[K Yager]

Hi there everyone! I got have my bird yet, but I have been dreaming of having one forever! I currently have a cocker spaniel, Wrigley. He's almost 4 and I adopted him from my local shelter when we was 10 weeks old. I have a 15yr old cat named Kimmy. I got her 5 years ago when her owner passed away. I have Maddie an almost 3 year old cat. I got her from a customer of mine that took in a pregnant cat. I have Stewart, a Russian Tortoise. I also have a 65 gal salt water tank. My husband thinks that adding a bird to the mix would be a bad idea - that we would never be able to keep the peace. I am not worried about Wrigley - he's super gentle. He use to lick and snuggle the russian hamster babies I use to raise. Kimmy is soooo old and doesn't get off the couch but a couple times a day to eat and use the box. But Maddie, well Maddie is a wild woman so i am a little worried about her. I wouldn't want to keep the cats locked up just to have the bird out and I know that any bird wouldn't want to be put in a back bedroom to be kept safe from the cats. It would want its cage in the middle of the action of the house.
Anyway, I would love to hear how you guys keep the peace in your houses, how you handled introductions, ect. Thanks!

Kristin

[Quincy's Slave]

Well that's a tough question. Many of us here have zoos in our homes and it's always a really scary thing to combine cats, dogs and birds. A few people here have unfortunately lost their beloved parrots to other pets in the house. I have 2 cats and they are locked up during the day when Quincy is out and I wouldn't have it any other way, I will not ever take a chance with my sweet boy's life by thinking even for a second that the cat's wouldn't jump at an opportunity. You really have no choice but to restrict the bird's out of cage time or to shut up the other animals. It can work but you just have to be extremely careful and diligent and even then sometimes that's not enough

[Kyla+Santi]

To tell you the truth my cat and dog are too scared of my qp to go near it BUT I never let them near my birdie unless I am right there and even then only rarely. It can be quite risky, you never know when instincts might kick in. On the other hand if you are willing to moniter the situation and put the cats in another room when you got the bird out I don't see why it couldn't work.

[K Yager]

Yeah, I would never let them all be out at the same time. You can never trust any animal completely. My cats are use to being put in another room when I let my tortoise out to cruise the house. He can't wait for it to warm up to go out in his exercise pen again.

I guess I am just worried about cage placement. I would want to put his/her cage in the family room since it is where the action is, but I wouldn't want the cats to harass him/her or vice versa all day. I suppose the cage could go in my bedroom (while at work) and then I could wheel it out to the family room when I am home and during the day when my husband is home on lunch. I guess we would just have to see how it would go and take it slow.

[kalipso2]

only YOU know the personality of your pets and YOU are the person making the decision to let everyone interact.

i have (2) cats (2) budgies and (1) quaker. my cats show absolutely no interest in the birds... they don't even watch the birds outside. i feel fairly confident that nothing will happen to any of my birds... as long as i'm home. my quaker rules the roost and the cats run away from him.

BUT i would never, ever leave them alone unattended. believe me, i've been tempted to leave Cricket playing on his stand while i run outside for a minute but i'm not willing to face the consequences.