Those of you that have birds with cats, in here please :)

So I'm about to move out of home (freaking yay) and the lady I'm moving in with has a cat. Since I've never had a cat I have no idea how people balance them with birds.
I'll be having Mali(tiel) and Rory(GCC) there with me, both of whom are currently flighted, and I have pretty muh all of upstairs to myself. Unfortunately upstairs can't be shut off from the stairs and Mali is the kind of bird who'll follow you down the stairs and out the door. Rory also has a nasty habit of stalking people he's decided he doesn't like and will fly onto them to bite them. So far there's very few people he does this too, all men.
Now the cat, he's been abused early in life and will apparently take a long time to get used to me, hopefully this means when I move in upstairs he'll keep out. Do I clip the birds wings to start off with, to give us all a chance to settle in, or do I leave them flighted so they can get away from the cat? I'm also considering hanging one of those beaded curtains you put in doorways, so's to stop the birds flying out of the lounge room. I'd love to get a door installed there, that'd be so much better. I could just shut the cat out.
Any suggestions?

In our house we have 4 birds and 3 cats. Only one of the three cats didn't have previous bird experience. Our other two were kittens while we already had the birds so they are just another pet to them, in fact Maxx, our youngest cat, used to sleep on top of my Jardine's cage. It didn't seem to bother either of them.

It is difficult but not impossible in your situation, only because the cat is not your, so therefore, not yours to train. I would NOT, however, clip your birds. It will be their only form of escape should the cat get too aggressive. With that in mind, you will need to either keep them in an enclosed room or bird proof your new place so there are places for them to escape to high up but not out. All windows and doors should be screened. If your main entry is an open doorway, you can buy add-on door screens that work perfectly for this purpose but do not hinder you at all.

https://www.buymagicmesh.com/

We have two cats with our two birds, and both cats were adults before we introduced the brats into the mix.

Initially, we had both Poe and Doppler's flight feathers trimmed - but that was more of a safety measure with US as we adjusted, now that they have moulted we are leaving them fully flighted.

I agree with Vikki on everything, and only have one extra point to make which is pretty self-explanatory: We never, ever leave the fids out unsupervised. If we can't be in the same room as their cages, they are either on our shoulders or back inside their "homes". Our cats seem good with them, and we have never had any issues (including on the day a few months back when Poe figured out how to unlatch his door and spent six hours while we were at work terrorizing the apartment and leaving birdie bombs everywhere) but I still won't trust the cats alone with them.

Definitely. The only place I leave my birds unsupervised is in the bedroom, without the cats, with a closed door if I have to run to the bathroiom or something quick. Otherwise never. Also, the size of the bird matters. I could easily leave Sebastian out and not worry about the cats. He's large enough that I would worry more about the cat getting hurt. The little guys, well, the cats have tried to screw with them and have gotten noses bitten and that tends to instill the necessary fear to keep them away for the most part.

Three cats, three birds. Birds are trimmed and we closely supervise them when out. The cats definitely mostly lose interest after a while, but a fluttering bird could easily attract their attention without their even realizing what it was. So we are careful.

I think trimmed or not trimmed is a wash when it comes to cat safety. Yes, there might be slightly more chance of getting away. But there is also a lot more chance of an unsupervised encounter and the act of flying is going catch a cat's attention. I feel significantly safer in that respect with my birds a bit more localized.

I honestly don't think I'd try having my birds fully flighted with a housemate unless I could close my part of the house off and feel secure that they'd never be allowed beyond those bounds. There's the cat, but even more so, there's the possibility of pots left on the stove, doors being left open... it would make me nuts worrying if the housemate would be careful. Plus flighted birds may not be quite what the housemate had in mind, in terms of destruction and mess potential. Personally I'd definitely trim them, but I tend to err on that side of caution anyway.

I tend not to leave my birds loose while I'm cooking. They're too curious and I'm too distracted. Recipe for disaster.

My newest fun pet in our family is a 6 month old boa named Inca. She loves me and loves to be held but the cats and the birds are both curious and that is one scenario I don't want to imagine. When we have her out, the birds are caged and the cats are shooed.

Thanks do much for all the advice. I think we've got similar thinking re clipping SnS, I know the house mate has had birds before, but I'd rather have them clipped to start off with. I'm not someone who HAS to have them clipped or HAS to have them flighted. I'm happy to do whatever's needed. I'd rather be able to have them on my shoulder or on their play top and know that's where they are. Having said that, they'll never be out unsupervised. They'll only be out with me when I'm watching Telly or doing my crochet or something. Times when they can come be with me. And I can always shut them in the bedroom. I think I'll give it a little while and then decide what to do about the doorway. The cat may decide he's not coming up ever again, who knows. Also all windows in Aus are supposed to be screened anyway to protect from ember attack.
I was thinking of a baby gate or something for the door way, apparently you can get cat proof ones? Or heck after awhile we way just install a door if need be!

I think a screen door would work wonders. Of course, only until the cat or the birds chewed holes in it. LOL

Ive kinda steered away from a screen door, I don't wanthe shab the place up, but I wonder about a nicely made lattice door? Stained to suit the decor? That would keep the cat out and it'd take a fair while for the birds to chew thru. And since neither of them are big chewers it'd take ages! I'd probably still clip them to start off tho.

We have three cats, two birds and the dog in our house. Arthur only comes out onto the couch and his cage, so I don't worry too much about inter-species encounters with him. He is also very closely supervised when he is out. I concur with everything suggested by Deb and the others.

Merlin I have to watch to make sure he doesn't go pick a fight with the cats (who consistently run away). He is partially flighted (two outer primaries), and seems to get around just fine. Enough flight to get away from (or into) trouble, not enough to get too far away from me. They seem to have come to somewhat of an agreement to avoid each other, but I don't trust any of them enough to leave them alone.

I think I've come up with something that might work, instead of a door I'm gonna ask dad to make me a lattice panel, one that fits the width of the hallway that has feet I can swivel out, so when I want the birds out I can use it to block the opening but that won't be there all the time. That way I can put it up when needed but it wot be there all the time, when it's not needed it can go away in another room or go against the wall.

Just remember that a cat can jump on average about 5x's its height....

Well the plan is for the panel to go all the way to the top of the door, it should block the entire entry.

Sounds workable. You'll need to make sure kitty can't push it aside or knock it over trying to climb it, but it sounds like a very good solution.

Well it'll have swivel out feet and be solid timber, so should be right yeah?

How's your physics? Wish I was teaching it this semester, I'd pose the problem... one 4kg cat at (how many m/s?) strikes an 8' high panel with a mass of.... and a base with feet extending.... is there enough torque produced to topple the panel?

Heh.

Ahh my physics are non exsistant but I figure if it doesn't work I can add some Velcro or something to fix it to the wall either side. I dunno, spose I'll just see how it goes.

sorry i am still trying to figure out what X equals...lol

dusty

42

42...hmmmm if i had known that 50 years ago i would have passed grade 8....lol


dusty

Of course if you use the coefficient of B plus the sound of light you get 12.....

ScooterNScotty wrote:

How's your physics? Wish I was teaching it this semester, I'd pose the problem... one 4kg cat at (how many m/s?) strikes an 8' high panel with a mass of.... and a base with feet extending.... is there enough torque produced to topple the panel?

Heh.

Too many unknown variables! ACK!

I could Google the cat's approximate speed, but without the information on this panel it's useless!

(Now you've got me all physics-minded)

What I want to know is what color is the cat?

what kind of steroids is he on...

dusty

And can the bird take him?