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so glad I found this forum! I have so many questions

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so glad I found this forum! I have so many questions

Postby LB10018 » Fri Feb 02, 2018 10:26 pm

Hi all!
My husband's mother can no longer take care of Sonny, an African Grey timneh who has been in their family for at least 40 years.
Little history...
Sonny lived with us before we had our own children about 15 years ago for about a year. Then mom wanted him back so we returned him. We see him frequently because we visit several times a month and holidays.
Fast forward to today...
Mom's health is deteriorating and she can no longer keep Sonny at her house. She called my husband today at work and asked us to pick him up and keep him permanently because he's home alone most of the time since she's in an out of hospitals, etc.
We said ok and picked him up a few hours ago.
Situation...
We have 2 kids now and a CAT. Ariel is a 5-year-old adult female Persian/Tabby housecat who generally minds her business and likes to be left alone. But she is showing extreme interest in this new member and has not left the room. She's just observing him but she walked very close to the cage and Sonny lost it. He started to growl and shake, so we gently started to pet the cat to show Sonny that's she's sweet and that we like her. (And hopefully he will too!)
We are extremely nervous because while Ariel is usually calm and harmless, we now have predator and prey under the same roof.
What are some things we can do to make this work?
If anyone has brought a bird home with an adult cat already in the house, I would love to hear how your transition went.
Thank you!
LB10018
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 3
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: African Grey Timneh (40 years old, maybe older)
Flight: Yes

Re: so glad I found this forum! I have so many questions

Postby Navre » Sat Feb 03, 2018 8:35 am

Sonny is old enough that he very well may be wild caught. He will never be okay with a predator like that in the room. You will really have to keep the cat away from the bird. He will get very stressed, and stress will lead to illness.
Navre
African Grey
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 1909
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: Turquoise Green Cheek Conure
Hooded Parrot
Flight: Yes

Re: so glad I found this forum! I have so many questions

Postby LB10018 » Sat Feb 03, 2018 10:27 am

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback!
Keeping the cat away is not possible, as she is also part of our family. Looking for ways for them to coexist without locking one away all the time.
LB10018
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 3
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: African Grey Timneh (40 years old, maybe older)
Flight: Yes

Re: so glad I found this forum! I have so many questions

Postby Pajarita » Sat Feb 03, 2018 10:57 am

John Navre is correct. You can't teach a prey that the predator is 'nice'. It doesn't work, it will cause chronic stress and, at his age, it's a sure death sentence for him so I urge to reconsider your position.

I have fully flighted birds that are out for hours and hours every day [this time of the year, a minimum of 7 hours a day, more during the long days of the summer], I also have nine cats and eight dogs BUT my dogs [which are trained NEVER to go after the birds] stay in the kitchen [there is a tall gate at the opening into the dining room] and my cats stay in their room [my husband's study] until the birds are back in their cages. They don't mind at all because cats sleep an average of 13 to 16 hours a day, mostly during the day when the birds are active, and they have nice cuddly beds, two tall condos in front of the windows, tunnels, crinkly tubes, toys, four different kinds of scratchers, cat litter, food and water in their room so they have no problem staying there. As a matter of fact, they are so used to it that they go into it without my having to do anything and they actually run up the stairs in front of me eager to go in!

My recommendation to you is to set up a nice 'cat station' in a room for her. The best one would be a bedroom [all my cats LOVE to go into the bedrooms so they can sleep on the beds] and, if you feed her breakfast there every morning and put a cat litter box and some toys in it, she will be very comfortable in it and not mind at all after a while.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes


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