Yesterday, I went out very early to pick up some canned dog food for Murphy, who had dental surgery on Tuesday (yet another story). I came back, fed the dogs and settled down in the office to work. Roger and Milly's "room" is next door to my office and they are usually very talkative in the mornings, but they were screaming loudly and very upset. So I got up to go see what was wrong (they were out of their cages as they have free flight of that bedroom). The bedroom door was open! And there was Butter Cat on the armoire ready to pounce on Milly, who was perched on the top of the window, screaming her lungs out.

I reached up, grabbed Butter by the scruff of his neck and was in a panic because I didn't see Roger and did see several feathers on the floor. But when I started talking (probably screaming) at Butter, both birds started flying around the room. I could only hope that they wouldn't fly out of the open door and thankfully, they didn't.

I threw Butter out into the hall, closed the door and was able to get both birds to come to me and put them safely in their cages. I am so lucky that neither of them had a heart attack on the spot. I am lucky that I didn't have one too! Oh my goodness, it was the most frightening thing!

Turns out that the door to the room doesn't catch ( she figures this out 9 months after moving into this house). And apparently, Butter finally figured it out and opened the door by pushing on it. He can do the same thing to our bedroom door.

All of this taught me some valuable lessons. I cannot trust my cats or dogs to be near the birds. I never have actually. Their instincts tell them that birds are to be caught. I need to keep a good eye on the birds and make sure that they are secure. And isn't it a blessing that I came back when I did? And that Roger and Milly had the good sense to scream like they did? 15 seconds later, it could have been a very different situation. I felt horror and guilt that something like this could have happened, and the outcome could have been much worse. I am so glad that I had not had their wings clipped, even after I swore I would do it this week. Their ability to fly probably saved their lives.

This morning, I was out in front of the house, and Butter was out there with me. Helen was in the room with the birds, cleaning their cages and she said that both of them saw Butter out the window and started screaming. They know that they need to be cautious of him.

The door has a latch on the outside now. If we're not in there, it is latched so that he cannot open it.

So, that's the story. For those of you with multiple types of animals, use this as a good lesson. Do not assume that your small animals are safe. They simply aren't. We already lost a hamster a couple of years ago when we thought they were safe and our dogs taught us otherwise. I would hate for this to happen to anyone else. Thankfully, the outcome was ok and my birds are singing and happy today, but I'm watching them closely!

Logan