[Leopardfire]

I will be getting a cat soon and I have 2 cockatiels. I'm going to get a kitten so that I can train it to not hurt the birds, but I don't know how to do that. If any of you keep cats and birds, please tell me how you keep the cat from attacking the bird. I don't want my birdies getting hurt!

 

[veggiegirl]

Hey there,

Yes I have a cat that lives with not only various pet birds but pet mice and rats and fish too!!! He was difficult to train at first but the key is to be persistent!!! You know the house hold spray bottles buy one and put some water in it along with a squirt of lemon juice. When ever your kitten does something naughty to the birds squirt him/her with the bottle a couple of times and say 'No" very strictly. It will take a while before they catch on but if you are consistant with your approach your new kitten will soon learn. It is also extremely important that you spray the cat as soon as it does something wrong because after about 30 seconds the poor thing will have no idea what it did wrong, your response needs to be immediate. It is a good idea to get a kitten rather than a fully grown cat because it will be easier to train being a young age but in saying that it is certainly not impossible to train a fully grown cat that has not lived with birds in the past. Be sure to keep me updated on how you go, and I would love to see a pic of your new cat/kitten when you get it

 

[dbrooke1]

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[dbrooke1]

hear spraying a cat with a water bottle is a lil' bit traumatic for them...... although it works because the cat learns they don't want to get sprayed. immediately saying "no" in a calm and assertive (not frustrated) tone of voice and persistence?
animals understand messages through energy from tone of voice and body language, although i'm not a cat expert with experience.

 

[Leopardfire]

Thanks for the advice. I also heard that you should allow kittens to meet the birds and see them on the ground so they don't pounce when the birds fly off the cage. What is the safest way to do this?

 

[Clarky35gal]

It's best to not get a kitten because their energy level is high and their urge to play is even higher. You may be able to control the situation when you are at home but not necessarily when you are gone or asleep. Try out older (3 plus) layed back shelter cats, most come with a 2 wk turnaround period. You should not use negative reinforcement (spray bottle) since cats don't think in the same structures as humans do, use positive reinforcement instead (praise, food, etc) when the correct behavior was displayed. Until recently I did have a cat (died a week ago) and I used to have a foster cockatoo. It went well without the spray bottle! Also, I would always adopt a cat over a kitten, no foreign body ingestions with surgical removal, no bitten power cords, no playing with litter, water, household detergents, chewing my shoes, climbing my screens or making it out of the house... plus adopting an adult cat really helps the shelters, gives an older cat a chance he/she didn't get in a former life. Good luck!