[Gpdd] MISC: cats and pigs

[Ruth Leibowitz]

For the person who wrote in about how and whether cats and piggies get 
along, I think it probably completely depends on the individual animals. I 
have one cat who gets along with other species in general.  He likes my 
guinea pigs and does not treat them as prey animals.  For example, when the 
piggies run around on the kitchen floor during their exercise time he will 
sometimes jump over the gate into the kitchen and just "hang out" with them. 
  They are completely unafraid of him; they are actually curious about him 
and will even go up to him and begin to nibble on his tail.  And a few times 
I have seen one of my piggies touch noses with him.  My other cat is not as 
social, and she does not seem to have any interest in the piggies at all, as 
either friends or prey.  The piggies have met both of the cats, and have not 
responded to either one with fear.  They seem to all recognize that they are 
members of the same "family."

Even with the cat who gets along well with the piggies, I do not leave him 
alone with them without my being there.  This is because he is quite a large 
cat (around 14 pounds), and he has taken a gentle swipe at one of them a few 
times when they bother him too much.  He doesn't try to hurt them, but 
because he is so much larger I worry -- so I keep an eye out.  If I see that 
the piggies are approaching him too much and he is beginning to get annoyed, 
I will separate them.

I would suggest that after your cat has some time to acclimate to his or her 
new surroundings, you introduce the cat to the pigs while holding the pigs 
on your lap so that it is clear to the cat that they are under your 
protection.  See how they react to one another and go from there.  If the 
pigs show a lot of fear, respect that and don't force the issue.  If the cat 
appears to see them as prey animals, it would be dangerous to give them 
access to one another.  However, I think in many cases cats and pigs can be 
OK with one another; just don't leave them alone together because of size 
differences that can lead to potential injuries for piggies.

I wonder what other experiences people have had between cats and piggies...

Ruth in Portland

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