Conference misery::feline_v1

    
    	My parakeet used to fly around, until we adopted an adult
    	cat. There's just no way to let him out with the cat around!
    	He's about 12 yrs old now, so he's content to stay in his cage.
    	The only thing I can suggest is locking the cat up for an hour
    	or so while you let the bird get his exercise...Unfortunately,
    	you can't get the instinct to grab any small moving object out
    	of a cat. None of my three cats go after the birds in their
    	cages, which are on a bookcase they can't access...Good luck!
    
    	Sherry, Rosie, Missy, & Squeek
    

    When I was a little girl I was given a kitten as a birthday present.
    My father, who's birthday was a few days later, was given a parakeet.
    The bird's cage was on a stand and the cat had a wicker bed which
    was under the stand.  Those 2 were the best of friends.  Beebee
    would fly all through the house and when he got tired of flying
    he would land on TJ Alleycat's head or back and go for a ride. 
    The only problem we had was when TJ wanted to sleep.  Beebee would
    sit up there in his cage and call "here, kitty kitty" until TJ got
    aggrivated enought to jump up and knock the cage down off it's stand.
    They were quite a sight to see together.  People were just amazed
    when they would see these 2 together for the first time.
    
    One night we had a house full of people.  Beebee was in his cage
    and I heard a thump.  I looked in and he was on his back.  He was
    still breathing so I called a vet and was told to put whiskey in
    his beak and incubate him in a warm oven.  All the time I was trying
    to revive him, TJ was walking all around me meowing like crazy.
    I really wasn't paying much attention to him because I was trying
    to save Beebee, but I failed.  When he was dead, I put him in a
    shoe box.  At that point, TJ went to the door.  I opened it and
    he went out.  I never saw him again.  They were 12 years old.
    
    Maybe it was because they came together as babies that they got
    along so well.  It can work, but I don't know about and older cat
    and bird.
    
    Sorry if I ran on.  As you may be able to tell, this note stirred
    up some memories for me.
    
    Janet
    
    

    Hi Linda,
    
    I just moved my 2 cats into a new house. My roommate owns a
    parakeet who is caged, with the cage hanging above a bureau
    in her bedroom.
    
    Both cats will NOT leave the bird alone, especially my male
    cat.  The both try to "get at" it.  My roommate had previous
    cats, who also tried to go after the bird.
    
    The bird is caged anyway, and kept in my roommate's room
    all day. The cats have free run of the house when one of us
    is at home, otherwise they stay in the basement. The cats are
    never near the (caged) bird except under VERY CLOSE supervision
    by either Cheryl or me!  In most cases, this works out fine.
    I would not dare to leave an uncaged bird near a typical cat!
    
    My $.02...
    
    Robyn (Jake, and Munchie)
    

    I have five cats, two parakeets and a conure...they all grew
    up together...and things are fine if the birds are left in
    thier cages, but let'em out and well...cats is cats..eek! 
    Instead, I find that to keep the birds on a separate ro and then
    close off the room during "flying time" is a lot safer...
    
    Fran
    
    

    
    
    Janet, 
    
         That was a BEAUTIFUL story.  Thank you for sharing it.
    
                                                                   
       kim

    
    
    	Well we have four cats and a cockatiel. We just go Coco
    	(the bird) about a month ago.  I woke up one morning to
    	find the bottom of Coco's cage had fallen off (I guess
    	I hadn't put it back on securely after cleaning it) and
    	Coco was on our fan and not a feather around...the cats
    	hadn't touched him.  Which surprised me because Brandi
    	is a good hunter!!
    
    	JJ
    

    Janet,
    
    What a sad story.....but thanks for sharing it.  I guess anything
    is possible.  And, it probably helped that you got them together.
    I would love to get a bird, but figure I would drive Jasper crazy,
    he'd drive the bird crazy, and they're driving each other crazy
    would drive me crazy!!!!!!!!  Will just have to enjoy the ones
    that come to the bird bath.....that DOES drive Jasper crazy.
    
    kc
    

    Thanks, Janet and everyone else who responded.
    My Mom has decided not to get a kitty until the birdie dies.  At her
    age with forgetfulness, etc., she's decided it would make her too
    nervous when she was at home and when she goes out, she'd be always
    double-checking in her mind whether everything was secured back at the
    "farm."
    
    Thanks, again.....
    
    Linda

    I'm really not sure what to do here.  I aquired a cat, Spike, a while
    ago.  He spends the evenings in my front hall, never having shown any
    interest in entering the  house until very recently.  However, the past
    couple of weeks he has been making himself quite at home inside.  The
    problem is, I have a bird (and two dogs and an almost-2-year-old, but
    that's a different story).  I know Spike is a 'birder", because I have
    seen him hunting and swatting at the wild birds in the yard.  He
    doesn't seem to show any intense interest in our bird, however.  He
    wanders into the room, looks at the cage, and wanders out.  I'm not
    sure I can trust him.  I'd like to allow him to stay in the house all
    night, since he's getting quite cuddly and was "Extremely" put-out when
    I deposited him outside the door last night, but I'm just not sure. The
    poor bird, I guess by instinct he knows the cat is a danger.  As soon
    as the cat enters the room where his cage is, he freaks out!  This is a
    bird who is accumsstomed to perching on a dog's head and playing tag with 
    two dogs, but he is really afraid of Spike!  In your experience, do cats
    "fake" uninterest?  I would never leave Spike alone in the house with
    the dogs and bird, but I'd like to keep him in at night.  I'm afraid I
    won't hear the comotion at the cage until it's too late.  Moving the
    cage isn't possible, since it's too large.  Should I trust him?  
    
    Sarah (the next hurdle will be "who gets to sleep on the bed...the dogs
    or the cat?") 

    I don't think cats fake uninterest.  I am concerned about the bird
    having a heart attack or somesuch, however.  Is it possible to close
    off teh room where the cage is at night?
    

    We have eight cats with a bird....and to tell you the truth...no
    cats really bothers the bird....but that doesn't mean I trust them!
    I just don't trust their natural instinct!  The bird is nine years
    old...and he teases the heck out of the cats too!!
    
    What we did was hung the bird cage from the ceiling and made sure
    there is nothing underneath it that the cats can use to jump up.
    But when I'm not home....I also shut the room off where the bird is.
         
    Sandy
    

    No advise here, this just reminded me of a funny thing. Louisa Pierce
    notes in here sometimes, and she has a big parrot & three kitties. Her
    parrot is *SO* funny!! Her cats are AFRAID of the bird, and the bird
    calls the cats "Heeeeeeere Kitty kitty kitty!! *MEOooooooOOOOWWW*!"
    and the cats go scurrying!! he doesn't try to hurt them, he just 
    makes em' jump!
    
    My cat DOES fake uninterest when we play, tho. She'll walk right past
    the toy like she couldn't care less, and then when you least expect it,
    *BAM*! She hits it & jumps all over it & flings it into the air. I know
    I couldn't get a bird w/ her around!
    
    Bonnie

I'm pretty sure that the best approach is to restrict the cat from entering
where the bird is....at least when you aren't there to supervise.  It is
wise to be cautious....but, I will admit, that a cat that "knows" a bird as
a fellow companion animal may not view the bird as prey.  Of course, once
the bird takes flight, the instinct to hunt may take over quickly and that
could mean a dead bird.  Allowing the cat into the house, but not into the
room where the bird lives is the best policy.

    Some cats definitely DO fake uninterest.  When I was younger, we had
    a parakeet and two cats.  One of the cats would completely ignore the
    bird when you were around - but just give him a minute alone, and 
    BOOM ***CRASH**  down went the birdcage!!  It really ticked my mother
    off that the cat would "pretend" not to notice the bird until we 
    TURNED OUR BACKS!

    Well, I "accidentally" (my husband says I did it on purpose, but I
    honestly forgot : ) left Spike in the houes overnight Friday night.  We
    have a day-bed in the baby's room, and he followed me when I put the
    baby down to sleep for the night.  He jumped up in the daybed, rolled
    himself into a ball, and made himself quite comfortable for a nap.  I
    said " Ok, you can sleep there for a little while, then OUT"  Well,
    he never came out of the room, and I went to bed.  At 4:00 AM, I heard
    a trememdous racket.  Bubba, the bird, SAW THE CAT leaving the baby's
    room, and got SO UPSET that he fell off his perch!  He can't see very
    well in the dark, but HE KNEW the cat was there. I could see the whole
    thing from my bed.  Spike was standing in the doorway of the baby's
    room, just looking at the cage.  Bubba was floundering around and
    sqwauking.  Then Spike wandered off to finish the night asleep on the
    couch.  I have since kept Spike in the house during the night, and we
    haven't had a repeat episode.  It's really strange how Bubba can sense
    the cat is around.  I can't close off the rooms, because it's an open
    floor-plan.  The only rooms that can be closed are the bedrooms, and
    the cage won't fit.  But it looks like I'll get plenty of warning if
    Spike does decide to investigate further.  So far he has made no
    attempt to jump onto any counters or furniture (except for the daybed
    couch, and my husband's pillow : )  Spike even touched noses with one
    of the dogs the other night!  Looks like the household is learning to
    accept Spike (I even caught my husband chatting with him the other
    night). Thanks for all the insight.  I'm learning!!!
    Sarah
    

    It sounds like a busy house, Sara! I'm glad things seem to be working
    out! I wonder if the bird will suffer from any anxiety or stress from
    the cats presence even tho he's not going after the bird? Does the bird
    seem OK (like its usual self) when the cat is just hanging around?
    
    Bonnie

    Funny, Bubba is fine if we are in the room.  The "panic attack" happens
    when we are in another part of the house, and Spike saunters through. 
    We can see the bird cage from anywhere in the house, so I usually watch
    Spike to see what  he's up to.  Bubba is getting better about it,
    though.  He seems to be adjusting to the new animal in the house.  I
    was fairly concerned about him, since it doesn't take much to
    stress-out a caged bird.  But he seems OK, still as loud as
    ever...sings his heart out at the first light of day.
    It is an interesting situation in my house...one bird, one cat, two dogs,
    and a toddler.  Quite a food-chain!
    Sarah
    

    Just out of curiosity, how old is the baby?  I remember my sister being
    afraid to let her cats in the baby's crib while she was still very
    young (even now that the baby's a year old, my sister doesn't want her
    cats in the crib 'cuz one always has his kitty litter on his feet.)
    
    When I was a child my family had two parakeets, two cats, and a dog. 
    One cat always sat under the cage, watching; the dog would tattle on
    him.  The birds ignored him (well, they were kind of hyper so it was
    hard to tell if they reacted.)  We never had a disaster, but we never
    would leave the cat and birds in the same room when we left the house.
    
    Sounds like a zoo--good luck.  Now that I think about it, sometimes
    I'm amazed my mother is sane.
    
    Lisa Dean and Snoopy

    My "baby" is 21 months.  Almost 2!!! CAn you believe I have a 2 year
    old, two dogs, a bird and a cat!  No wonder people look at me a little
    "oddly" sometimes.  Anyway, the bird has decided the cat is not a
    threat to him.  I still will not leave the cat in the house alone, but
    the bird has gone from absolute freaking out to yelling his name at the
    cat "Bubba! Bubba!".  I suppose in time he will graduate to a simple
    glare...
    Sarah
    

    Don't expect a simple glare from your bird...my bird has ruled
    the cats for many many years.  And the only way she knows how
    to do this is Yap her head off until she has their full 
    attention.   I can imagine what she does to the cats....because
    she can get on my nerves!!!!
    
    Glad things are calming down for you!!!!  What a full family!!
    
    Sandy