cat conflict w/ birds...

[dab_20]

My kitten, Oreo, likes to scare the cockatiels. We don't know what she does because she never does it in front of us because she knows it's wrong. The other night we hear all this noise and to find she knocked over one of the cages and the bird had the metal rack on top of him. How do you teach cats not to do this??

[catmandu]

You could show him the Sylvester and Tweetie Bird Cartoons where the Cat always takes an awful beating.

[dab_20]

LoL

She also likes to pick on my hedge hog too. When my hedgie was out once, I didn't see her and she went to pounce and she got an awful spike on the nose! I think she learned her lesson not to pick on the hedgie...

[Catty1]

HMMMM - made me think of something, might sound CRAZY...but how about putting a bit of barbed wire around the bottom of the bird cage?

Or something pointy that won't really hurt, but will discourage - like the hedgie quill!

Also - cats hate the smell of vinegar, so damping a rag with it and putting it there might help...if the birds are ok with it, that is!

Good luck!

Catty1

[dab_20]

Thanks for the idea, but I doubt my dad will go along with it! lol

[catmandu]

sOMETHING UNPLEASANT ON THE BOTTOM OF THE bIRD cAGE IS NOT A BAD IDEA.
yOU ARE NEVER GOING TO BEAT A kITTENS INSTINCT THOUGHT TO SEE SOMETHING THAT CHIRPS AND MOVES,SADLY.

[lv4dogs]

How about getting a cage that is attatched to a very sturdy stand, one that won't tip over?

Putting something unpleasent around the cage is a good idea too.

Can you move the cage to another room where the cats can not access it? Especially at night or when no one is home to supervise?

This may be *part* (I don't think it's the full reason but I'm sure it doesn't help one bit) of the reason why your baby bird is still about bald. Thats a LOT of stress for any bird, but especially one that young. I think putting the cage somewhere out of your cats view is the best idea, the cat will not be able to stress the birds out. Even if you can just movew the cage at night & close the birds in a room that the cat can not get into.

[Lisamb]

You could also try putting double sided tape around the bottom of the cage, that might help. I did it on my counters and my cats stopped jumping on them. some cats don't like it some do, but it is worth a try

[catmandu]

Unless you go to a Costume Shop,and get a Bird Suit,similar to the breed of your Bird.
Then when Orion bothers yoour Bird,you swoop in,and yell Keep Away from MY BABY!! Chirp,Chirp!
That should get a reaction.

[orangemm]

We used to have several bird cages in our dining room. Archy would leave them alone most of the time, but temptation was too strong and he jumped up, clung to the cage and managed to tip it over on the floor. No one escaped or got hurt, but after that we just moved the cages to a room he couldn't access. Then he hung around the door, hoping to gain entrance, but gave up.

I don't think there is a whole lot you can do to truly discourage a cat from going after a bird; it's too enticing! Of course I didn't try those other ideas; we used the spray bottle, but he still 'stalked' them.

[dab_20]

well my dad was thinking of putting them in the extra room.

[QueenScoopalot]

For the safety of the birds I'd put them in a room away from the kitten! Some cats have more "prey drive" than others, but the bigger Oreo gets, the easier it will be for her to kill your birds. I had a parakeet many years ago that was in a cage hanging from the middle of a ceiling so the cats couldn't get near the cage. Well guess what? I came home one day to find the cage on the floor and not even a feather to be seen. Apparently one of the athletic cats had managed to leap up and yank the cage right off the hook...and that was that.

[momcat]

LoL

She also likes to pick on my hedge hog too. When my hedgie was out once, I didn't see her and she went to pounce and she got an awful spike on the nose! I think she learned her lesson not to pick on the hedgie...

When Groucho first moved in as a 7 week old baby, we had a parakeet named JC Chapin. One day JC had enough of this kitten curiosity thing so she screeched and squawked and nipped him with her beak, no injury but point made. After that, they were great buddies.
By the way, will you share some pictures of your hedge hog? What's his/her name? How old is he/she?

[dab_20]

in pet general i put two pics of him. it's titaled spike, and he is about a year old.