Parakeets and Cats

User Question
Hi. I'll be getting my 2 cats back from my mom in maybe a year or so. They're about 7 and 8 now. I'm thinking of getting a parakeet now. Hoping they'll be friends. Afraid the cats will stalk and terrorize the bird. Any thoughts? thanks.

Lisa's Answer
This really depends a lot on the personality of the cats. We have had up to four cats at a time in this house along with 3 parakeets. The cats were all indoor cats so they were NOT used to stalking birds for fun. Even so, cats have natural instincts and even a cat that's never seen a mouse will chase it if a mouse comes into a house. A cat that seems tame with birds might still swat one if the bird landed near it - and it only takes one swat to kill a parakeet.

So for example, in our house, we used to let the parakeets in essence have free reign of the house when we only had one cat in it. The cat was extremely lethargic and would never move except for food or water. Even so we were always in the room with the birds so that we could keep an eye on things. When we went up to 2 or more cats, the birds were moved into a room that could be sealed off, and they were only let out when the cats were out of the room and the doors were closed. That way it was always quite safe for the birds and there wasn't any chance for an accident.

It's not necessarily that the cats want to maliciously hurt or eat the birds. But cats love to play. They swat at things. If a bird flies over a cat's head, the cat may swat at it for fun - and now you're birdless.

On a more general note, make sure the cage is up very high, away from any 'cat perches'. You don't want to give the cat ANY ability to sit at cage level and look at the birds, or leap on the cage. Not only does it risk bird death, but the birds will get very stressed if they have to sit in their "safe home" and have a predator staring at them.

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