Petrified of Birds

[Mauisgirl]

Maui, my 5 year old cat, is absolutley petrified of my brand new Cockatiel. I had another bird before Alex, and she was as mean as the devil. I used to joke and say she was his mistress or something - but anyway, she used to bite Maui on his nose if he got too close to her cage and stuff. Then, when we got Alex, Maui was like HOLY COW! Alex is a lot bigger then a parakeet and he hasn't bitten anything yet. Alex seems to like Maui (he loves his tail...he thinks it's a perch) but Maui seems to be like "OHMIGOD get it away!"

Anybody know a way to get Maui to feel comfortable around Alex? (at least I know Maui would never hurt him! He's too scared to be in the same room with him!)

[Cataholic]

When I first saw the description of the post, I thought, "Good, then there won't be any unfortunate accidents". Then, when I read it, I thought, "Surely you don't let these two interact with each other"...so, instead of thinking these things, I am just going to say, and it is JUST MY OPINION, but I don't think it is fair to either the cat or the bird, to let these two interact in ANY WAY. The cat is a NATURAL predator of the bird. The bird could experience a heart attack, and the cat WILL/COULD/MIGHT go after it.

I am an animal lover, but still KNOW that these furkids are natural, animals at heart.

Please be careful.

[Mauisgirl]

I know I must seem like some kind of mean animal owner, but I'm really not. I know that my cat could go after the bird at any point - but Maui is just too afraid of it. Alex is hardly around him anyway. He likes his tail, 'cause it looks like a toy (for some strange reason) and he usually plays with it when he's in the saftey of his cage.
I've had birds all of my life and I know when a bird is afraid - and if I thought Alex was in the least bit afraid of Maui I wouldn't let him go near him. I just wanted to make the transition between the two more easy. That was all I was asking.

[Vermontcat]

I don't know if you have checked out pet general yet but there have been some threads about birds there and how they interact with other pets in the house. I have an older cat and a young parakeet who get along fine as long as I don't let the bird fly loose in the same room as the cat. My cat has never been a bird hunter and never tries to jump at the cage so they get along fine and can even sleep in the same room as long as the parakeet is in the cage. The worst thing my cat has done is make big eyes at the bird when he is noisy.
Anyway, I think that if the bird is new it will take some time for them to adjust to each other. Take it slow if either one is uncomfortable, don't force them on each other. Keep them in separate rooms if you have to. A lot of people here say they are afraid that their other pets will hurt their bird so it seems funny that you have the opposite problem.Good luck!

[Mauisgirl]

No I didn't and thanks

[BigCharles]

My buddy (Thundering Bull) trains his cats to be afraid of his birds. He has an African Grey Parrot and a Nande Conyer.

The Grey was taught to be hand feed only with the use of a chain mail welding glove.

The kittens were trained by letting the bird nip their tails. No skin broken mind you.

I watched that bird take on a grown German Sheppard! Guess which one got the bloody nose.

Of course he could never defend against multiple cats at once (Thundering Bull has five in the house) or a concerted attack by the dog.

I would not encourage them to play together myself. You can't totaly predict what will happen when your back is turned.

Teach them to fear each other a bit and let them be happy in their own world in the same house. Close adult supervision is needed when interaction occurs.

Better safe than sorry here.