Anyone here with a bird AND cats?

BengaLover

We have always wanted a parrot..
Just wondering if anyone here has had any experience keeping a parrot/cockatiel and also have cats. Im sure a large parrot could give a cat a nasty bite to put them off, but would the prescence of cats deter a bird from becoming hand tamed?
Our 3 cats dont touch our hamster when he is out of the cage, but thats only if we are around, if we werent around maybe it would be a different story..

baords dyslexic

We have an Amazon, Love Birds and Grass Parakeats and have always had cats. Not really had a problem, when the Amazon is out we do listen to hear if he's taken off on a kamikasi mission and landed on the floor but even then the cats and the dogs leave him well alone. The JRT even learnt to keep his distance but it didn't all come at once and we also have to watch out as the Amazon would happily land on the larger dogs and try and rid around on their backs.

An Amazon, Grey or larger parrot will do serious damage to a cats paw if they are stupid enough to put it in the cage and some parrots will bait them into it so its not just a one sided battle.

BengaLover

I guess its a matter of establishing border lines..:D

baords dyslexic

BengaLover wrote: »

I guess its a matter of establishing border lines..:D

I would say for the first year if the parrot was out then we checked and made sure that cats weren't in the same room but now he's just part of the furniture as far as he is concerened. The dogs were always a bigger threat.

Our Amazon was hand reared and "silly" tame so very handleable but not by everyone he always bites my wife yet my son can do anything he like with him, I try not to handle him too much as he always goes straight up onto my shoulder and plucks the hairs out of the back of my neck :eek:

johndoe99

i have cats and dogs, had a parrot also for about 10 years until i sold him. When i first introduced him to the cats, the cat being inquisitive climbed up next to him and with one loud shriek from the parrot the cats never went near him again, it scared the terriers as well.

When we'd have him out on the floor he was always edging himself close to the cats, the cats could tell and move away, i've always wondered is it in the parrot's instinct to attack other animals or was he just curious.

BengaLover

I think my main concern is that a bird would be harder to hand tame if there were cats around - that shreik you talked about would deter mine alright, but on the other hand, the bird might just keep retreating to safe places, and not tend to come to us..

baords dyslexic

BengaLover wrote: »

I think my main concern is that a bird would be harder to hand tame if there were cats around - that shreik you talked about would deter mine alright, but on the other hand, the bird might just keep retreating to safe places, and not tend to come to us..

Safe to say you have NO IDEA , as johndoe99 indicates many parrots have NO FEAR for what looks like obvious danger - some might call it a sence of humour - that can be a real pain because as I mentioned our Amazon will climb onto his tray (when hes out of his cage) which is the level of our bigger dogs backs and try and jump onto them as they go past. Given the choice of a high perch where there's nothing go on or a low one at a level suitable for cat baiting or grabbing a passing dog then ours will pick the lower perch.

On the other hand you could put a new toy in his cage and he'll ignore it and treat it with the utmost suspision untill he gets used to it.