# Cat and bird training?



## ashleigheperry (Aug 2, 2012)

I live an apartment with cat lovers (I am a cat lover as well) and they've recently gotten a cat. However, I'm planning on moving my bird into my apt. in the next few weeks. The cat is a brat, though I love him, and I suspect he won't welcome the bird warmly. I have to keep my bedroom door open, because I have the only air conditioner in the apartment. My bird will be caged while I'm out of the room at work and such, but the cat can fit his paws through the bars. 

Any advice on how to keep the cat at a distance? Do I have to keep them separate permanently?


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

if the bars are too wide, get a cage with smaller bar spacing... or keep the cat out of the room, especially when you are not home

second, do not ever let the cat in the room when the bird is out of the cage.


and get a squirt bottle. having 4 cats of my own, it can be trouble.


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## Ghosth (Jun 25, 2012)

Put the cage high, like up on a dresser with no place for the cat to sit. 

If it is free standing then get creative. 

I too have 2 cats and I've been awakened in the middle of the night with a proud kitten bearing a budgie. (She figured out how to get into the cage) Trust me, you do not want to do that scene if you can possibly avoid it.


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## ashleigheperry (Aug 2, 2012)

Gah, I wish I could move it higher. The cat is a total acrobat, and still young. There's no where I could put it that the cat won't be able to reach it. I've purchased a squirt bottle for every room and bought treats for the cat, to help train him, and I think I'll just ask my roommates to be vigilant about keeping my door closed. 

I will never have the door open when the bird is out. It's just an accident waiting to happen! My cage is extremely secure, so while I know the cat can't get his body into it, he will be able to fit his paws through (he's still a kitten). I don't have room in the budget for another enclosure at the moment, but I thought about draping a light sheet over the exposed sides of the cage when I'm not at home as a precaution. One side does face a window, so I'd leave that side exposed during the day, and I'd use a sheet that's a light color, so the light could penetrate it. 

Would that be too confusing for the bird? I'd use a different cover at night, to differentiate the time of day, but I don't want to upset the bird's sleep cycle. It would just be as a precaution though, and I'm going to ask my roommates to take the air conditioner into their room so I can leave my door closed. I may have to invest in my own though, as I don't want my baby boy to overheat. :c​


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

You might be careful about having a cage in front of the window. If a bird is in the sun for too long it can suffer heat stroke and die.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

personally, i would shut the cat out of the room when you are not home to be on the safe side if hes a rather lively kitten. mine dont hassle my birds in their cages, but a lot of kittens will especially when theyre in that hyper stage, and i find male kittens to be more hyper when younger lol


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

You could try cardboard around the sides of the cage til the kitten gets old enough that his paws wont fit anymore.


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## ashleigheperry (Aug 2, 2012)

His cage is near a window, but the sun never makes its way into the cage during the day. I've done a lot of research about heatstroke, because my AC is unreliable, and I've made sure his cage is in a good spot!

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm probably going to go the route of shutting my door and getting a second AC. It'll be expensive, but worth it for the sake of my bird. ​


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

ashleigheperry said:


> His cage is near a window, but the sun never makes its way into the cage during the day. I've done a lot of research about heatstroke, because my AC is unreliable, and I've made sure his cage is in a good spot!
> 
> Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm probably going to go the route of shutting my door and getting a second AC. It'll be expensive, but worth it for the sake of my bird. ​


Definitely the wisest course of action! You can probably find a cheap used AC unit on Craigslist -- post a wanted ad for one, maybe? Even if you managed to keep the acrobatic cat from getting to the cage, his presence might stress your bird out. Imagine if he were to launch himself at the cage and knock it over? I have cats, and when I first brought Juju home you could tell they were freaking him out big time, though his cage was placed on a very high dresser. So they're just not allowed in the bedroom now, period, until the bird cage has been covered up for the night.


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## Ezzie (Jan 19, 2010)

What about those scat mats? Maybe you could place enough of them so he cant jump over one and so when he lands he gets a shock through his feet, it *should eventually teach him not to bother going into the room


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## Agatecrystal91 (Jun 26, 2012)

DO you not have a wardrobe that the cage can go on?
I would advise to always shut the cat out of the bird where the tiel is when there is no one around, not only is there a risk of the cat getting it's paws through the bars of the cages there is also the chance they could pull the cage over and injure themselves and or the bird.
Hope you manage to sort something out.


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## lukassaysnault (Aug 9, 2012)

I have a sim ilar problem. Buy one of those baby gates to block your doorway, or find an obstacle that still keeps the doorway open, but that the cat cant jump onto/over. I use a flat lid from a large storage container.


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## smays810 (Dec 27, 2011)

When I was a young kid I had 2 budgies and I also had an adult cat and I went on vaca with my mom and the cat was still able to figure out some way of getting to the birds and end up killing one of the budgies. so even when the cat is an adult I would still be cautous. I still to this day can't figure out how my cat was able to do it and I had the cage up on a tall book shelf cabinet type thing. I think the best thing to do is keep you door closed and keep the cat away from your bird. Better safe than sorry.


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