My poor guinea pigs are being traumatised by a neighbours cat ��

[millimat]

GPs are outdoors in a hutch, and go into a run when we are around. Got in yesterday to find a cat staring into the hutch. Poor gps seemed terrified. I've noticed it a few times and shoo it away but evidently it comes round when no one is around.
GPs have been quite jumpy recently and that explains why. They seem quite stressed about it.
I've googled cat deterrents but am concerned that they may also scare the gps. Any suggestions?

Make sure your pigs have got a good secure sturdy housie to run into (it doesn't need to be anything expensive, a big cardboard box with 2-3 small doors cut in will do the trick)

You need - and Disclaimer: I used to own a cat and I'm a lentil weaver dippy vegetarian so no malice involved - to get rid of the cat (not in a horses head on the bed way) .
Shooing them away doesn't work, most cats perversley see that as an invitation or a challenge.

Cold water. I flung a jug of cold water in the direction of NDN cat that had taken a shine to my garden (so decided my garden = toilet. No it bloody isn't) and to my guinea-pigs.
The water is unlikely to catch them especially if you're a useless aim like me, but they see the movement and leg it. Hopefully you don't live on a main road.

I did it twice and now if I growl at NDN cat, he goes. And we haven't had cat turds either.

Now, I need something for foxes. (and my pigs just look at me with food hanging out of their mouths when I rage at foxes and wallop a stick on our fence)

Electric fence wire along your fence? Won't hurt anything as light as a bird but a big old heavy cat landing on it - wallop!

Electric fencing is ££ and you need to get out and fit it . Plus I think the cats know and they'd go UNDER the fence (it works on fairly dense laid back animals like horses) ]grin]

Water is available now, cold as you like and the cat's owner can't rant at you because it's natural, like being caught in heavy rain.

Using a bucket of ice-cubes wouldn't work though, not 'natural' unless it's a hailstorm.

failure

(I am a vegetarian IRL though. See you don't even have to guess, I'll tell you )

Well one thing cats don't like is citrus smells, so I've sprayed all round the hutch ( but not their run) with a mix of orange and lemon juice! 2 plastic bottles are half filled with water - apparently the reflection spooks cats. So do hanging cds, but worried they'll scare the GPs too.
The problem is that I need to keep it away whilst we're out. It runs as soon as it sees me!

I mean round the outside of the hutch btw!!

YY I used orange peel and air freshener to keep an entire tom out of our house (my cat was elderly , tom cat liked to come in a wee on my DD pram. Stench as unholy)

But I had to make sure anything I did wasn't harmful or would affect our moggie.

Cayenne pepper is meant to disagree with them (in the borders where the pigs don't go and it'll wash away)

Lion pooh is meant to keep cats away too

Male human pee is meant to keep foxes away ( though you need to persuade a human male to pee in the garden/ in a bottle)

Don't think the pigs would worry about CD reflections they're a bit ocularly challenged short sighted

Actually GPs haven't been out in the run much today. Wondering if the bottles are spooking them?

Water pistol.

Hose pipe is at the ready for if I see it. The problem is keeping it away when were out!

The guinea-pigs will most likely keep themselves tucked away (I don't know what the weather is like where you are but here it's windy. I haven't put the guineas out- heavy overnight rain too- but I know they'd sit in the tunnel and chatter judgily)

The main thing is to keep them safe and for them to feel that they have somewhere to escape too.

You could move the bottles out of their line of vision but I'm not convinced they can see that well anyway. My red eyed sow ran into the bars of our run three times the first time she went out.
Run-wallop-ouch
Run-wallop-ouch
You'd think she'd learn
Nope
Run-wallop-ouch

I have a neighbouring cat who comes and stares at the pigs but my boys are a bit dense and walk right up to it.

Water pistol is a good idea. Cats are clever and will soon realise it's not a friendly garden. My NDN cats know that if they see me at the front of the house I am luffly and good for a head scratch but in my back garden I am evil and they run away .

it might just be the cold weather
mine couldnt care less about cats. none of them have ever registered them as predators i dont think (birds and things overhead trigger that instinct)
mine free range as well and cats just watch
you could always built an extra 'layer' around the run to increase the distance between them?