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Dog proofing

Suisan

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I have a large dog that me and my 3 childeren love very much, and we are thinking of getting 2 pigs. How can we ensure the pigs safty with such a large predetor instinct.:?:
 

aqh88

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The absolute safest with a big dog is to confine the guinea pigs to a seperate room which can be closed. My mom has a huge rott/lab mix that we always trusted quite a bit with the guinea pigs. He'd lick them when they were out and sometimes they'd follow him around the house but we still kept them in a seperate room when we weren't around. I know someone else had a rott that was the same as ours with the guinea pigs and one day they locked the dog in the room with the guinea pigs for some reason. They came back to all the cages destroyed.

I'm not saying it won't work out. We had guinea pigs and dogs together for probably 10years since I was a little kid and never had a problem but if you really want to be safe the pigs are best off in their own room or on a very high table where the dog can't really see them. The temptation for even well mannered dogs is sometimes just too great.
 

SkinnyPiggys

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I have 2 large dogs and guinea pigs (plus many other pets!). My cages are very sturdy and all of them have covers on top. I also place them up off the ground on a table. As long as you do something like this, your piggies should be fine.
 

Suisan

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Thank you for all your replies.

What I find highly amusing about this thread is that the original post was written by my fifth grade daughter. We are talking about the responsibilities of bringing in a new pet and the issues we would need to address. I showed her the forum this morning and showed her how the threads work. While I made cookies with her younger siblings she asked if she could look around the forum.

I didn't realize that she would be asking a question--and I have since talked to her about internet safety (gulp).

But I thought the phrase "large predetor instinct" was pretty adult.

Thanks for helping us out--we continue to research whether we can adopt in the new year.
 

Percy's Mom

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Looks like you have quite an intelligent 5th grader Suisan! It was a very good question as well, and yes, her phrasing did sound extremely grown up.
 

SkinnyPiggys

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Percy's Mom said:
Looks like you have quite an intelligent 5th grader Suisan! It was a very good question as well, and yes, her phrasing did sound extremely grown up.

She fooled me!! What a little smarty-pants!
 

Envirofairy

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I've got three dogs (one's a giant great pyraneese) when i built by 2x3 I added an extra story so it's a little taller then 2 feet. I left the top open just for ease of cleaning and handling the piggies. then i got legs from home depot and put wheels on them, attached a sheet of plywood to them, draped a cloth over it and placed the cage on top. now thecage is about 4 feet off the ground (and it's able to be moved easily) and the dogs can't get to it.

ellie
 

aqh88

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A great pyranese could easily get to something 4' off the ground if it wanted to. Ours stood 8' when on his hindlegs and he wasn't against jumping up on those hindlegs to reach something. He was a big teddy bear though and didn't seem to have much hunting instinct but I wouldn't rely on that forever.
 

kimmee

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Question on Cat-Proofing a Cage!

My original plan was to just keep the cat entirely out of the room where the cavies would be, but I've recently learned that my cat can open a door from the outside now, or at least she can open my room door because it's light enough for her to move lol! She is one smart cookie sometimes *shakes head*

So, right now I have three hamsters and my cat. My cat leaves the hamsters alone for the most part, but sometimes in the middle of the night she will jump onto the table next to Moke's cage and look at him.... I'm not at all nervous that she can get inside that thing though, or knock it over (I can barely lift it myself haha). BUT... she makes the hamster extremely nervous, so I keep her off the table at all times. She knows she isn't allowed there, and if I say something to her or walk towards her while she's up there she'll get down. She's an old cat now, but still active enough to climb the furnature in my room hehe.


SOOO... Back to my cavy cage; would the cat possibly make the cavies nervous if she sat on their cage or something, when I wasn't around? I would deffinately make it cat-proof... I'm not worried about her hurting them, just making them very nervous (and I know stress can lead to health problems at times :( ). I have seen on the site though that people have pictures of their cats actually sitting on a cage with cavies in it, but I also know a few very high-strung cavies from friends... would my cat be a problem, or not? If it's best to keep her out of the room altogether, I can buy a new doorknob which holds closed better, or even lock the door and have a key tied to the doorknob (I doubt kitty can unlock a door like that lol). Just I would never forgive myself if I found a cavy that had a heart attack because my cat scared it! (I don't think that'd happen, but still...)

Oh, one more question... How do I make a cage door that is attached to the top going down the side, and opens easily, but is still cat-proof? Can it be done? Or is this just wishful thinking? lol


Arg, I keep making wicked long posts... sorry about that, hehe.
 

Suisan

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I have seen on the site though that people have pictures of their cats actually sitting on a cage with cavies in it, but I also know a few very high-strung cavies from friends... would my cat be a problem, or not?
I read in the comments on some of those pictures that they were staged and that the cat in question was not totally thrilled to be up there. I don'think there's any way of knowing beforehand if your cat will upset the pigs. Some are going to get along fine, some aren't.

Oh, one more question... How do I make a cage door that is attached to the top going down the side, and opens easily, but is still cat-proof? Can it be done? Or is this just wishful thinking? lol

I think if you have a "handy" cat, one which opens doors already, then you may be in for more of a challenge.

Can you bungee cord it closed? If you can overlap the grids at the door then you can clip the door closed with a thumb clip. But overall, you're courting danger by expecting the cat to leave the guineas alone and not try to lift the flap. You won't know if you're successful until the day the cat succeeds in opening it.
 

kimmee

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Hmm, I never thought of that.

My cat can open doors with a door knob now (sneaky little git!) but I don't think she can unbungee a door. Then again, it's possible I guess.


Gosh I can always put a padlock on it! *laughs* I know that my cat can't open those things, I can barely figure mine out!


Then again, my cat has no real reason to want to open the cage, as she has never tried to open any of my hamster cages. She loves to watch the little things move, it's like cartoons are for a kiddie... but she has no interest in hunting anything. BUT... I would much rather be safe than sorry!

I think I have a more set plan on what I'm doing now! I will have two floors, with a ramp going from the back corner of the cage to the middle square on that side (the ramp will be along the side) so only one square will be open from the top level. This way, on the opposite side of the cage (the side facing into my room) the two middle panels of the 2x3 side will be detachable as two seperate doors.

I just need a way that I can attach the doors to the cage that is cat-proof, but easy to open for me (so if there was ever an emergency I can get to the pigs quickly). You know, I'm just going to wait until I actually build the cage, and then ask my dad, as he is very handy. He comes up with brilliant yet painfully simple ways to do things that I would never think of!


I will post again sharing the plan I use, once I build the cage.


Thank you again, Suisan! :D
 

aqh88

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Cats and guinea pigs usually get along fine. Most cats either completely ignore them or are scared of them. Some like to watch them. Several of my cats would lay on the cages and watch them. Carmel liked to sit in the hayloft with the pigs when I let her in the room. 1 reason cats don't see guinea pigs as prey is because guinea pigs are fairly large and they usually aren't that scared of cats. All but 1 of my guinea pigs has always gone right up to the cats to see them and if the cat doesn't move start cleaning or trimming their fur. The only 1 that ran away is also the only one that has gotten chased by Carmel's bold kitten.

For a latch try ordering snaps used on horse tack. Few animals accomplish opening those and they kept Carmel from eating my gerbils. She can open most standard small animal cages and some doors. A big double sided snap also worked well to keep my houdini horse from opening the gate until he learned that running into with enough force would break the snap. A cat shouldn't be strong enough to break even the smaller snaps.
These are simple for humans to open and hard for many animals (broken link removed)
 

kimmee

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Ooh, thanks I'll deffinately look into that once I start getting the materials :D

Yeah I think if I used some type of latch instead of just something more simple (like a bungee) that would prevent my cat from getting in :)

Awesome suggestions from everyone, love this forum such a good resource! hehe.
 

Suisan

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Suisan said:
Can you bungee cord it closed? If you can overlap the grids at the door then you can clip the door closed with a thumb clip.QUOTE]

And by "thumb clip" I meant double ended snap. Don't quite know where my naming nouns are going these days.
 

WEAVER

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It is very possible for cats and guinea pigs to live in harmony. I have two cats, one that does not even look at the guinea pig and the other one who will not leave Oreo's side. She even "pets" him through the wire on the squares and he sits there and actually likes it. They are a cute pair and best buddies. Hopefully you will have the same luck, but until you know for sure be careful. Even though my cat love the guinea pig my cage still has a lid and is very safe. Sometimes animals act differently when they know they are not being watched or when you are not home, just like kids.
 

Southerngirl

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I have 2 cats and are keeping a close eye on them since we just got our piggies. One of my kitties is 5 and too fat and lazy to even worry about the piggies. The other is a 6 month old kitten and she is VERY interested in the guinea pigs.]]]]]](haha, that was her on the keyboard, she knows im typing about her)

I just have the Guineas in a room up on a table with a lid. Then I close off that room when I am not at home or pumpkin (the kitten) isnt outside. Basically, I just dont let her be alone with them.
 

jdomans

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I have always wondered if pigs just don't have the right smell to cats like a mouse does. In times past our cats never gave the pigs a thought.
 

LovesCavies

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My cat shows little to no interest in my pigs, but I still wounldn't trust them alone . I think it would be best to keep cats away unless supervised, even then think what bite from a cat could do .
 
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