones are the one that will try. but i'm not saying that all cats are going to try to get her/he. my sister has a cat, thor that was a kitten when he first meat lilith so he grow up thinking she was just another kitten, he sleep ontop of her pen, brings her his cat toys trying to get her to play. some of the older one that have been knonw to kill rodents (ONLY wild rabbits and mice mind you) don't pay her any notice, even when she on the floor, so it really depends on your cats presonalltys. If i were you i would go ahead and get the guinea pig but just be careful!!

[Ly&Pigs]

I see people are digging up way old threads again. Unless you have something very important to add to a post then don't reply to posts more than 1 month old.

[MilwCavyMom]

Just my 2cents. I have 2 cats and they are very curious but nothing bad. In fact I had both Gable and Bogie out for lap time Saturday and the cats came up to both of them and sniffed them, gave them nosey kisses and then moseyed off. I was very proud of them. And piggies didn't seem to mind. Bogie squeaked a little but Gable didn't seem to care. So it depends on the nature of the cats but I take precautions with mine and keep the door closed with the pigs when I'm gone and have the cover on at night. They seem to do quite well.

[applelady]

I have two cats, and so far the only problem we've had is they were getting inot the cage to try and "use" the bedding... that's why I decided to switch to fleece. And I put some more "walls" up. But niether of the cats have tried to harm my guinea pig. In fact the kitten likes to sniff at th GP and he sniffs back, they do a "I'll sniff your butt if you'll sniff mine" kind of thing. My momma cat doesn't have much to do with him when he's out and about so I doubt she'd try to hurt him. Just depends on your cat. I'd give them proper introductions and see how things go.