African grays and cats?

[Guest WyrdOne]

I have a six year-old, well adjusted Congo, whom I've had since he was a chick. Though I have no other pets, I've been toying with the idea of getting a cat. Have any of you had experience with Grays and cats in the same household?

 

Bob Fliegel, St. Augustine, FL

[Guest phishbook]

My grey does a great meow. Cuppy his cage mate (bfa) calls "here puss puss puss, *borrrissssss*,*peggyyyyyyyyy*" (the names of his 2 fave cats )

[Jami]

Rigel my cat was here first. He was used to being alone and had never seen a parrot or dog in his life. I received Tuko as a gift when Rigel was 6 years old. I was a bit worried that things would not work out between the species but the cat just looked at Tuko and walked away and still does that to this day, four years later. He is not curious in the least bit about the CAG or the DYH. I think it is a size thing because he does likes to pester Sky and

Luna the budgies from time to time.

[Guest WyrdOne]

Thanks for all your advice. I have decided against getting a cat!

[Guest MorningDove16]

I don't have cats, but I had a dog. She was really curious about my TAG, and would sniff around the cage, and watch the bird very intently. Then one day she got her nose a little too close and the bird bit her right on the tip of her nose - actually drew blood. She lost all interest immediately!.

[binkus]

I had my 4 year old CAG rescue for about six months before I brought home a tiny stray kitten. The bird was used to dogs (previous home) so a cat was no thing. What you have to worry about is the cat attacking the bird. If you get a kitten you can raise it up to know that if it messes with the bird, there will be trouble. I used a spray bottle to accomplish this and also, when the kitten was still small, I let him swat at my grey so he could learn a lesson, and he did when the grey bit his paw HARD. You can never trust them alone however as the grey might tease the cat as mine does.

[Guest bennyguy]

I've had one cat for over 10 years and the other for about 4... they don't have any interest in the birds at all, but I have to watch out for the cats... My CAG , Too and Quaker will go out of their way to hunt down the cats and I'll have to scoot them back to their stands... The CAG, Elmo, shouts through the house "BECKY-BOB... Comere Kitty, come on, get up here"

It's hilarious.

 

p.s. My dog has no interest in the birds either, but will leave the room with his tail tucked between his legs when the Too starts screaming.

[Guest iuhuidhiusdhiugh]

This is funny because when one cat was in heat recently, my CAG makes that same ANNOYING meow noise perfectly. The scary part is when the cats approach with interest . . . hehe

[Guest iuhuidhiusdhiugh]

We have two cats. Sometimes when my CAG (Simon) decides to hit the floor, both cats are very curious but keep their distances. Whenever Simon is out of the cage, I keep an eye out. Not in fear of my cats pouncing to cause harm but incase an accident from rough play.

[Guest alger316]

And also the bacteria in a cat's claws can be deadly to birds also. So an accidental scratch from your cat can kill.

[Guest Agubwa]

We didn't have an African Grey but did have an Amazon with two dogs.

The AG was not really tame and would attempt to bite. When I married

I married into a family of the two dogs. I really didn't care too much for them but we tolerated each other. One night I saw the male dachshund go to the cage and stick his nose between the bars. I KNEW that we were gonna have a short nosed dog but Finegan climbed down and began preening the nose ... picking at it. This became a nightly thing and never did Finegan hurt Buster or Buster attempt to hurt

Finegan. In the summer I would take Finegan outside, in his cage, hang it on a low limb and spray him with the fine spray from a water hose. He would sing, talk, life first one wing and then the other ...

in short have a ball. Then I would leave him there to dry and talk to the other birds that came around. Buster and Cleo, the other doxie, were in the yard. One Saturday after the bath I was sitting in the den and heard someone knock on the patio door. I went and there was no one there. I figured it was the kids playing games. It happened again very shortly and this time I looked a little more closely and

Finegan was on the patio and pecking at the door. He had slide the bottom of the cage flew to the ground and waddled to the door to come inside. The two doxies were just sitting and watching. After that I used a wire to be sure he didn't get out again as I wasn't really sure what might happen. I will tell the tale about our retarded daughter and Finegan another time.