Cat and Pet Birds

A question about : Cat and Pet Birds

My dad passed away this week and as a result his beloved cat is now looking for a new home.

I cannot bear the thought of her going somewhere we don't know and as we have a couple of cockatiels did not consider taking her here. Thinking about it we are considering having here for a few days to see how it goes. We could keep her out of the lounge where the cage is when we were out and overnight and the rest of the time could keep an eye on things.

The Cat Protection people will take her into a foster home if it doesn't work out but for my Dad's sake I want to give it a go.

Anyone else had the 2 species living happily together?

Best answers:

• My daughter once announced that we were getting a cat. It wasn't a request, it wasn't like she asked it was a decision that our darling 16 year old had made and we were supposed to abide by it.
  We already had: 4 budgies, 4 canaries, 7 hamsters, a goldfish and a dog. Hardly a cat compatible home.
  The dog was not a problem, he'd been brought up with cats so had no problem with them. At first we banned the cat from the living room but soon she was allowed in. In actaul fact she seemed to take little interest in the birds in the cages but made sure she was out of the room when they were let out. Even on the odd occasion the cat was in the birds just kept out of her way.
• Similar experience here, in fact our cat ( an avid hunter) was terrified when we bought a cockatiel and would not come into the lounge for several weeks after we brought the bird home. He did eventually get used to it and ignored the bird. However I am sure you can manage the situation well by taking obvious precautions: ie cat out of the room when birds are out of cage - and door shut between birds and cat when you are not at home etc....
• Well we are in the first few hours of the cat being here. The birds are terrified at the moment so we are sitting in the dining room with the cat letting her roam around. She came into the house at first, had a wander around then saw the birds and adopted THAT stance we have seen outside!
• I'm so sorry you lost your Dad.
  I'm afraid I don't have any advice but wanted to say how thoughtful you are for looking after his cat and giving the situation a go. I really do hope it works out well. x
• Although it's not your intention, which is entirely admirable you need to really think carefully about this.
  Stress is a big killer of birds. You would have to watch the cat every second to ensure it did not sneak up on the cage. The cockatiels will very likely be stressed the whole time, they have no idea if the cat is scared of them or viewing them as dinner so people saying their cat ignores their birds are largely missing the point. You are placing prey and predator in the same environment.
  I think it would be better to find a appropriate home more suited to cats, perhaps another family member or a friend could take the cat in. I can understand you not wanting to see the cat go to a stranger. Good luck and I am sorry about your loss.
• We have 2 love birds and had a cat aswell. The cat used to sit on top of the bird cage and they used to to and bat each other, after a few times of the birds winning, my cat happily left them along.
  Unfortunately we no longer have our cat as he got run over, we now have a dog that ignores them unless they are making too much noise then he just barks at them to tell them to shut up, which is funny.