Taking in a Quaker, no bird experience.

[Mirandarachnid]

Hi there, Miranda here!

Like the title says, I will likely be taking in a Quaker. A friend of mind has an animal refuge, and she recently took in this Quaker. Unfortunately, she has a zoo on her hands and is not able to provide the companionship this bird requires. I've never kept birds before, so I'm in the research phase. I've always wanted a parrot though, and it's an absolute sweetheart in need of a good home. There will also be a cage provided, so this offer is getting harder to pass up the more I think about it.

I briefly met the bird a few days ago. When she went to get it out if it's cage, it came to her easily. It walked right over onto my finger when I held it out beside hers, it just sat there bobbing it's head up and down, muttering. Too. Cute. It did give me a little nip the first time I tried to pet it, but I think it was just because of the way I raised my hand in front of it's face. When I approached it from the side it didn't bite. The bite wasn't bad at all either, just pinched a little.


I don't know the age of the bird, but I believe it is an adult, and maybe female? I've been doing some reading, so I'm getting an idea of the care they require. I'm mostly curious/concerned about how I will go about having a bird and a cat in the same house. I know it can be done, but again, I've never kept birds.

My cat is declawed on all four paws (she came to me that way), she's always been in indoor cat and as far as I know, she hasn't killed anything bigger than a house spider (I realize that means next to nothing about how she may react to a bird in the house). Now, I'd obviously shut her in the bedroom when we had the bird out of the cage, though it would be nice if they could both have free range (while supervised) but I understand this may not be possible, I definitely don't want to risk them harming each other. I want to ask the question, "Will the bird be stressed out while it's in it's cage and the cat is in the same room?", but I'm sure I will just have to see how the two individuals react to each other. Does anyone have tips on how to acclimate the two to each other?

I'm also wondering what location would be best for the cage. The options are the living room or the Chamber of Understanding (spider room/workspace for misc. projects that do not produce loud noise or fumes). The living room is a higher traffic area, though we do spend a good amount of time in the Chamber. The Chamber would also limit the bird's interaction with Cat. I'm mostly concerned about which area would be best for it's sleep patterns, I believe I read they need a good 10 hours a night or they can get cranky. If I keep it in the living room, I'm worried that Cat might mess with it at night. The main issue with keeping it in the Chamber is I usually have one night a week where I work with the spiders from midnight until anywhere between 5 and 7 in the morning. Would keeping it up one night a week make it cranky? Would I just be able to cover the cage? (I've read mixed things about covering their cage) Do they like sunlight? I'm pretty sure I'd be able to have the cage partially in front of a window if that would be beneficial.

Woof, sorry about the novel, and thank you for reading! I'm sure I'll have more questions. Any insight would be very much appreciated!

 

[EllenD]

Well congrats on the Quaker, I've had a female blue Quaker for 3 years now and she's my little clown bird. She is definitely the life of the house, I have 4 larger parrots (larger than my budgies that is) and Lita the Quaker makes every moment interesting. She is constantly dancing, talking to herself, talking to me, and yes, mocking me. She talks very well for a female Quaker, and she says "no bites" and "ouch" to me, and then does an evil-genius laugh...she's a character. She's also the sweetest bird, always up for pets, cuddling, etc. She's my little baby...

As far as the cat goes, as you said, it makes no difference about the claws. Cats are natural and instinctive, lifetime hunters, and putting them together is a no-no in my opinion, same as putting a cat with a lizard of any kind, or a rabbit, ferret, etc. Even if the cat has never killed anything, she will. There are exceptions to this, yes, but they are rare and there is no justification for taking the risk. And as long as you don't let the cat touch the bird's cage or sit by the cage and stare at the bird, the cat won't cause her stress, but if the cat is sitting near the bird, staring and plotting, this will make the bird nervous and stressed, because she'll know what the cat is thinking...

The location of the bird cage is going to be crucial, as parrots in-general, but especially extremely social birds like Quakers, need to BE IN THE ROOM OF THE HOUSE WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE THE MOST, WHERE THE ACTION IS IN THE HOUSE THE MOST!!! The worst thing you can do is put the bird's cage in a room where the bird can hear people are at home but where she's alone and can't see them. Quakers are very, very vocal, and if you put her cage somewhere where the people are not, she's most likely going to scream all day long. Yes, they scream...Based on the info you've given, I'd say you need to put the cage in the living room, that's a no-brainer. Don't worry about sleep, as long as you cover the cage with a blanket or sheet she'll go to sleep, even if you have the tv on and such. That never seems to bother them at all. Yes they need 12 hours of sleep every night, but just as important is that they get at least 4-5 hours out of cage time every day, with human interaction. I hate to say this, but cats don't require near the attention that parrots do, parrots are much more intelligent and sensitive to this, as cats like to do their own thing. So honestly, if it was my house, I'd put the bird in the living room, and when I had the Quaker out during the day the cat would be locked into another room, as the cat won't care, the Quaker will scream bloody murder.

 

[wrench13]

Excellent advice, Ellen. I hope the OP takes it to heart.

 

[Owlet]

As Ellen said, claws don't matter. A lot of the danger from a cat comes from the saliva. And this goes for most, if not all, mammals too. We have a bacteria in our saliva that birds can not metabolize and can kill them. So even the most docile and friendly and trained cat or dog or anything can be deadly towards a bird just because of their saliva.

 

[Mirandarachnid]

Thank you for your responses!

I hadn't realized the danger in the bacteria from the saliva. That, combined with the common sense knowledge that cats are predators has put to bed any notions of having the two out together. As cute as all the videos of domestic birds hanging out with cats/dogs might be, it's not worth risking the wellbeing of an animal.

Would it be best to have the cat in the bedroom for the most part the first few days or so? I feel like I might be overthinking the process of acclimating the bird to my household, but I'd rather overthink than overlook.

My boyfriend and I have opposing work schedules, because of that, one of us is at the house at all times. It won't be any problem for the bird to have at least four hours of out-of-cage hangout time spread out through the day. Quaker-proofing the house will be quite a task. I'll just pretend I'm taking in a flying two year old.

I have lots more reading to do, but I'm relieved I found this forum!

 

[eagle18]

Don't shut the cat out, that is not fair to her.
I have had cats and birds together ever since I was six years old, and never had any incident. In fact, my dog who snapped in the air at my parakeet, posed the biggest threat.

Just supervise when the bird is out and learn to read their body language, and it should be just fine.

Also, Quakers tend to be aggressive, especially around their cages, so don't let her dive bomb the cat. In other words, don't put the cat in a position where she feels like she needs to defend herself.

 

[Owlet]

I have to disagree with you Eagle. Yes it isn't fair to lock the cat away, it has needs to but those and birds needs can be easily taken care of without them ever been in the same room together. One false move and you end up with a dead bird so it's best to just keep them separate. Dogs and cats are evenly dangerous to a bird imo and both shouldn't be in the same room unless under special circumstances, like (but not limited to) I have a service dog so she needs to stay with me when I'm with Lincoln, I just have to be completely and absolutely constantly on guard to make sure neither get anywhere near each other.

 

[eagle18]

Well, like I said learn to read the body language of both animals. In fact, it wouldn't hurt to recognize signs in ALL animals. My cats have been indifferent when it has come to my birds.

That's interesting. I never even thought about 'service dogs'. I usually think of those dogs having a lot of self control to begin with. I am glad that your doggie and bird get along well.

 

[EllenD]

Don't shut the cat out, that is not fair to her.
I have had cats and birds together ever since I was six years old, and never had any incident. In fact, my dog who snapped in the air at my parakeet, posed the biggest threat.

Just supervise when the bird is out and learn to read their body language, and it should be just fine.

Also, Quakers tend to be aggressive, especially around their cages, so don't let her dive bomb the cat. In other words, don't put the cat in a position where she feels like she needs to defend herself.

I also totally disagree, and this is exactly why I stated that "there are exceptions to this, but they're rare", as I knew that someone would chime-in, saying that they've had cats and birds together for years with no issues...This may very well be true, BUT YOUR SITUATION IS NOT THE NORM, IT'S THE EXCEPTION, AND YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THIS, AS MOST PEOPLE'S SITUATION WITH HAVING CATS WITH OTHER ANIMALS DOES NOT WORK OUT THE WAY YOUR SITUATION HAS...I'd go as far as to say that 95% of the time, even if they are supervised, if you let a bird or a reptile and a cat together at all, heartbreak eventually happens. I cannot tell you how many cat-caused injuries and deaths I've seen on both bird forums and bearded dragon forums, and again, IT'S NOT WORTH THE RISK...

Whether or not it's "fair" to the cat or not to be locked in a room whenever the bird is out of it's cage or not is not the point...It's definitely not fair to the bird to have to worry constantly that the cat, or the predator, is going to attack it...And it's even less fair to the bird to have to be sitting in it's cage with a cat sitting outside the cage staring at it, making it nervous. This is how feather-plucking starts...

I respect your situation, you're very lucky for that to work in your house, however, you need to respect the fact that your situation is not the norm, not even close, and by giving the advice that you did you could be putting the OP's bird in danger. There is no time that you should risk having the bird and the cat out together, supervised or not, and you also cannot allow the cat to stalk the bird by sitting outside it's cage...AND IT MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL TO PUT THE BIRD IN A ROOM THAT IS NOT THE MAIN ROOM IN THE HOUSE WHERE ALL THE PEOPLE ARE, AS THIS WILL ONLY RESULT IN A BIRD WITH SEVERE BEHAVIORAL ISSUES, WHILE IN-GENERAL CATS LIKE TO BE OFF BY THEMSELVES ANYWAY...At the very least the cat will not be emotionally upset by being put in a different room when the bird is out of his cage, nor will the cat be upset by the bird's cage being made off-limits to it. This does not work in reverse. And if you cannot make the choice that is right for the bird, then you shouldn't get the bird at all, because it will only end badly, and you already have the cat. Unfortunately that's a hard decision that lots of people have to make when they already have a cat, but you have to do what is right for the bird.

 

[Owlet]

Well, like I said learn to read the body language of both animals. In fact, it wouldn't hurt to recognize signs in ALL animals. My cats have been indifferent when it has come to my birds.

That's interesting. I never even thought about 'service dogs'. I usually think of those dogs having a lot of self control to begin with. I am glad that your doggie and bird get along well.

Admitably she is still young (just turned a year old on april 20th) and has a bit of puppy in her and we are still working on getting things exact, (it's not like service dogs are born service dogs it takes years of constant training to get them as close to perfect as possible.) but as I mentioned in one if my previous posts that no matter how well trained the dog, they still pose a threat.

 

[itzjbean]

I have two cats, a large dog and a bird. Understand that there are risks with keeping both predator and prey animals together in one household, but it is not impossible and just needs to be managed carefully. Use caution.

When the bird is in his cage, the cats get free roam of the entire house.

When the bird comes out of the cage, the cats get locked in their room. It's only for a couple hours tops, not a whole day or anything. I lock them out because my male cat has shown too much interest in hunting/chasing birds before as they've flown around the room. I do supervise but there are too many risks with a cat that likes hunting and birds that like to fly around and occasionally land on the floor. I would rather separate for safety than watch from a chair and try to keep my anxiety down.

Otherwise if my cat didn't show interest, I would let them out all together (always supervised) but as it is my cat cannot be trusted. That doesn't mean I have to get rid of him or anything though. You just need some extra precautions. The dog is allowed to stay in the room and does not have prey drive like the male cat. I will not leave the room ever if the bird is out. Either hubby or I keep watch on him.

 

[Mirandarachnid]

Thanks for the input everybody.

I won't be letting them roam around together. I don't like to take risks when it comes to my animals, but it is interesting to hear about households where it works out. I'm also not going to take in the bird until I'm sure I can provide it with a happy and safe home.

Another question I have specific to my situation is about my work/sleep schedule. I get off work at 7am. I usually go to sleep around 9 or 10, so I'd spend that time with the parrot before I go to bed. I sleep till about 5pm when my boyfriend gets home from work. Now, again, I'm probably overthinking this because people who work during the day must have to leave their parrot alone for a similar length of time, but I want to make sure it doesn't get bored while I'm sleeping. I've seen people mention leaving a radio on.. I never really got a response about having the cage near a window. (I understand that the bird will need to be able to get out of the direct sun) My house is right by a middle school and across the street from a park, so there would be lots of activity outside for it to watch. Would this make the days shorter (so to speak) for the bird?

 

[eagle18]

Don't shut the cat out, that is not fair to her.
I have had cats and birds together ever since I was six years old, and never had any incident. In fact, my dog who snapped in the air at my parakeet, posed the biggest threat.

Just supervise when the bird is out and learn to read their body language, and it should be just fine.

Also, Quakers tend to be aggressive, especially around their cages, so don't let her dive bomb the cat. In other words, don't put the cat in a position where she feels like she needs to defend herself.

I also totally disagree, and this is exactly why I stated that "there are exceptions to this, but they're rare", as I knew that someone would chime-in, saying that they've had cats and birds together for years with no issues...This may very well be true, BUT YOUR SITUATION IS NOT THE NORM, IT'S THE EXCEPTION, AND YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THIS, AS MOST PEOPLE'S SITUATION WITH HAVING CATS WITH OTHER ANIMALS DOES NOT WORK OUT THE WAY YOUR SITUATION HAS...I'd go as far as to say that 95% of the time, even if they are supervised, if you let a bird or a reptile and a cat together at all, heartbreak eventually happens. I cannot tell you how many cat-caused injuries and deaths I've seen on both bird forums and bearded dragon forums, and again, IT'S NOT WORTH THE RISK...

Whether or not it's "fair" to the cat or not to be locked in a room whenever the bird is out of it's cage or not is not the point...It's definitely not fair to the bird to have to worry constantly that the cat, or the predator, is going to attack it...And it's even less fair to the bird to have to be sitting in it's cage with a cat sitting outside the cage staring at it, making it nervous. This is how feather-plucking starts...

I respect your situation, you're very lucky for that to work in your house, however, you need to respect the fact that your situation is not the norm, not even close, and by giving the advice that you did you could be putting the OP's bird in danger. There is no time that you should risk having the bird and the cat out together, supervised or not, and you also cannot allow the cat to stalk the bird by sitting outside it's cage...AND IT MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL TO PUT THE BIRD IN A ROOM THAT IS NOT THE MAIN ROOM IN THE HOUSE WHERE ALL THE PEOPLE ARE, AS THIS WILL ONLY RESULT IN A BIRD WITH SEVERE BEHAVIORAL ISSUES, WHILE IN-GENERAL CATS LIKE TO BE OFF BY THEMSELVES ANYWAY...At the very least the cat will not be emotionally upset by being put in a different room when the bird is out of his cage, nor will the cat be upset by the bird's cage being made off-limits to it. This does not work in reverse. And if you cannot make the choice that is right for the bird, then you shouldn't get the bird at all, because it will only end badly, and you already have the cat. Unfortunately that's a hard decision that lots of people have to make when they already have a cat, but you have to do what is right for the bird.

The cat was there first and she will not understand why the rules have suddenly changed.

All I suggested was that it takes supervision, understanding body language, and some common sense to deal with the situation. And no, my birds and cats are not out frolicking around the house paw in wing.

I put nobody in danger. The OP will decide what is right for her despite what either You, or myself, says.

You can not corral off different parts of the house 24/7. Most people don't have that kind of layout nor do they want that kind of life.

I have had birds and cats together since I was old enough to toddle. Not once, did any bird meet with foul play. And since it was different cats, different living arrangements, and different birds over the years I don't think it was the 'exception' as you are suggesting.

 

[eagle18]

Thanks for the input everybody.

I won't be letting them roam around together. I don't like to take risks when it comes to my animals, but it is interesting to hear about households where it works out. I'm also not going to take in the bird until I'm sure I can provide it with a happy and safe home.

Another question I have specific to my situation is about my work/sleep schedule. I get off work at 7am. I usually go to sleep around 9 or 10, so I'd spend that time with the parrot before I go to bed. I sleep till about 5pm when my boyfriend gets home from work. Now, again, I'm probably overthinking this because people who work during the day must have to leave their parrot alone for a similar length of time, but I want to make sure it doesn't get bored while I'm sleeping. I've seen people mention leaving a radio on.. I never really got a response about having the cage near a window. (I understand that the bird will need to be able to get out of the direct sun) My house is right by a middle school and across the street from a park, so there would be lots of activity outside for it to watch. Would this make the days shorter (so to speak) for the bird?

When getting a pet it is always better to "overthink" then to be unpleasantly surprised.

My cockatoo's cage is in front of a window, where he soaks in the rays of the sun. The breeder I bought him from told me that he should be getting sun and never cautioned me against him getting too much. This is interesting, and I look forward to the replies.

A radio and T.V. helps, as do a lot of toys for him/her to play with while you sleep.

 

[eagle18]

Well, like I said learn to read the body language of both animals. In fact, it wouldn't hurt to recognize signs in ALL animals. My cats have been indifferent when it has come to my birds.

That's interesting. I never even thought about 'service dogs'. I usually think of those dogs having a lot of self control to begin with. I am glad that your doggie and bird get along well.

Admitably she is still young (just turned a year old on april 20th) and has a bit of puppy in her and we are still working on getting things exact, (it's not like service dogs are born service dogs it takes years of constant training to get them as close to perfect as possible.) but as I mentioned in one if my previous posts that no matter how well trained the dog, they still pose a threat.

I thought they had to have a certain personality that the trainer see's in them when they are puppies for them to even be considered.

She'll be a puppy for awhile, which is a very enjoyable stage in any dog.

Yes dogs do pose a threat. Most breeds still have that hunter instinct deep down inside.

 

[riddick07]

I mean all my birds cages are in very very low traffic areas and sometimes don’t get out all the time. I’ve always differed from a lot of people on that take. I like my birds to stay in their cages at least one or two days a week. I don’t like schedules where this bird gets out this day for this amount of time from this time to that time. Being human those schedules are eventually going to be broken and I’d like my bird to be able to handle changes easily. Titan my most recent addition is already converting over to this lifestyle easily. He is out the most but can still stay in his cage for most of the day without starting to fuss. And I’ve left him in for whole days without an issue too. Not a single one of my birds have behavioral issues from these schedules or being placed away from the high traffic area where they can all hear us but not see us. Occasionally I will get my amazon calling but his call is saying Mom for awhile. He does stop fairly quickly usually if I don’t come get him since he knows that I don’t cave easily.

We also have 4 cats that are never locked up when the birds are out but this totally depends on the level of interest your cats displays in the birds. Our cats don’t care but we still don’t allow them to be close to each other. If your cats are showing interest then you will have to lock him up when the bird is out. The same way I don’t let the giant snakes and cats play in the same room at the same time. I would make sure you have a sturdy cage that can’t be broken into. My cats don’t bother them in the cages either but it’s a good protection, plus if you have someone bring a dog over or something you want something that can withstand any potential problems. My cats are actually suicidal and show more interest in the giant snakes that can eat them:20:

 

[Mirandarachnid]

I really appreciate all of the advice! Unfortunately (for me), my friend said her husband has gotten too attached to the bird.

Oh well! I'll just continue to do research in my spare time, and buy a feathered friend in the future. After reading around on this forum, I was really starting to love the idea of a quaker!

 

[LordTriggs]

quakers are good birds (and hilarious)

I know a lot of people are wholly against the idea of predator and prey together and they correct, but also incorrect. When younger my family had a flightless Kakariki in a house that had a golden retriever and 4 cats (at one point there was nearly 10 due to kittens being born) with minimum 3 of them being confirmed pigeon killers (clearing pigeon remains around your room at age 10 before heading to school is a way to build 'character').

none of the animals ever showed that bird the slightest bit of interest so it's not impossible