# Kitten vs Tiki... What do I do?



## Bagheera (Feb 27, 2014)

Hello Cockatiel friends! So sorry that I have not been getting on the forums lately!

So a few months ago I purchased a little sphynx kitten that we named Roo. I've wanted a sphynx for as long as I could remember, so when the chance finally came up for me to be able to get one I took it. My problem is that my kitten who is going on 7 months old now, wants to kill the cockatiel. He is obsessed with the bird. One time when we had Tiki out of his cage he flew onto the floor and before we could get to him the kitten pounced him and had his paws on the bird's back and was holding him down with his wings sprawled out and was trying to figure out how to make a kill bite. Thankfully for us the kitten didn't bite the bird and the bird was uninjured. He was ruffled but other wise ok and was chirping happily like 2 minutes later in his cage. It made us realize that kitten + bird = nope. We have a hard time keeping the cat off us when we take Tiki out of his cage and it often spooks Tiki and makes him fly around the room, thankfully he hasn't landed on the floor yet, but it is still very scarey for us and we don't know what to do. I can not lock the kitten in a room so that we can take the bird out of his cage because the kitten goes ballistic and tears up the carpet whenever he is separated from us. I am very much in love with this cat, but I love Tiki too and want him to be happy and be able to come out of his cage without fear of the kitten going after him, but I am just at a loss. Does anyone here have any ideas on something that we can do to help this situation? We don't have the money to buy some expensive bird perch or anything that the kitten can't climb on. So remember, any advice you give must NOT be something we have to "buy" for the bird, and this includes materials to make something.


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## catalinadee (Jan 1, 2011)

I can't give you any advice, however, I will say that it's not just biting/scratching to worry about. Cats (and other mammals) have a bacteria in their saliva called pasteurella. This bacteria is deadly to birds and it can/will kill them. I once had a bird escape who had unfortunately been scratched by a cat and as they lick their paws I had to have him put on antibiotics. Not fun! 

All I can really say is don't have him out with the kitten around. If there's anywhere you can move the cat to just while you have him out for a while then that would work best. I have to do it as my cat is very prey driven. Is he bad when he's in the cage too?

Sorry I'm not much help!


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## Bagheera (Feb 27, 2014)

Yeah, the kitten has climbed on top of the cage and he tries to look at the bird constantly by clinging to the bottom of the cage and pulling himself up just enough to look. One time he stuck his head under the bird's blanket at night and scared the bird and gave him the worst night fright ever, we though the bird broke his wing.


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## tielbob (Mar 25, 2013)

Bagheera said:


> One time when we had Tiki out of his cage he flew onto the floor and before we could get to him the kitten pounced him and had his paws on the bird's back and was holding him down with his wings sprawled out and was trying to figure out how to make a kill bite.
> 
> and
> 
> Yeah, the kitten has climbed on top of the cage and he tries to look at the bird constantly by clinging to the bottom of the cage and pulling himself up just enough to look. One time he stuck his head under the bird's blanket at night and scared the bird and gave him the worst night fright ever, we though the bird broke his wing.


Then you see where this is going: Sadly, the cat will keep at it until it kills Tiki, either by physical contact, or by stressing him to death. The bird needs his own room and even then isn't safe since the cat will watch and wait for the right opportunity - stalking its prey. I have seen this before - it ALWAYS ended badly for the bird ... and didn't take long, either


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## Jaguar (Jul 11, 2014)

Unfortunately, this is the common outcome when you mix prey & predator species. There's not much you can do to train the hunting instincts out of your cat, other than try to encourage him to play with and hunt toys instead of your bird to help spend some of that energy. Tiki needs to have a separate room where he is safe from the cat at all times... as tielbob said, even the presence of the cat and the feeling of being stalked can stress Tiki out greatly, to the point of illness or death. I would NOT have them out at the same time, even if you have a safe perch, or Tiki is flighted - cats manage to catch wild flighted birds all the time, and cockatiels are big and not the most agile birds ever... it's not a risk worth taking. This is something that should've been thought long & hard about before you got a cat... some people make it work, but most of the time, there needs to be a separate room or aviary for the birds when cats/dogs are around. My cat does not stalk/hunt or make advances on my birds... but I had her for 2 years before bringing birds into my home, so I knew her behavior well in advance. I still never, EVER leave them unattended in the same room.


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

My family has two cats (used to be three). They both prey on wild birds, so you can imagine the interest in _my_ birds. The cockatiels' cage is in my room and I always have the door shut to prevent the cats from finding their way in. The room is off-limits to the cats at all times. When I have my 'tiels in their outdoor cage, Pinky and Possum would stalk them, but ever since I've been spraying the cats with water every time they got too close to the cage, they don't bother anymore. Nowadays they couldn't care less about the cockatiels, but I would still never trust them in a room with my birds, ever. A cats' instincts are far too strong.


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## estypest (Jul 31, 2014)

The only answer is to have the bird and cat completely separate. I have a cat who would not hesitate to kill Maxi, so Maxi is in a shut off room, and only out when I know that hte cat is outside with no indoor access. You just can't take the risk ever, your cat will kill Tiki if it has the chance. If you want Tiki out, you need to shut your kitten away, seriously they cannot be loose in the same area (or the kitten loose with Tiki's cage).


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## Bagheera (Feb 27, 2014)

Thanks for all the advice everyone


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## eduardo (Jan 27, 2012)

I am actually surprised you bought the kitten knowing your house and other limitations 
To be honest, I would rehome the kitten. It is not fair to Tiki, who was there first. From your older posts, I know you love him and care about him a lot.


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## bobobubu (Dec 12, 2011)

Wise words, Eduardo. This mix is gonna end in tears unless the cat goes or learns to be confined somewhere far from Tiki when the little fella is out. 
And he will never relax knowing that there is a predator in a place where he used to be safe.
Very sad indeed.


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## Hellena (Feb 11, 2013)

I'm not a fan of cats so I'm going to be biased towards the birds 
But with that being said, and I'm sure people will disagree with me on this, I would never have cats and birds in the same household, it's just not a risk I would take. Cats by nature are natural predators toward birds. I don't care what disposition the cat has or how it's raised. Yes, dogs can kill birds too and I've heard of it several times. However, I would be more concerned with cats. In all honesty I think bringing the cat into the household was not a good decision, sorry. If you really want to keep the cat then do your bird a favor and find it another home. All it takes is a few seconds for your bird to be killed or severely hurt. Are you willing to take that chance??? I'm not trying to rustle any feathers, but it's not a good mix, at all. That cat you have will NEVER want to stop trying to kill your poor bird as long as they reside in the same house. Separate rooms won't matter. Your bird will eventually turn into an :angel:


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## Hellena (Feb 11, 2013)

eduardo said:


> I am actually surprised you bought the kitten knowing your house and other limitations
> To be honest, I would rehome the kitten. It is not fair to Tiki, who was there first. From your older posts, I know you love him and care about him a lot.


I totally agree with eduardo here


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## Brandon2k14 (Nov 26, 2014)

The only advice I can give you is what happened with my dog and tiko (African grey) before I got Rocko (cockatiel) when I had my dog she always jumped at tikos cage and one day tiko was out of her cage so my mam told me to stay in my bedroom and play with the dog so I did but I went downstairs for a minute and the dog ran down and was sneaking up on tiko and tiko climbed down and moved closer to the dog and the dog jumped on her and my mam had to grab the dog off so if u have kids maybe they can play with the kitten while the bird is out or find something to keep the car entertained like a toy mouse that moves my cockatiel Rocko hates cats once day our kitchen window was open and our neighbours cat jumped in and hopped on rockos cage don't forget cats can climb on the cage


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## Nimra (Aug 4, 2014)

CharVicki said:


> My family has two cats (used to be three). They both prey on wild birds, so you can imagine the interest in _my_ birds. The cockatiels' cage is in my room and I always have the door shut to prevent the cats from finding their way in. The room is off-limits to the cats at all times. When I have my 'tiels in their outdoor cage, Pinky and Possum would stalk them, but ever since I've been spraying the cats with water every time they got too close to the cage, they don't bother anymore. Nowadays they couldn't care less about the cockatiels, but I would still never trust them in a room with my birds, ever. A cats' instincts are far too strong.


This is a good idea. And its alright if you want to keep a kitten and a cockatiel. I am planning to have a kitten soon. I will start with a really small one which doesn't know how to hunt. If you wanted a kitten, you should have bought a Persian one. Persian cats are lazy and they don't really know how to hunt. The only thing you can do is separate them in two ways: the kitten should have separate room or the kitten must live outside. If the kitten keeps giving the bird night frights and you can't take it to the vet, it will die just like that.


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## Kiwi (May 12, 2013)

There is no doubt that you will have to place the kitten in a separate room when Tiki is out or in a crate. I think at night the kitten should 'definitely' be in a crate or separate room given Tiki's night fright history. Poor Tiki has had some awful night frights and if the kitten is climbing up and sticking his head under the blanket at night, Tiki is going to freak out and night fright if someone just walks across the room because he doesn't feel safe in the house. Something definitely needs to be done so Tiki learns to feel safe and not stressed out again or the next time one of those night frights could kill him. 

From what I've read kittens have a lot of energy and they are nocturnal animals, so they want to explore and play at night unless you wear them out by playing for long hours during the day. Older cats are more calm and wont tear things apart because their mothers are their to scold them for everything they do and that's how they learn their manners. If the kitten is given free reign and when you are gone you can only scold him for behavior when you see it, he might not listen as well to you. And if he has any feathered toys, I would get rid of them because this causes him to see Tiki as another 'feathered toy'. You can squirt the kitten with a water bottle if he goes near the cage or train him to leave the cage alone by saying "Leave it" and giving him a treat when he goes away from it. I've read that eventually most cats will lose interest in parrots in their cages once they have been exposed to them enough. If the cat is allowed to go outside and hunt then I think they shouldn't be around Tiki because they will probably always see him as prey, indoor cats though eventually leave them alone (if parrots are in their cage at least not when they are out). I think it is because the kitten is a kitten that it is curious. You need to start training the kitten to leave Tiki alone now when it is most impressionable on the kitten. I would also trim the kittens claws with some nail clippers to blunt them if the kitten isn't de-clawed. It makes the scratching less damaging to the house and spares Tiki those sharp claws if he somehow gets out and lands by the kitten again, hoping that doesn't happen! >.<

I think the most effective method is to tire the kitten out before he goes to sleep or before you leave for the day so that he wont be as destructive during the daytime and at night he wont want to wander around and play/explore/scare Tiki as much as sleep. Laser pointers are really fun for tiring cats out, I babysit kittens and they love it. 

I've posted some links below for things that can help with the kitten's destruction and on training kittens to leave parrots alone.
http://www.catbehaviorassociates.com/new-kitten-checklist/
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=666
http://pets.thenest.com/cats-leave-birds-alone-6360.html
http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/cats/tips/destructive_scratching.html
http://www.petsmart.com/cat/repelle...;sid=AtXwQJU2gNP5QMHkr0GzRKU84d6s5nY9XnO3sH9B
http://www.petsmart.com/cat/repelle...5QMHkr0GzRKU84d6s5nY9XnO3sH9B?var_id=36-20099
http://pets.thenest.com/cats-leave-birds-alone-6360.html


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## dianne (Nov 27, 2013)

I am doubtful that a young kitten would not know how to hunt.


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