Can Cats and Birds Live Together

[JohnPala]

My Daughter lover Kittens and she is asking to buy a kitten.. I have 2 pairs love birds.. Is it safe to bring Kittens to home where birds lives.. will Birds scare about kitten and make lot of sounds ??

 

[JLcribber]

They are natural born enemies. Cats are one of the most efficient predators out there. There will always be a huge risk factor. You forget ONE time to close a door or secure a bird and you have a dead bird.

IMO it’s not if they will get one. It’s when. You’re playing with fire.

 

[GoDucks]

My Daughter lover Kittens and she is asking to buy a kitten.. I have 2 pairs love birds.. Is it safe to bring Kittens to home where birds lives.. will Birds scare about kitten and make lot of sounds ??

They are fine together as long as everyone in the house practices common sense. That means the birds don't come out when the kitties are out, it means closing doors, and it means to never forget that cats are predators and birds are prey. I have had both my whole life and have not encountered any problems.

 

[GoDucks]

They are natural born enemies. Cats are one of the most efficient predators out there. There will always be a huge risk factor. You forget ONE time to close a door or secure a bird and you have a dead bird.

IMO it’s not if they will get one. It’s when. You’re playing with fire.

They are not natural born enemies. You have had dogs and dogs are known for getting birds as well as pet rabbits. It takes common sense to have both a predator and a prey animal living under the same roof.

 

[JohnPala]

Do you think the Kitten of 3-6 month make also trouble because is small so... and what about the sound.. will birds make lot of sound due to the presence of cat, just concern about the neighbors

 

[Karen]

My Daughter lover Kittens and she is asking to buy a kitten.. I have 2 pairs love birds.. Is it safe to bring Kittens to home where birds lives.. will Birds scare about kitten and make lot of sounds ??

Cats are predators - Birds are prey. Cats are natural-born hunters. That said, my answer to you is, it is not safe. If you did attempt to try it, you have to forever be on alert that the cats stay away from the birds cage. The cats would have to be put away when you allow your birds time out of their cages. One mistake could be deadly to your birds. Kittens especially are relentless and will be trying endlessly to get to the birds.

Yes, the birds will be on alert and may scream and may hurt themselves if they were to be scared or attacked by the cats. Cat saliva is deadly to parrots.

 

[Zara]

They are fine together as long as everyone in the house practices common sense.

It takes common sense to have both a predator and a prey animal living under the same roof.

Yes, but the problem is OPs daughter is a very small child. Children forget things, like closing doors etc.

 

[GoDucks]

Yes, but the problem is OPs daughter is a very small child. Children forget things, like closing doors etc.

I agree.

 

[GoDucks]

Do you think the Kitten of 3-6 month make also trouble because is small so... and what about the sound.. will birds make lot of sound due to the presence of cat, just concern about the neighbors

No, if she is not allowed to pester the birds there should not an increase in noise.

 

[Sparkles99]

If you have separate rooms for both I think it could work. But given that your child's young, it sounds very risky. There are members here with birds & cats/ dogs.

 

[fluffypoptarts]

Yes, but the problem is OPs daughter is a very small child. Children forget things, like closing doors etc.

Very much agreed. Also, most children lack sense and often don’t understand consequences. I’m rather of the opinion that young children are not responsible and careful enough to safely have pets.

 

[GoDucks]

Very much agreed. Also, most children lack sense and often don’t understand consequences. I’m rather of the opinion that young children are not responsible and careful enough to safely have pets.

t
t
Just curious, how do you know that this person has a really young child? At age eight I had already shown responsible behavior towards the family dog and therefore my parents felt I was ready to have my own dog.

 

[Zara]

how do you know that this person has a really young child?

She was in a video he showed us.
His other child is also very small.

At age eight I had already shown responsible behavior towards the family dog and therefore my parents felt I was ready to have my own dog.

If there were no birds involved, then 95% of us would probably encourage getting a cat. Or if it were a rabbit or guinea pig instead of a cat.
I believe pets are good for children.
The problem is that there needs to be a system in place to avoid the cat getting near the birds. Having small children makes it hard to control, though admittedly not impossible.

 

[Ali]

I agree, the problem is not necessarily the child's ability to care for a pet, but the fact there are multiple species involved, one a predator, the other prey. You never know what could happen.

 

[GoDucks]

She was in a video he showed us.
His other child is also very small.


If there were no birds involved, then 95% of us would probably encourage getting a cat. Or if it were a rabbit or guinea pig instead of a cat.
I believe pets are good for children.
The problem is that there needs to be a system in place to avoid the cat getting near the birds. Having small children makes it hard to control, though admittedly not impossible.

As I had replied earlier to your original quote- I agree. However, it really does depend on the age of the child, a ten year old is a lot more responsible than say a four year old. At age ten I got my first hamster, which would had been a disaster in a household with three indoor/outdoor cats and two dogs, but I always closed my bedroom door behind me- always.

Also how responsible is the child- does she make her bed without being told to, does she pick up after herself, does she help feed the other animals. etc...

 

[GoDucks]

I agree, the problem is not necessarily the child's ability to care for a pet, but the fact there are multiple species involved, one a predator, the other prey. You never know what could happen.

Of course you never know what could happen but that is life in general.

 

[tka]

Sure, there's life in general - but there's also trying to reduce risks as much as possible.

Cats are predators, birds are prey. It's an inherently dangerous combination. Your small lovebirds pose no danger to a cat - but a cat will absolutely try to kill your lovebirds. A three month old kitten doesn't stay a little kitten for long.

You can reduce risks by keeping the cats and birds in entirely separate parts of the home, being absolutely certain that doors are kept closed and that all members of the household are aware that the cats and birds must be kept separately. However, if that's not possible - if, for example, your home is entirely open plan, or if you have a family member who isn't old enough to reliably shut doors every time, or if you have a family member who shrugs things off with an "eh, they'll probably be fine" attitude, then you can't reduce the risks to an acceptable level.

 

[GoDucks]

Sure, there's life in general - but there's also trying to reduce risks as much as possible.

Cats are predators, birds are prey. It's an inherently dangerous combination. Your small lovebirds pose no danger to a cat - but a cat will absolutely try to kill your lovebirds. A three month old kitten doesn't stay a little kitten for long.

You can reduce risks by keeping the cats and birds in entirely separate parts of the home, being absolutely certain that doors are kept closed and that all members of the household are aware that the cats and birds must be kept separately. However, if that's not possible - if, for example, your home is entirely open plan, or if you have a family member who isn't old enough to reliably shut doors every time, or if you have a family member who shrugs things off with an "eh, they'll probably be fine" attitude, then you can't reduce the risks to an acceptable level.

I was in no way trying to be flippant when I said that's life in general. i don't believe in ever putting any animal in harm's way. I was however stating that a child's age and commitment to responsibility do play a factor when it comes to determining a new pet addition to the family.

 

[Love My Zons]

Many of us here have both cats and birds. I have had cats longer then my birds and have had birds well over 27 years and have never had any issues.

Due diligence. The smaller the bird, the bigger snack factor as prey. The larger the bird, most cats won't mess with a large bird. This is my take on how my cats have reacted to a large flighted bird. Easier to run and get away from a bird with no fear.

Cats are prey to large falcons and Eagles. But again, due diligence and common sense supervision or separation is a must.

@Mizzely
@zoo mom

 

[budgieluv3]

I would say no, unless you are super careful and you can 100% assure that that door stays closed. Which we can because were human. Even if the cats got into the room and did not hurt the birds, the birds could suffer some problems with stress, which leads to feather plucking among other things.