Deterring cats advice please,

Person_one

bloolagoon wrote: »

Well I clearly will have to, short term. Long term I want them to be happy and exercised fully, hence ideas on how I can make this creature go elsewhere.

Water spray.

You should still supervise them when they're loose though, why wouldn't you?

MrSmartprice

bloolagoon wrote: »

In 6 years I have never needed to. They have hiding spaces from birds, although they do actually play with the magpies, they have a very large run, but our garden is open to them in case they want to come out.

There must be a way to deter the cat that doesn't alter my piggies having a good life.

They may have the right to roam and mess and kill my animals but clearly I'm unhappy. If my dog killed their intruding cat, would this be wrong?

Sadly my dogs are lacking in dealing with this intrusion.

We had guinea pigs years ago and they were always put in a run in the garden in the summer. We did keep an eye out for cats though.

Cats are a menace when it comes to getting into gardens and I think it is reasonable to deter them by whatever means you can. We fostered a greyhound for a while and he certainly acted as a deterrent. He never caught one, but came close. If a dog kills a cat in your own garden then it's too bad.

Cats may have this right to roam, but they are not regarded as important in law. Unlike a dog, if you run over a cat on the road it's bad luck on the cat. You are not even required to stop, it is just like running over a hedgehog or whatever.

bloolagoon

Person_one wrote: »

Water spray.

I have been reading about a scarecrow type sprinkler, my piggies don't mind water so this may work.

bloolagoon

Person_one wrote: »

Water spray.

You should still supervise them when they're loose though, why wouldn't you?

Because they have full access to a secure garden. Why do cat owners not supervise their cat?

That's the main issue!

Person_one

bloolagoon wrote: »

I have been reading about a scarecrow type sprinkler, my piggies don't mind water so this may work.

Also, you could supervise them, if you want to make sure they're safe.

bloolagoon

Person_one wrote: »

Also, you could supervise them, if you want to make sure they're safe.

Well clearly I will, they will have less access to grass, fun, exercise due to another owner who doesn't supervise.

They have not been put outside alone and cannot until this cat gues elsewhere. Long term I want them to have free access to their garden. The cat was on the hutch last night (piggies inside the house) so they can't even go in a secure run as they would not feel safe. It would petrify them.

carebear13

Hi, we have had the same problem and i bought 2 of the sonic things from wilkos, you can run them off batteries or the mains and they are brilliant, it took a couple of weeks for the cats to stop pooping, and although they still come into the garden they dont stay to do their business.

Person_one

I'm afraid I don't think its ever very responsible to leave a rabbit/guinea pig etc. unsupervised in an open garden. Cats aren't the only threat by a long stretch.

As long as you make the time to give them a decent amount of 'playing out' they'll be fine.

Elsewhere

I hope the UK will eventually take a hard line approach to cat ownership as they do in Australia - compulsary microchipping, registration, sterilisation and also a curfew from dusk to dawn in some areas.

balletshoes

bloolagoon wrote: »

They come inside at nights and over winter. During good weather they use the outside hutch with hiding places in our garden.

She was happily feeding on grass when the cat jumped over the fence. I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't been there.

Since then the cat has been prowling over their hutch, as probably never realised what it was before as in a different area to where it fouls, just bad luck that she was having a run out whilst it was using my garden as a toilet.

Why should my animals stay indoors and not have access to exercise and grass because someone else's animal invades my property? It's bad enough dealing with having my children clear up their mess without worrying about the safety of my piggies.

i totally understand why you want to deter this cat from your garden.

however, your bit in bold, from a purely practical point of view, is not going to help protect your guinea pigs from cats. You now know there is a problem, so I think you should consider keeping the piggies protected whilst outside, with a strong run so a cat can't get in beside them, while they are excercising/eating in the garden.