Cat saliva

[Soarer]

I will be bringing my new Blue Headed Pionus parrot home in a few weeks. I have a cat and I am unsure about the saliva issue. I have read where it can be fatal if a bird is bitten by a cat. (saliva) If my cat is next to the cage and shakes its head, leaving a morsel of saliva on the cage bars, the bird then climbs the cage and touches the saliva with its beak, is this something to worry about? Does the birds’ immune system take care of it if it is ingested, rather than exposure through an open wound? (bite or scratch).I know it wouldn't hurt to wipe the cage down a few times a day. I have read the many posts about cat and bird interactions. My main question is the saliva issue and its severity.

[Jenny]

Well, it is an issue that needs to be taken seriously. However, I have cats, & have never worried about them slinging saliva onto the bars of my bird's cage - does your cat drool excessively? If that's an issue, the first thing I'd do is have my cat's teeth checked (excessive drooling is a symptom of gum disease). Beyond that, yeah, I guess if my cat slung saliva around, I'd get in the habit of wiping the bars of the cage down more often.

Will this be your first bird? My suggestion would be that you focus on monitoring/controlling your cat's behavior around the bird. Don't allow them to share toys or eat from the same dish & keep your bird away from the litter box. Beyond that, unless there's excessive drooling by your cat, you'll be fine.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

The deal with cat saliva is that cats mouths carry a Pasteurella bacteria that readily causes severe infections in birds. So a bite can be more deadly than just the damage of the bite because the infection risk is very high. I also have cats and birds and I'm careful to supervise the birds whenever they are out and I close the door to the room where their cages are when I'm not home.

However -- cat saliva is NOT "toxic". The bacteria do not live long outside the mouth, so they represent vanishingly small risk of environmental infection, and they are also unlikely to survive in the digestive system if ingested, although it is probably not a good idea for your bird to kiss your cat for any number of reasons.

Additional point of reference -- your mouth is only marginally cleaner than your cat's. You do not want your toddler biting the bird either! Nor do you want to share food that has been in your mouth or french-kiss your bird!