How do I get my cat to leave my bird alone?!

[eagle18]

I have a baby cat that is nine months old. Actually, I have a lot of felines but the others are all senior citizens. My baby has a fascination with my parakeets and jumps at them every chance he gets. I spray him with a water bottle but he goes right back.

He doesn't freak out my budgies but he is upsetting my bare eye cockatoo. My Umbrella loves my cat and will play with him so there are no issues there.

My kitten was injured as a tiny baby. He hissed at a person who worked for animal control and I guess the a-hole must have taken it personally because he threw my kitten against a wall. When 'Figaro' got to my vet he was in bad shape, emotionally and physically.

I love him very much but don't like his bullying behavior. How do I handle this, or does he just have to outgrow it?

 

[SilverSage]

You need to keep him away from your birds. He is just being a cat but he could injure or kill one of your birds. I suggest you put him in a different part of your house when your birds are out.


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[Mindy]

That's a tough age for cats. It's in their nature to swat at birds. I just say no and PSSSSSST when the cats are being cray with some success, but they are all 2 and older. I'm having the same problem with my house chicken, when one of the parrots is on the floor she beelines for them to fight. I'm at a loss on that one, she's not a good listener. (Might be going to the farm in spring is where I'm at with it currently.)

 

[eagle18]

A hen wants to fight? I thought that was just Roosters. Pet chickens are cool and have more personality than people give them credit for. I wonder if spraying her with water would dampen, (no pun intended)the situation? The only thing I can think of, which was just suggested to me, is to put her in a different part of the house? My house is too open for that but maybe it might work in your situation?

 

[eagle18]

What a darling baby parakeet. My house it too open or I would leap onto that suggestion. I am very watchful when I am around, and when I am not, everybody goes back to their cage.

 

[Mindy]

She's faster than my trigger finger and my house is also just open. They don't get on the ground often but when I hear them flapping I'm on the move to run interference. She just started laying eggs so she's not herself, she pecks at my husband when he's on the toilet (lolololol) because she's decided to lay her eggs behind the tub on top of a package of toilet paper. When she gets off they roll to the side and crack, she's a bad mom.

 

[eagle18]

Can the parrots fly away from her because I gather that she can't fly? I wouldn't even know how to break up a bird fight. She torments your husband, huh? LOL! Birds have a lot of fun at our expense.

 

[Mindy]

Finnegan can't fly, Chicky can but not straight up like she'd need to. I stick my hand in front of Fannie and tell her NO! and get the parrot situated. To be fair they try to fight with her when they are safe on their cages above her. If it comes down to it I'll have to choose them or her and it's a no brainer.

 

[Violet_Diva]

I have multiple cats and multiple birds. One cat lives outside (so no problem there), one is very old and has no interest in the birds at all. Another old cat I think is scared of them, he doesn't understand why 'people voices' are coming out of them, but he sleeps most of the time but the moment he wakes I put the birds away. But my two younger females... I never have them in the same room as the birds as they both are playful and would pounce. Having a predator in the vicinity of the birds is stressful to the birds so I always have the female cats upstairs during the day when the parrots are out downstairs, and then have the female cats out once the birds have gone to bed in their room. So their paths never cross. It only takes a tiny scratch or bite from a cat to kill a bird. It's not worth the risk.

 

[eagle18]

Thank you. My house is so open that it is hard to separate them. Plus I try to keep my birds in a high traffic area of the house so they are not isolated. I watch the situation like a hawk, but I know that it only takes a split second. One of my older cats smacked Fred (Umbrella) last summer because Fred was trying to chase him off of the couch. Luckily, it was a cat that uses his pads and not his claws. Fred has never bothered him or another cat again.