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Cats/Dogs and birds

Aves

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Those of you with cats/dogs and birds. How do you protect your birds? I want to know how. At my house I might get a cat. Would you use separation like a closed door or something? Or is there something else you do.
 

Destiny

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Physical separation is the gold standard for birds and cats/dogs. It is the safest choice.

Training is not a good substitute because it only takes one mistake for your bird to be seriously injured or dead. It can happen in a moment, if the dog or cat suddenly reacts to the bird. Cats are especially problematic because a cat bite will often cause life-threatening infection, so even small injuries may prove fatal.

My advice would be to plan on keeping the cat in a different room from the bird. Never let the bird out of its cage when the cat is out. And don't allow the cat to menace the bird while it is caged or hang out on top of the birdcage. Depending on bar spacing, the cat might be able to hurt the bird and being threatened is very stressful to the bird.
 

April

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I keep Tobias in a room that my pup is never allowed in and I always keep the door locked while he's out so there is no chance of someone else opening the door.
 

Wardy

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If my birds even see a cat through the window they have a total meltdown personally i wouldnt even consider it
 

FeatheredM

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Different rooms is a must, the best way to keep a bird safe from a cat is to just keep them in separate rooms at all times and to put a bell on a collor. My sister brought a kitten off the street home and now we have a cat (He is kind of mean)! so this is what we do
 

April

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Wanted to add this in my orginal post but ran out of time,lol.
Once upon a time several years ago Zazu :gccct: managed to escape her cage without me knowing and I opened the door to her room and it was later at night so the lights were out in the room and before I could even hit the switch out she flew over my head freaking me out because that's the last thing I had expected and right into the living room with me chasing after her she flew over the dog who thank god was so shocked that he stayed still and she finally landed on the kitchen chair and I snatched her up and ran back into the room. Even though it wasnt my fault per say(she chewed through 3 rope pieces holding her breeder door closed) and I'd always been obsessively careful about keeping them separate all it takes is one incident and all could have been lost. I was so so lucky that she chose to stay up high and land far away from the dog. Keeping predator and prey in the same home will always have inherent risks so its up to the humans to do everything possible to keep them safe from each other.
 

tka

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Personally I wouldn't want a bird and a cat in the same household. The only way to be 100% confident about preventing harm to your bird is to not get a cat. All it takes is a moment of carelessness or forgetfulness.
 

Shezbug

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I now only have the 1 dog but the rules in my house have always been that when birds are out of cages flying about the dog is locked outside or in another room.
I’m now the only one who is ever allowed to let the dog in or out so there’s never any mistakes with that (anymore), things were very stressful when everyone else was also letting dogs/cats into and out of certain rooms and I did have a few very scary moments- other people are honestly the biggest problem for me in multi pet households.
I never ever have birds and the dog free roaming in the same room as it’s just not safe for the birds- cats I feel are even more of a danger.
The stray cats watching my birds from quite some distance away and through a window cause my birds serious stress- it’s to the degree that I do all I can to keep the cats away from our yard
 

FeatheredM

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I now only have the 1 dog but the rules in my house have always been that when birds are out of cages flying about the dog is locked outside or in another room.
I’m now the only one who is ever allowed to let the dog in or out so there’s never any mistakes with that (anymore), things were very stressful when everyone else was also letting dogs/cats into and out of certain rooms and I did have a few very scary moments- other people are honestly the biggest problem for me in multi pet households.
I never ever have birds and the dog free roaming in the same room as it’s just not safe for the birds- cats I feel are even more of a danger.
The stray cats watching my birds from quite some distance away and through a window cause my birds serious stress- it’s to the degree that I do all I can to keep the cats away from our yard
I agree that cat's are more dangerous than dogs, dogs are loud and let you know where you are as cats are stealthy and sneaky,(which is why I close my door as fast as possible,) I always make sure that my heavy door is closed all the way. Cats also see birds as prey, and dogs might see a bird as a toy. You can train your dog for accidental situations (bird gets out while accidentally while dog is out) so that you can lead your dog out of the room as fast as possible, while a cat you can't say, "stay," or "come", they might just go running after your bird with no regard to you trying to get your bird to saftey.
 

Mizzely

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My cat is not allowed in the living room when the bird is out; luckily she is sleeping most of the day and is active mostly at night when he is in his cage, so this is rarely even an issue.

My dog is trained to go to his kennel if Ripley takes off out of his area. As soon as he hears wings fluttering he is in there!

I have a baby playpen around Ripley's area. It is neither cat or dog proof, but it buys me extra moments of time if needed. Sometimes, seconds are all you get.

If I had a more active bird again, like when I had Jingo and Koopa, I would do things differently and would have more established zones and closed door systems.
 

BirdG1rl

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My dog, Max, is constantly separate from my birds, not just when they are out of the cage but when they are in it too. Because the dog (or cat, for that matter) could always grab a leg or a wing through the bars and that could end in disaster. I never recommend mixing other pets with birds.
 

Oscarbird

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I have now six cats in my house and Oscar lives in my room. The door is shut at all times, and I don't allow cats to come inside my room even if they are desperately asking for it. We have the areas where the litter boxes and food/water bowls are all the way on the main level of our house which is separated by another level so that they are as far away from Oscar as possible. One very useful trick I've learned is before going outside of my room I always open the door a crack to check for cats. Separating dogs/cats from birds is the most safest option to insure your bird doesn't get hurt. If you don't have an area where your bird can remain (such as a bird room) or an area where your dog/cat can be separate from your bird I think that it would be best to rethink getting a dog/cat.
 
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