How to stop a parrot going through a catflap?

[hucker]

I will make sure he doesn't eat much of it. As far as I can tell it's just a quick nibble.

But I like my cats indoors! I'll give a chipped flap a go, I'll buy a good quality one and see how well it works. I'll pretend to be a parrot and attempt to force it open! I wonder if parrot abuse is covered under their warranty?

 

[hucker]

By the way, I'd like to congratulate this forum on being polite! Another forum I posted the same question to ended up in an argument!

 

[SailBoat]

By the way, I'd like to congratulate this forum on being polite! Another forum I posted the same question to ended up in an argument!

In all honesty, you position your answers in a way that enlists that possibility! This Forum is built around members that have a deep love for Parrots and when individuals 'appear,' provide little information and lay forth questions that insight deep held concerns regarding the health and welfare of Parrots. It requires a great deal of restraint to not allow a discussion to turn into an argument!

You have clearly elected to live your life the way you want and regardless of the knowledge base that sits before you. You will continue to do so!

The Forum that you really wanted to be on was a Cat Forum with a discussion regarding the available control systems needed to keep you're Cats 'happy' and other animals on their side of the flap!

Please continue your selective search until you find a Forum that shares your opinions!

Be Happy!

 

[hucker]

All I asked was for suggestions on how to stop a parrot going through a catflap. For people to take issue with cats and parrots in the same house, or unneutered cats, is ridiculous. Different people do things different ways.

And I did ask on a cat forum, that's where the argument started!

 

[SailBoat]

All I asked was for suggestions on how to stop a parrot going through a catflap. For people to take issue with cats and parrots in the same house, or unneutered cats, is ridiculous. Different people do things different ways.

And I did ask on a cat forum, that's where the argument started!

Very interesting that a Cat Forum would some how flow into an argument based around this topic! Very interesting indeed!

Well, I'm off to other things!

Enjoy!

 

[Inger]

He doesn't actually interact with the cats anymore, they ignore each other. Although sometimes he takes some of the cat food! And believe me I watch them very carefully! I used to have large and small parrots so I know that arguments start even between different species of bird.

I'm confused because on one hand you say you watch them carefully, but on the other hand you are concerned that your bird could sneak out the cat door when you're not paying attention. So which is it?


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[wrench13]

Step one: Put your cat on hormones and steroids
Step two: exercise the hell out of him, until he starts visibly showing bulging biceps etc
Step three: Put enough weights on your cat door so that only he can go through

Upside of this - the cat can give you a hand bringing in the groceries, vacuuming & other stuff that takes real CAT muscles.

Down side: When Frisky wants a treat , you don't dare not give it to him.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Think this one has been exhausted folks and probably time to let it die a natural and gentle death?

 

[hucker]

Very interesting that a Cat Forum would some how flow into an argument based around this topic! Very interesting indeed!

For some reason my kittens were mentioned and objections were made that I should dare to allow a cat to have kittens. I may have inflamed the argument by using the word "barbaric" in reference to neutering, and that I wouldn't neuter my own son without his permission, and since I love animals, I treat cats the same as I would humans

I'm confused because on one hand you say you watch them carefully, but on the other hand you are concerned that your bird could sneak out the cat door when you're not paying attention. So which is it?

I'm sat in my living room on the computer or watching TV, and the cats and parrots are around me, and I watch them to make sure they're playing nicely. Most of the time they ignore each other. The cats are sleeping or eating, and the birds are perched somewhere in the room, like on the back of my chair or on my shoulder. Occasionally one of the parrots wanders or flies off into the kitchen where the catflap is. I bring him/her back, but I'm worried one day I might not notice and he/she'd escape through the flap. The male is quite interested in the cats' ability to go through the door, since it's a glass door and he can see them going outside.

 

[hucker]

Step one: Put your cat on hormones and steroids
Step two: exercise the hell out of him, until he starts visibly showing bulging biceps etc
Step three: Put enough weights on your cat door so that only he can go through

Upside of this - the cat can give you a hand bringing in the groceries, vacuuming & other stuff that takes real CAT muscles.

Down side: When Frisky wants a treat , you don't dare not give it to him.

Funny you should say that. A cat which belonged to a neighbour several doors down was given to my next door neighbour when they moved away. The cat decided it wanted to live with me, and did so for 2 months. I asked most people in the street who he belonged to, but nobody knew. I never asked my next door neighbour because I thought she had a dog! But the dog had passed away of old age so she took in the cat. 2 months after it had lived with me, she came round on the offchance I'd seen him, so I handed him back to her. Ever since he's lived in both of our houses. Now when he lived with me he seemed perfectly fine, coughed occasionally and brought up a hairball etc, perfectly normal for a cat. But she panicks when he coughs. She spends 400 pounds a month on vet bills, has him on steroids and an inhaler for asthma, and he's now literally three times bigger. I'm convinced her vet is taking advantage of her but who knows. The cat seems happy enough.

 

[GaleriaGila]

About outdoor cats...
I don't know about other lands, but in the US, outdoor/feral cats have decimated indigenous bird species, and driven some to extinction (or close to it). It's undisputed... many sources, but here's one...
https://abcbirds.org/program/cats-indoors/cats-and-birds/

 

[hucker]

About outdoor cats...
I don't know about other lands, but in the US, outdoor/feral cats have decimated indigenous bird species, and driven some to extinction (or close to it). It's undisputed... many sources, but here's one...
https://abcbirds.org/program/cats-indoors/cats-and-birds/

I'm afraid that's nature's way. Birds do have the advantage of being able to fly and get to places the cats cannot. In the UK, a cat is considered it's own self, and not belonging to anyone. Running one over doesn't require informing the owner, the owner is not responsible for any damage it does to other peoples' flowerbeds etc. For some reason dogs are considered "owned". If it was up to me dogs would be treated the same as cats, why should humans get to control the planet? We have no more right to it than any other animal.

 

[Jayyj]

Well, it's not nature's way to have cats killing wild birds in the UK because cats being in the UK is not part of our ecosystem and, even if we accept that they are now an introduced species, they are not controlled by the checks that nature puts in place to maintain balance between species so they cause havoc.

Normally the number of predators in an ecosystem is strictly determined by the available prey species. If there is an abundance of prey, then more young predators will survive into their first year and predator numbers will increase. That's fine, because there is enough food to support them. If the number of predators becomes higher than the population of prey animals can sustain, then food for those predators will begin to become scarce and less will survive, so the number of predators drops until it reaches a number the current prey species can sustain.

With an invasive species, they will ultimately fit into the same model because the invasive species still needs to eat too survive, but it's much more problematic because it's easy for the invasive species to do so much damage when it arrives that the population of the prey species is unable to recover: that was the case with the dodo, wiped out in less than a century of humans, dogs and rodents colonising the territory.

With cats, the problem is worse because that check that nature uses to protect against over predation is taken away due to the fact the predators are getting their necessary meals from humans, so if the prey species decline due too to many cats it has no baring in the number of cats. Cats still hunt because it's their nature to do so - we can't fault them for that. But the prey species continue to decline and with them indigenous predator species such as smaller birds of prey that rely on song birds and small rodents. If un spayed and unnuteured cats are allowed to roam freely it compounds the problem because we're not even attempting to control the number of cats we have predating the local wildlife.

I love cats personally, and I totally understand the argument that people want them to roam as they would naturally in the interests of the cat's health (perceptions of this are different in the UK than they are in the US) but our indigenous wildlife pays the price for that, and to say it's nature's way for cats to roam and reproduce freely is a long way off the reality of what is actually happening in the local ecosystem.

 

[hucker]

But birds can escape by perching high up of flying away. Nature can sort anything. And survival of the fittest/most suitable!

 

[SailBoat]

But birds can escape by perching high up of flying away. Nature can sort anything. And survival of the fittest/most suitable!

Okay! Lets Stop! You where unhappy with what happened on the Cat Forum and if you continue this Thread - it is going to end-up the same way! So, its your choice to either back it down, or be faced with the same end results!

At this point, it is your choice!

 

[hucker]

But birds can escape by perching high up of flying away. Nature can sort anything. And survival of the fittest/most suitable!

Okay! Lets Stop! You where unhappy with what happened on the Cat Forum and if you continue this Thread - it is going to end-up the same way! So, its your choice to either back it down, or be faced with the same end results!

At this point, it is your choice!

Not my fault if people can't accept someone else's opinion. I don't believe in saving bees either. Nature does what nature does.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Thanks, Mr. Boat.
Agreed.

 

[hucker]

What a bunch of sensitive folk on here, I don't know.... perhaps you should all try growing up?

 

[Jayyj]

You're entitled to have an opinion but we're entitled to call it out when that opinion appears to be wilfully ignorant.

I'm not going to waste a great deal of time on this because you're clearly not going to change your position but this really is a question of science vs a whimsical notion of 'nature' that demonstrates no understanding of the way the world works and what you're doing to damage it. However, that ignorance has a real impact on the world we live in, so don't be surprised when people call you out when you post such opinions on a forum of people who are educated about the topic and care about the implications of that ignorance.

 

[SailBoat]

What a bunch of sensitive folk on here, I don't know.... perhaps you should all try growing up?

Thank-you, for Outing Yourself!!!

Any Member that wishes to continue Posting to this Thread, be forewarned that this Thread has run its full course and unless you wish to involve yourself in a Mindless Game - do so at your own risk!!!

All Over, All Done!!