Advice needed

[Serin]

We have a cat and many indoor birds. The cat shy, aloof, and completely indifferent to our birds. We are now at the point where she and our pigeon have constant and unsupervised range of the house. They do not interact. They do not have any interest in the other, but if the bird comes toward the cat, the cat will go around. The cat doesn't so much as look at the smaller cage birds anymore.

If your cat is similar, it is possible you will have no issues, though people may say there is always some risk.

 

[Lemon88]

I never said I'd get one from a petstore. We have a few rescues here

Awesome!

 

[CatWhisperer]

I’ve had multiple cats and birds together my whole life. Tiny, fast moving birds like finches, canaries and parakeets don’t do so well with cats. Bigger, slower less flighty birds do great. For years I would never get a small parrot with pointy long (cat toy) tail. I ended up with a rescue green cheek conure. My cats are great with her. Of course they have all lived with birds and know to behave. I have raised 5 batches of chicks indoors this past year and the cats don’t bother them. I would recommend clipping your birds wings at first just so the cat gets accustomed to the bird walking rather than flying. I never clipped any of my birds and find that the conure never flys. She has a ladder from her cage to the couch and chooses to walk everywhere. Wing clipping can prevent her from having flying accidents until she is accustomed to her new home also. I have found that my female birds are more personable.

 

[KikiDeAnime]

I’ve had multiple cats and birds together my whole life. Tiny, fast moving birds like finches, canaries and parakeets don’t do so well with cats. Bigger, slower less flighty birds do great. For years I would never get a small parrot with pointy long (cat toy) tail. I ended up with a rescue green cheek conure. My cats are great with her. Of course they have all lived with birds and know to behave. I have raised 5 batches of chicks indoors this past year and the cats don’t bother them. I would recommend clipping your birds wings at first just so the cat gets accustomed to the bird walking rather than flying. I never clipped any of my birds and find that the conure never flys. She has a ladder from her cage to the couch and chooses to walk everywhere. Wing clipping can prevent her from having flying accidents until she is accustomed to her new home also. I have found that my female birds are more personable.

I won't ever clip my birds' wings. I find it cruel but I won't hate anyone who does it.

 

[Serin]

It is cruel so I applaud that choice.

 

[Quailobsessed]

I’ve had multiple cats and birds together my whole life. Tiny, fast moving birds like finches, canaries and parakeets don’t do so well with cats. Bigger, slower less flighty birds do great. For years I would never get a small parrot with pointy long (cat toy) tail. I ended up with a rescue green cheek conure. My cats are great with her. Of course they have all lived with birds and know to behave. I have raised 5 batches of chicks indoors this past year and the cats don’t bother them. I would recommend clipping your birds wings at first just so the cat gets accustomed to the bird walking rather than flying. I never clipped any of my birds and find that the conure never flys. She has a ladder from her cage to the couch and chooses to walk everywhere. Wing clipping can prevent her from having flying accidents until she is accustomed to her new home also. I have found that my female birds are more personable.

The problem I've found with wing clipping is, you are preventing an animal from doing what they are designed to do. Birds are mean't to fly. They need that exercise they get from flying, how do they exercise when clipped? Also, many parrots are clipped as babies. They miss the opportunity to fledge, and loose their confidence in flying. I've had to teach my cockatiels to fly after their wings had been clipped (not my choice). One of my cockatiels ended up loosing all his tail feathers because he'd try to fly and crash-land on his tail. I had to try hard to convince the person I got my budgie off to not clip his beautiful wings. For me personally, I could not and would not clip a parrot's wings. As @KikiDeAnime said though, I am not hating on any person just because they do it.

 

[CatWhisperer]

I only suggest clipping when the bird first moves in to a new home. Birds molt, feathers grow back. It is a safety matter only.

 

[Birdsong 82]

There shouldn't be any bashing about how you own a cat and want a bird. To me it's the equivalent of owning a dog and getting chickens. It's tough with the cat because I would like to say just train them like you would a dog around your chickens the cats are tougher. I have one cat that is a hunting machine. Very few birds survive below 13 feet in my yard. But after having the chickens there for a few days she realize that their friends not food. So even if she gets birds outside it may be different when the cat realizes they're inside and are another pet I guess I would start with supervised introduction

 

[Quailobsessed]

I only suggest clipping when the bird first moves in to a new home. Birds molt, feathers grow back. It is a safety matter only.

Yes, but they can take a year to grow back.

 

[Lemon88]

Don't clip wings, it's just too risky. How can they even exercise without the ability to fly?