Marauding cats reactions to piggies?

[Miss.Piggy!?]

Hello! I have three lovely kitties, but this only concerns the younger two. They are siblings named Starburst and Twizzler after the candy. The other is a chubby boy who I took in as a stray when he took refuge in my garage. Enough of the names and small talk. I'm considering getting a pair of piggies, two sweet girls from a rescue like 3 hours from my house. I've read all I can about piggies, and if I got them, they would have one of the cages that you can biuld from this web site.

So my problem is Starboo and Twizzy (my cats nicknames). They are two, and enjoy bringing us 'gifts' that consist of birds. They are in the simply adorable habit of bringing in live unharmed birds and letting them free and chasing them around the living room, until we rescue the birds and let them free. Last year my cats knocked over my gerbils cage got it open and killed my two gerbil babies. I was heart broken.

So you may see why I'm... hesitent to trust my darling kitties with piggies. They are rather small cats, so a piggy would be 2/3 their size, approximatly, compared to a gerbil, which is a bite-sized morsel for a cat. All the sites I've looked at say they should be fine together, but I'm still worried about it. Personal experience would be much appreciated. Thanks a ton!

[akstrohm]

Do not trust your cats with your pigs. Cats are predators, and guinea pigs are prey. Even if the pigs are totally safe (which they aren't), they will be very stressed by the cats if allowed to interact.

The best thing to do is to build a secure C&C cage. Use zip ties to hold the grids together. Make sure it has a lid that can be latched. It might help to raise the cage off the floor (this is best for pigs anyway). And if possible, put the pigs in a room the cat doesn't spend much time in.

[Miss.Piggy!?]

Thanks for that advice. It was what I was hoping to hear.