General I have a piggy, and a mouse problem. Wife wants a cat. How do I keep my piggy safe?

[bookwormbabe29]

So as mentioned, I have one older piggy, the last of her litter. I pamper her as best I can. Now though, we have a mice problem. A really, really bad one. I've caught and released over a dozen mice, and have found them boldly drinking from my piggy's water bottle, eating her food, and so on. We need to get rid of the mice, but not sure how to do so without harming my little one. The wife wants to get a cat, but I don't know how to train a cat to get all of the unwanted rodents in the house and not harm Phoebe. We're not the only family in this house, and there is pressure to re-home my piggy, which I refuse to do. I'm desperate to find a solution that won't harm my little love. Any and all ideas/suggestions would be most welcome.

 

[Soecara]

How far away are you releasing them when you do catch them? What kind of live trap are you using? It is also an idea to try and track down exactly where the mice might be using to get inside and try and block their point of entry and then try and reduce their numbers outside your home. You may have to consult a pest controller if the problem is bad enough, just let them know you have pets.

I am not sure how wise it is to get a cat with the intention of it being a mouse hunter, not all cats have that prey drive so there is no guarantee the cat will even hunt the mice at all. Attempting to train it to hunt mice could be met with little to no success if it just doesn't have the prey drive.

Now if you want a cat regardless and will be happy with it even if it doesn't hunt the mice then that is a different matter and guinea pig cages can be cat proofed. Such as by adding a strong lid that can support the full weight of an adult cat, and adapting the outside of the cage to prevent a cat putting their paw in if needed such as extra grids or adding some kind of screening. Most cats don't usually bother adult guinea pigs.

 

[TearLily]

For your guinea pig's cage, depending on the type like if it is a c&c cage you could make a lid of grids and for the whole cage you could add like screen type of chicken wire? I cant remember the name but the one with a bunch of little squares made out of wire that comes in a roll at home improvement stores. Its pretty cheap like maybe $10 for one roll and its plenty of it but you need gloves and wire cutter and you could use this around entire cage including lid with zipties to hopefully keep mice out (just be sure to do outside of grid caging or cage and to sand paper any rough wire to prevent your gp from getting hurt)? I remember using this for bin cages for my hamsters and it was suppose to be small enough to prevent robo dwarf hamsters from escaping so I imagine it could prevent mice from coming in?

Your guinea pig is older and I doubt causes much trouble for family so i dont think its fair for them to be so angry about rehoming her. Even if they get to her food and water (which I do recommend getting water bottles and hopefully they wont be able to get to it as easy), I imagine there are other sources of food and water for the mice to keep coming in. I would go around moving things to check all the walls. I remember a neighbor in old apartments had mice because a hole behind stove so I would even move appliances and check for holes.

Good luck with everything. If you find a solution I would love to hear an update!

 

[ItsaZoo]

A cat may or may not hunt, so that’s not a good option. Your GP has seniority and shouldn’t be uprooted. Is the cage up off the floor? Wrapping with screen is a good idea since mice carry diseases that could infect your GP.

If you have a number of mice then they likely have a nest in the house somewhere. They usually follow water pipes and walk along the walls to get where they are going. The best traps we have used are the covered snap traps since they eliminate the mouse first time with no suffering. I know, I hate killing the little buggers, but they don’t belong in the house. Then you’ll need to find the nest. Exterminators use talcum powder along the walls that the mice track so they can find where the mice go. You may need to talk to an exterminator for a pet-friendly solution to get rid of the mice.