Guinea pigs

[nurseangel]

Anyone had a guinea pig in a multi-cat household? I had a guinea pig years ago, and I loved him. I did have cats then, but they were outside cats and he lived in the utility room. They never saw each other. I don't how well it would work out with housecats. Even if he was in a cage in a room of his own, I worry they would be able to get in and stare at him, making him uncomfortable, (or something worse)! What do you think? DH really wants the pig, but we don't want to do anything that would be unfair.

[Trillcat]

I would say it depends on the temprament (sp) of the piggy, and of the cats.
I had a piggy, (T-Bear) in my house with two cats, they pretty much ignored eachother when he was in his cage. I did keep them seperate though, when it was T-Bears time to come out and play, the cats went into another room, door closed. I knew they wouldn't hurt him but, well, err on the side of safty. He could have caused damage to them as well, never under estimate small when it has big front teeth and claws to match!
Can you introduce them in a safe place? You should be able to tell right off the bat if things will go well, or not so much.

[709Juggalette]

I have two pigs and two cats.
I have the guinea pig's main cage in my bedroom where the cats are not allowed...the cage is one of those open top C&C cages.Once when I was cleaning it out,I had the pigs in a smaller temporary cage and caught Anja terrorizing them and of course they were terrified! Berlin has no interest,but Anja is a little brat so I always have to make sure she cannot get to them.

So it depends on the cats and the pigs personalities.

[nurseangel]

I don't think Speck would hurt anyone, but I could be way off base. Daisy and Marshmallow were strays that depended on their hunting skills before meeting up with us, so I am concerned about their reactions. There would have to be very close supervision and no room for errors. I would be devastated if anything went wrong. Thank you both for your advice. It's promising to know that some people have worked it out.

[709Juggalette]

Do you have a room you could have as a "no cat's allowed" room?

[cjh27]

Hi,

please keep in mind that guinea pigs are social animals that like to groom each other and shouldn't be keept on their own- as far as they are concerned the more the merrier, so plan for at least two little piggies

regards,

christine

[ink]

Like the poster above I urge you to remember that guinea pigs are not happy when kept alone. They love to be with eachother.

I used to rescue stray cats and their kittens. When I first moved to this small town there were a ton of strays and we would feed them, tame them, spay or neuter them and rehome them. There aren't any strays around my place any more. We once spent over five hundred dollars and took up the three days of my vets spay/neuter schedule getting cats fixed.

Anyway we raised show quality Peruvian guinea pigs at the time. There were 31 cats coming and going from this house and none of them paid the guinea pigs any mind.

That was three years ago and I no longer raise guinea pigs and after finding homes for all of the rescues, I went without any cats for two years until Sasha came along.

[nurseangel]

Originally Posted by cjh27

Hi,

please keep in mind that guinea pigs are social animals that like to groom each other and shouldn't be keept on their own- as far as they are concerned the more the merrier, so plan for at least two little piggies

regards,

christine

Thank you for the advice. I must admit, I am happy to get to talk to someone in Germany. I have a shirt that says "Hamburg" on the front. My brother works for a German company.

Originally Posted by ink

Like the poster above I urge you to remember that guinea pigs are not happy when kept alone. They love to be with eachother.

I used to rescue stray cats and their kittens. When I first moved to this small town there were a ton of strays and we would feed them, tame them, spay or neuter them and rehome them. There aren't any strays around my place any more. We once spent over five hundred dollars and took up the three days of my vets spay/neuter schedule getting cats fixed.

Anyway we raised show quality Peruvian guinea pigs at the time. There were 31 cats coming and going from this house and none of them paid the guinea pigs any mind.

That was three years ago and I no longer raise guinea pigs and after finding homes for all of the rescues, I went without any cats for two years until Sasha came along.

I am encouraged to know that your cats ignored the guinea pigs. When I had cats that went outside, they never paid the rabbits any attention. Daisy is my main concern; she's a hunter born and bred.

[709Juggalette]

Oh I didn't even notice a German member! I am learning the labguage! I love Germany!! (off topic!)

[ink]

Originally Posted by nurseangel

Thank you for the advice. I must admit, I am happy to get to talk to someone in Germany. I have a shirt that says "Hamburg" on the front. My brother works for a German company.



I am encouraged to know that your cats ignored the guinea pigs. When I had cats that went outside, they never paid the rabbits any attention. Daisy is my main concern; she's a hunter born and bred.

Even Eleanor who blessed us with seven kittens shortly after her arrival and was the most avid hunter I have seen never bothered the guinea pigs. We had a couple of cats that liked to sleep next to the guinea pig cages. Keep in mind however that I made sure there were tops on the cages. I saw no sense in taking any chances.

[nurseangel]

My biggest concern is with Daisy and Marshmallow. I probably already mentioned this, but they had to fend for themselves before finding a fur-ever home with us. I know all cats are born with the hunting instinct, but I adopted Speck from animal control when he was 8 weeks old, and I doubt he's ever had to kill for food. The guinea pig I had when I was little lived in a posh set-up (no kidding, my dad built him a wonderful roomy home) in the utility room, away from our other pets. He actually came to me in an unusual way: from the zoo. Our neighbor worked at the local zoo and an elderly woman donated the guinea pig to them. The zoo didn't really want him, so the zookeeper neighbor asked me if I'd like to have him. It was love at first sight. I named him Oscar.

[cjh27]

Originally Posted by nurseangel

Thank you for the advice. I must admit, I am happy to get to talk to someone in Germany. I have a shirt that says "Hamburg" on the front. My brother works for a German company.

Originally Posted by 709Juggalette

Oh I didn't even notice a German member! I am learning the labguage! I love Germany!! (off topic!)

Ops, I really missed that you two had replied to me in this thread

Does your brother live in Hamburg? Or do you just like Mac Donalds ? I'm planing to move to Berlin in May which will be fun as it is a great (albeit rather ugly city) and my sister lives there.

Anyway, I can't really contribute much to the piggie questions as I've never owned any... but I do like the smell of a guinea pig

regards,

Christine