How to familiarize our cat to a new dove?

[sekeyslaks]

Hello everyone!

I have loved birds my entire life and after saving up my own chicken profits for years,and sleepless nights of research,I am very happy to say I can afford a dove all my own!!I

I am buying everything myself.Unsure of whether to get a ringneck dove or diamond dove still deciding.Anyway the reason I made this thread is because I have a cat that constantly follows me around,she is very clingy.We think it's because she's getting older and she still has a stray cat mentality.Seriously this cat won't let me out of her sight,she is my constant companion.When I go outside she follows me,when she is still in the house when I go outside she waits by the door for me,and she can't stand it if she's not in the same room as me or she will do her frog croak throughout the house! That's why I am worried if she will accept the new change or not,she may get jealous.So how can I get her ready for my new dove so she won't be upset?This really worries me,because a few years ago my old cat Joanna died from getting too excited when we got back from a trip.I don't want the same thing to happen.

 

[sekeyslaks]

Anyone there?

 

[jak2002003]

Firstly, get 2 doves.. not one!

Keeping one is cruel.. they are very social birds and need the company of their own kind.

Secondly, house the doves in a secure cage away from your cat.

A cat will always try to catch the doves... they are clever.. and it will wait until you are out before it does it.

Make sure the cat is out of the room when you let your doves out to fly around.

 

[laughingdog]

Squirt cat with water, make same distracting noise, or gently but sharply poke or tap cat, to avert focus from doves, and maybe clip claws down so rouned, so cannot claw and catch or hurt birds so easily (cats claws can contain bacteria etc that can be deadly to birds same as teeth and water container cat has access to).
On flip side i have a cat that hangs around and in my loft on shelves even for five years now, with my birds and never harms any, and makes rodents short order happy meals. she hunts and eats wild songbirds and doves, but lays out on lawn allowing "pigeons" and hookbills towalk all over and around her (she bops occassional bird on head closed pawed, knocking them over, but that usually bird pesters her).

 

[laughingdog]

If you are having built or building a cage, use smallest guage hardware cloth you can get.. a cage inside, a coop outside, whichever or hopefully both.
ive never personally had diamond doves, but they are tiny, and maybe instead of two, you can have half a dosen (though a true pair provided two nests can quickly grow in numbers over six months. lol. ive had ringnecks and collard doves, and they are the messiest birds as far as tossing seeds, molting, pooping out of cage and on things, dust from geathers and feces, and constant noise, plus they stress pretty easy from startling n disease as well as handling them that are unfamiliar with it or you. cockatiels pretty similar so could show sorta how can be. some extreamely tame calm and friendly i hear though.
i keep breeds of domestcated rock doves (common "pigeons"), and will never have ringnecks/collards again, as even captured feral rock doves soon within week tame down. most descendants of racers/homers, meat breeds, and tumblers, etc. these can be easily taught to come to sounds usually signalling feed/treats/petting, letting them be released then return at signal or just return by nightfall. They thrive on chicken feeds, best mixed n wild bird seeds (seven grain scratch and wild good bird seed best, layer for breeders). they prefer square and block perches, and red brick to peckat and wear nails down on, some provide a finer poultry calcium/grit source or a fortified caged bird grit. a tablespoon or two of Apple Cider Vineger (ACV), per gallon of drinking water,once weekly, to daily by some, help keep them healthy acidifying system and having nutrients as well. There are different colors patterns shapes sizes, abilities of looks sounds homing and acrobatics in air and on ground.. some rollers and tumblers are grounded after three months and can only jump up and flip one to three times and land on feet close or where feet were when jumped (feet are chalked to show), and some roll along straight line for one to almost four football field lengths. Some flying types roll down up sideways backwards forwards, and everywhere inbetween etc.

 

[sekeyslaks]

Both kinds would be fine for me I just wanted them as a pet.we are going to renovate an old red barn,that has two horse stalls!both stalls are attached to a perfect yard,it just needs to be fenced in,and divided because one of the stalls is going to be used for baby chicks.Is it all right for doves to live next to baby chicks?They wouldn't be there long!Only till they are old enough to go into our main chicken house.Does anyone know about those Australian Crested Doves?They are what my doting sister wants me to raise and I was wondering whether anyone can tell me what they are like?

 

[Szulptist]

I currently have two pigeons, two diamond doves and one ringneck dove. As jak2002003 mentioned, having two or more is nice for the birds because they always have company and a member of the flock to be around. My ringneck dove and diamond doves live in my bedroom so they see me whenever I am home for many hours at a time. How do they all fair as pets?

I'd say pigeons and ringneck doves are my top recommendation.

Pigeons can become extremely tame and rewarding companions. Their major drawback is that they produce a LOT of dust because they have very dense plumage (which is why they do so well in the winter). They also have significantly messier dropping that are also huge. They crap very often (like most birds) and this makes them more ideal for being kept outdoors for both your sake and theirs. Otherwise in the right setup pigeons are relatively low maintenance (depending on how many you have), clean and very rewarding to have. Definitely keep at LEAST two pigeons unless you are able to spend every minute of your life with that bird, they are extremely tightly bonded with their partners and if they don't have another pigeon to bond with then you will be their mate. Otherwise pigeons are one of my all time favorite animal and I hope some day to be able to keep half a dozen or more of them (among many other birds). They also come in unbelievable shapes, sizes and colors. I'd say there are more pigeon breeds than there are dog breeds and pigeons take the cake in physical variation. You can look up modenas, saxon swallows, jacobins, fantails and german owls to get an idea of the range of breeds they come in. Of course the fancier the breed the more they cost, plus a feral pigeon can be just as smart and loving (if not more so) than a very fancy one. If you're going to get pigeons, I'd say get a few rescues, there are always plenty who need homes!

As for indoor / outdoor, I'd recommend ringneck doves. My male Amelia (who was named when she was assumed to be female) is amazing and I love her dearly. I consider her a she even though it's very obvious she is a he but when I talk about her I just refer to him as a her. Since she considers me her mate she is very close with me and allows me to groom her head as she coo's softly and tries to preen the feathers of my hand (she sticks her beak in between my fingers as though she's grooming imaginary feathers). I don't know if you can keep ringnecks this tame and affectionate in pairs or groups but considering how fast she became tame (perched on my finger and seemed calm the first day I bought her) I'd say they likely are just as kind in numbers. Her droppings are small, they dry fast and cleaning her cage is very easy as I just change the newspaper bedding when I need to. Doves and pigeons prefer a flat surface to rest their feet over mesh so the cage I build just has a flat floor with newspaper at the bottom. Doves don't mind round perches as much as pigeons do so that's another difference between them. Ringneck doves also have a higher tolerance for spending some of the day alone than pigeons or diamond doves. For pigeons I believe they are much deeper intellectually than ringnecks so it hurts them more to be alone for extended periods of time. Diamond doves I will explain in a moment.

I do not recommend diamond doves as "pets" in the sense that you can't really play with them unless you spend a tremendous amount of time one on one with a single individual and even then it's no guarantee. They are the fastest flying birds I've ever seen, if you purchased one or two and stuck it in a cage outside and opened the door and it flew out you'd never see it /them ever again. Diamond doves can be extremely tame and loving when they are hand raised or purchased at a very very young age and if you spend a lot of time with them. Of course you need to continue to spend a lot of time with them or they will gradually become less tame, especially if they have a partner or live in a group which they prefer. I love my diamond doves but the pair I have are purely ornamental for me. I hope they raise some young so I can raise a few that enjoy being played with but the parents are a lost cause for being interacted with. They are also very fragile and easily can be killed by stress if they are constantly being handled in an attempt to tame them. I don't mean that if they readily sit on you all the time that they'd have a stress attack, mostly that if they were to be grabbed and held in a closed fist all the time that it might not be so great for them.

As for Australian Crested Doves? I'd imagine since they are more exotic that they are probably less tame and I know for sure that they are significantly more expensive. The only site that I know that sells them has them for $237 each before shipping. Otherwise I have absolutely no further information on them.

Overall I'd recommend a pigeon or a ringneck dove, pigeons are hardier if handeling is important but ringnecks are fairly hardy too (hence being used often by magicians). Keeping pigeons and chickens together is not recommended as I've read that pigeons can get sick if they ingest any of the droppings that the chickens leave around. Side by side temporarily I'd imagine wouldn't be too much of a big deal but I wouldn't house them together unless they had separate feeding areas and other accommodations made for them.

Good luck!

Eric