cats and parrots?

[coral]

im sure some of you have cats and parrots living in the same house how do you deal with it? it makes me nervous when my cat is staring at my birdy so then i kinda move my kitty outta the room lol my door is always closed when im not home so i dont have to worry about that

[Sarah&Rico]

My cats don't bother with Rico. I used to have budgies, and because they're smaller and fluttery they couldn't help but stare at them. They're scared of Rico lol.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

We have 3 cats and 2 parrots. Two of the cats are really much more into their own thing and would be highly unlikely to bother the birds. The third, our youngest, is fascinated and slightly afraid of them and I am always extra cautious when she is in the same room with the birds. We follow these guidelines:

* If we are not in the house, the birds are in their cages with closed doors in a room with a closed door.

* If we are home but not actually with the birds, they are in their cages with closed doors.

* If the birds are out on their cage tops or playstands, we monitor the situation, always in earshot, virtually always in the same room. If one of the cats enters the room, we monitor the situation even more closely and stand between the bird and the cat if the cat is showing any worrying interest. Fortunately cats usually telegraph their intentions -- they stalk before striking. I have heard that dogs can actually be more dangerous even though they aren't as likely to be fascinated and are more amenable to training -- because they may just rush in without warning if they percieve a threat and boom! it is too late.

* Our birds are not fully flighted. If and when that changes (Scotty is close to having a full set of flights, but shows no real inclination to use them yet) we may have to modify the protocol even more.

Bottom line, I think it is perfectly possible to have cats and birds in the same household. Many cats have no real desire to hunt anyway. However, cats and birds should never be allowed unrestricted access to each other, and any time they are in the same room they should be very closely observed, from a distance where intervention is possible. Don't take past good behavior for granted. On either part! A medium to large bird can do real damage to a cat as well as the more obvious concern about the cat hurting the bird.

Finally if your bird ever does get bitten or scratched, contact the vet, even if the injury appears minor. Bacterial infection from cat bites is extremely common and birds are particularly susceptible. Such an infection from even a minor wound can be fatal.

[patdbunny]

I've always had cats and birds. The first cat/bird combo way back 20 years ago, the cat was a big time hunter. She started out at a feral kitten, maybe that had something to do with it. She absolutely could not be in the same room with any birds. She got a canary that we hung from the ceiling in the middle of the room. We didn't actually see her do it, just the unfortunate aftermath. So all subsequent birds were in my room and my door was closed when I wasn't actually in the room with the birds.

Our current two cats grew up with birds as kittens. We let them watch the birds, but we hissed at them if they tried to bat at them or tried to bite the bird cage bars. Our current two are absolutely trust worthy around birds. They still every once in a while go sit in front of my indoor aviary and bird watch, but that's all they do. One of them, I actually go and get him if I have a small bird loose and I don't know were the bird's hiding. He finds them and just sits in front of where the bird's hiding and stares so he's my bird pointer dog/cat.

So how I've taught my cats is, they're allowed to watch but not do anything else. My belief is if they're allowed to watch they eventually lose interest.

But there are cats like my first one that absolutely cannot be trust with birds - never, ever even if the bird's caged.

[kaylayuh]

I'll have to deal with this same thing when my boyfriend and I eventually live together. He has two cats, one of which would probably not show the slightest interest in the bird. The other cat (my bebe) lunges at the television trying to get fish during shark week. I have no doubt he'd stalk my birds and do serious damage were they to be left alone together.

I love cats. Aside from birds, they're my favorite thing to have as pets. My first pet was a cat and it's weird for me to live without a cat. So what I plan on doing is the following:

1. Birds will always be in cages in a room that the cats don't get access to.
2. When handling the birds and playing with them, the cats will be no where near them. Rooms with birds in them will be guarded like Fort Knox, or whichever impossible-to-break-into thing you have in your country.
3. Cats will not have access to toys that resemble birds and associate birds as prey. I don't want them to think that bird shaped things equal super fun play time.

I will not trust my birds with cats under any circumstances. And as much as I love Cheney (the stalker cat, my bebe), I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him to be around my birds. He pounces on my boyfriend from the top of his cat tree while my boyfriend is sleeping. He routinely attacks things larger than him (pictures attached for proof) I have no doubt he'd try to get at my birds.

It may seem way over protective, but ideally, I'd prefer if the cats didn't know or ever see anything about the birds. My birds are my babies, and I'd lose it if something ever hurt them.

So in short.. Cheney + Birds = NO NO NO x a million NOs.

[MaineFiddler]

In my house, we currently have 3 cats and 1 parrot.
The older two I'm not very concerned about, but the youngest likes to hunt anything that flies! He has had his toes nipped a few times, so now he knows not to touch the cage! lol So before I let Clyde out, I make sure that Moxie is either outside or in another room. The other two cats usually remain upstairs, but if they happen to come downstairs they are under close supervision. Never turn my back because I realize that while they may be good around Clyde, they still have their natural instincts.
I think it all depends on the circumstances and your pets personalities for success in multi species households.

[patdbunny]

Oh yeah! One of my current cats, she's 220% trustworthy with the birds BUT she stalks and attacks little dogs!!! It is hilarious! She stalked three little dogs that some lady was walking across the street. The woman ended up picking up her little dogs and running . She also jumped a pomeranian during a yard sale I was having.

I LOVE MY CAT

[kaylayuh]

Oh yeah! One of my current cats, she's 220% trustworthy with the birds BUT she stalks and attacks little dogs!!! It is hilarious! She stalked three little dogs that some lady was walking across the street. The woman ended up picking up her little dogs and running . She also jumped a pomeranian during a yard sale I was having.

I LOVE MY CAT

It sounds like your cat and my Cheney would get along great. He will stalk and beat up anything and everything. He even rides the roomba vacuum cleaner, much to my boyfriend's annoyance.

[TheNzJessie]

if i have to be completely honest im more of a cat person than a bird person, our house has 2 cats but one is mine, she couldn't care less about the birds. she has never even taken two looks at the birds so im not worried about her but my door is always closed then the birds are out and closed when im not at home.

[liz]

I have two Amazons, six cockatiels, a rooster and three hens. I also have six cat and six dogs. The Amazons, cats and dogs all get along. I just have to keep five of the cats away from my cockatiels so they don't get out of their cage very often.