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How in the world do I get my four month old kitten to stay away from my cockatiel? The kitten seems to love trying to swat at the bird through the bars of his cage and I think I have tried everything. I spray the cat with water, shove her off the cage, yell, scream and threaten to make her food for said bird.
I freelance write and broadcast so when I am at home I am generally working. Any suggestions?
lol, im gonna eagerly await answers to your question too!!! Our little bitty 2month old kitten has already been eyeing our peach cresteed cockatiel. At this point, the bird could totally take Iggy out, but in a few more months......
hes been checkin out the fish tank too. We have a 75gallon that caught his eye yesterday for the first time....he just sat there staring for the longest time...you could see the wheels a turnin... lol
It's been awhile since we had our Orange Winged Amazon...at the time we had 4 cats. They were all very interested and would sit on the edge of the couch nearest the cage and just stare. I do know I'd see them take a swat her tail, if it stuck through the cage, but for the most part, they left her alone. Maybe they instinctively knew they would have lost the fight.
I would continue to discourage the attention shown to the bird...clap of the hands, spritz from the water bottle. Maybe at some point the kitten will grow bored...(but don't hold your breath!)
We have a small red belly parrot, an older cat, and a 6 month old kitten. The bird is flighted and, though she's always supervised when out, the older cat has never made any move on her... in fact she's terrified of the bird! The kitten, on the other hand is a terror. Water hasn't worked, scolding hasn't worked, intervention hasn't worked. He even climbs to the top of the bird cage (which is sort of ok since the bird is quick and the cage has a playtop so the bars aren't exposed). But, I am disappointed that the kitten will always have to be locked away when the bird is out.
How in the world do I get my four month old kitten to stay away from my cockatiel? The kitten seems to love trying to swat at the bird through the bars of his cage and I think I have tried everything. I spray the cat with water, shove her off the cage, yell, scream and threaten to make her food for said bird.
I freelance write and broadcast so when I am at home I am generally working. Any suggestions?
It's impossible to take that prey drive out of the cat.
You'll need to put the bird up someplace high where the kitten can't get to it.
And then go ahead and buy the kitty some toys to see if that keeps him busy. And hope the bird doesn't get out of the cage!
But yelling, squirting, jumping up and down is a waste of time. You'll only upset yourself and your pets, including the bird.
It's impossible to take that prey drive out of the cat.
You'll need to put the bird up someplace high where the kitten can't get to it.
And then go ahead and buy the kitty some toys to see if that keeps him busy. And hope the bird doesn't get out of the cage!
But yelling, squirting, jumping up and down is a waste of time. You'll only upset yourself and your pets, including the bird.
Is it something they outgrow? Why does my one cat have NO prey drive and the kitten is such a little hunter? The kitten is a boy, the cat is a girl, will it get better after the kitten gets fixed?
We bought a African Grey parrot 6 years ago. At the time we got him are other animals were a 4 year old Rottweiler, and a 6 year old cat. The cat just watched him very closely until one day the bird was on the back of the couch and the cat reached up and tried to paw at his red tail, we yelled at the cat, which with him being older and trained better he listen and never tried it again.
The bird began ruling the house. He bossed both the dog and cat around. If they went by his cage he would tell them to "get back" or "go lay down". The cat would sit in front of the cage and the bird would go to the top and throw food at the cat. Then there was the time were both the cat and bird was on the couch at the same time, though on opposite sides with the cat sleeping, the bird walked over to him and was picking at his tail and paws and the cat just woke up and jumped off the couch. To this day I think it is so funny that a little bird bosses a Rottweiler around...lol
I think with bringing a bird into a house with a older cat was much easier since he knew right from wrong were with a kitten I think it would be much harder.
Me and my girlfriend also have a cockatiel and a curious new kitten.
What we did was get them together when the kitten was VERY tired, the point where her head was dipping and she was nodding off. We got them close and let them see each other. The bird just tried to ignore the cat, but the cat got interested and approached the bird a bit closer. We let it go and when the kitty got too close the bird squawked, hissed, and spread her wings wide. This scared the kitty and she backed off. We thought this was good. The kitty still watched intently and we let it go on. The kitty would approach and when the bird felt threatened she would hiss and spread her wings and the kitty would back off. We thought it was important that the bird did not flee from the cat as this would cause a predator-prey response. It went on like this for a while until we put the bird on her perch.
The next couple days we would set the bird on the ground and watch the kitty closely. If the kitty displayed blatant stalking behavior (hunkering down, twitching her tail, and setting her feet for a pounce) We would give her a nudge or a hiss and warn her not to do it. KEEP THE WATER BOTTLE IN YOUR HANDS. The kitty did try an pounce a couple times but we got her with the spray bottle pretty good.
We noticed that the cat was most interested in the cockatiels long, quick moving tail feathers. Other than that I think the cat realized that it wasn't a play toy.
After this the bird started acting up. She started to fly for no reason at all around the living room. I think she wanted more attention or something. This was VERY bad for cat-bird relations as the cat would go freakin crazy watchin that bird go around. We had to go ahead and clip the birds wings. We were nervous thinking that we may be giving up the birds last defense. At the same time the flying seemed as if was going to cause the attack. But after clipping the wings things settled down.
The kitty still watches the bird sometimes as it sits on the perch or if it moves quickly. If the bird tries in vain to fly and falls to the floor the cat will run over there and watch but she wont act, she just follows the bird around watching. We try and get her to not do that though. We try not to let the kitty and bird interact when no one is watching but sometimes its inevitable.
The final test happened last night. My girlfriend left the bedroom door open and the kitty got to roam the house while we slept. The next morning we heard light scratching and when we came out we saw that the bird was on the floor walkin around all night and the cat was nearby watching but it still never attacked or anything.
So I think it worked out pretty well. Kia (9 yr. old Cockatiel) and Josie (4 month old Kitten) seem to be getting on fine now.
Me and my girlfriend also have a cockatiel and a curious new kitten.
What we did was get them together when the kitten was VERY tired, the point where her head was dipping and she was nodding off. We got them close and let them see each other. The bird just tried to ignore the cat, but the cat got interested and approached the bird a bit closer. We let it go and when the kitty got too close the bird squawked, hissed, and spread her wings wide. This scared the kitty and she backed off. We thought this was good. The kitty still watched intently and we let it go on. The kitty would approach and when the bird felt threatened she would hiss and spread her wings and the kitty would back off. We thought it was important that the bird did not flee from the cat as this would cause a predator-prey response. It went on like this for a while until we put the bird on her perch.
The next couple days we would set the bird on the ground and watch the kitty closely. If the kitty displayed blatant stalking behavior (hunkering down, twitching her tail, and setting her feet for a pounce) We would give her a nudge or a hiss and warn her not to do it. KEEP THE WATER BOTTLE IN YOUR HANDS. The kitty did try an pounce a couple times but we got her with the spray bottle pretty good.
We noticed that the cat was most interested in the cockatiels long, quick moving tail feathers. Other than that I think the cat realized that it wasn't a play toy.
After this the bird started acting up. She started to fly for no reason at all around the living room. I think she wanted more attention or something. This was VERY bad for cat-bird relations as the cat would go freakin crazy watchin that bird go around. We had to go ahead and clip the birds wings. We were nervous thinking that we may be giving up the birds last defense. At the same time the flying seemed as if was going to cause the attack. But after clipping the wings things settled down.
The kitty still watches the bird sometimes as it sits on the perch or if it moves quickly. If the bird tries in vain to fly and falls to the floor the cat will run over there and watch but she wont act, she just follows the bird around watching. We try and get her to not do that though. We try not to let the kitty and bird interact when no one is watching but sometimes its inevitable.
The final test happened last night. My girlfriend left the bedroom door open and the kitty got to roam the house while we slept. The next morning we heard light scratching and when we came out we saw that the bird was on the floor walkin around all night and the cat was nearby watching but it still never attacked or anything.
So I think it worked out pretty well. Kia (9 yr. old Cockatiel) and Josie (4 month old Kitten) seem to be getting on fine now.
I hope this helps you out. GOOD LUCK
Thanks for the advice, I will try socializing my kitten & bird like that! Has the bird always been flighted, if so how does it react to not being able to fly?
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