btollenaar Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Hello, I'm going to be a new Grey owner! I just put a deposit down on a new baby Timneh Grey and should be getting him/her around Feb. This is my first bird, we have 2 older dogs (Vizsla & Border Collie) and are considering getting a cat too. What are you experiences with Grey's and other pets? Do they generally get along? Any differences between their behavior towards dogs and cats? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Hello and welcome! You are in for an adventure if you haven't owned a grey before. Many of us have other pets. How well they get along depends on each animals temperament. Cats and dogs have a hunting instinct. It is stronger in some than others. Accidents happen quickly, so you will need to monitor them very closely if they are out at the same time in the same area. Good luck and God bless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aerial.2000 Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 I thought if we got a kitten I could train it to leave the bird alone and stay away from the cage but ............... THAT has NOT been the case at all be careful. Even the dog gets ALLLL crazy nipping at the air if the bird is in flight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 No cats is my suggestion, dogs only, if pups. Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdhouse Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 It always comes down to the individual animals, birds & humans. But overall, cats & birds are just not a good mix. Cats are natural enemies & most have a pretty large prey drive. Lots of them hunt for the pure joy of it. AND if they truly love you, they'll bring you the half dead trophy so that you can have the honor of killing it. But most don't care care what you think. If it looks like there might be a few minutes of fun & torture to be had, Tweety's fair game even if your kitty knows for positive sure it's a huge no-no. In fact, the fact that it's forbidden can actually make it more fun. Puppies are worse than cats. They usually want to please. They just forget sometimes because that's what youngsters of almost all species do. So for the first couple of years,there's always the possibility of a random brain fart, no matter how well they've been training. Generally, border collies are smart, quick to learn & eager to please. They also tend to have a little more energy than parrot might natrally feel comfortable around. They have some prey drive & a pretty large herding instinct which might actually lead to more issues than the prey drive because little grey birds are breakable. But most of them are very loyal & can be settled into a good relationship w/any weaker creature who their master makes clear is precious. Generally, Vizslas just make me smile. I had a mix. He was a big goofy love ...who I could never trust around the fids, for the most part. He respected there cage boundaries, thank goodness. He thought they were fascinating & meant to be respectful. But he was apt to hurt someone by accident because he was such a goof sometimes. And I don't know if yours has that ancient hunting dog skill set. But Morgan would point at a flock of geese in the sky & you could see electricity running down his body. He didn't usually act that way w/our fids. But there were times. Especially if they went flapping their wings. Over the decades now, my fids have had moderate to excellent relationships w/all my dogs. My collie/shep/husky helped w/the breeding teils. He checked the nest box daily, then baby sat the chicks after they fledged. He was the first living thing Phenix ever tolerated. He loved him so much his name was one of the first words he learned & he would call looking for him for about a year after he died. So yes it's possible for **certain** animals to have a good life together. It depends on all the personalities involved. It matters how fair the humans are & how perceptive they are at interpreting daily interactions. The real challenge is understanding that even though a fid is the most breakable critter in the mix, they're almost always the best manipulators. That's more damaging that many parronts realize & can be the key point to everyone living happily ever after (or not). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo's Mom Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 I'll chime in since I've had a variety of animals with Echo! Echo is 15 years old, and has been through 4 adult cats (that have since crossed the bridge), and is now on her 5th adult cat (I adopt adults, no kittens for me!) She has lived through one dog, and is now on her second. The first four adult cats and my first dog Abby and Echo got along famously. Seriously, I would read people's threads on how they had to keep their zoo separate and I couldn't even fathom the idea. I trained Abby in front of Echo, and smarty pants TAG copied those commands, so Abby was "controlled" by both me and the grey LOL It took her a while to figure out the differences! Abby was a mutt, but she was a spectacular dog and never once tried to eat the cats, the parrot, the ferrets, the mice and the degus that I also had at some time or another! Fast forward to four years ago. I got my current dog, Kyleigh, a long coat german shepherd, and my current cat, Raylan - a Siamese / himalayan mix. Between the two of them, if given the chance, they would eat Echo in a heart beat. It all depends on the animal, their prey drive, their personality, etc etc etc ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffNOK Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 I don't have any other pets, but I take my CAG Gracie to my parents' house for frequent visits and overnights. They have a cat and a dog. Gracie loves the dog but hates the cat. The dog respects Gracie and doesn't mess with her at all. The cat has to be locked up in another room. Although the dog shows no aggression towards Gracie, sometimes Gracie gets a little too close for comfort to the dog. She wants to engage him and sometimes even tries to fly and land on his head. I have to keep a close eye on them to prevent any unintended problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffNOK Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 (edited) ]I don't have any other pets, but I take my CAG Gracie to my parents' house for frequent visits and overnights. They have a cat and a dog. Gracie loves the dog but hates the cat. The dog respects Gracie and doesn't mess with her at all. The cat has to be locked up in another room. Although the dog shows no aggression towards Gracie, sometimes Gracie gets a little too close for comfort to the dog. She wants to engage him and sometimes even tries to fly and land on his head. I have to keep a close eye on them to prevent any unintended problems. The dog and the bird are quite a pair. When the dog barks, Gracie joins in with perfect canine pitch. She calls the dog by all of his nicknames: "Barkleah", "Barkleah James" and "Mr B". She greets him upon entering the house and bids him "Bye bye Mr B See ya later" when she leaves. She also throws all her green beans on the floor for him to eat. The cat....well as far as Gracie is concerned he (Carlos) is "felina non grata", and must be locked away out of her sight, or she will let everyone know about the dangerous invader. Edited October 13, 2015 by JeffNOK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 It also depends on if you have an " open cage concept". Ollie was a pup, when introduced to Sophie. He had a senior dog, Max, who trained Ollie. Alot of time and effort, was spent on educating dogs and birds. No room for other animals. All needed to be monitored and develop the relationships. It was alot of work by the entire family. Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 I have four house cats. They are truly house cats, having never been outside except for trips to the vet. They have seemly zero hunter instrinct. I have never had a problem. In fact, Timber tends to torment them for his own amusement and they mostly ignore him. That said, I would never, ever leave them unattended when Timber is not locked in the cage. Accidents can be fatal or expensive and traumatic if nothing else. I wouldn't risk it for anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 I used to have an inside cat when I first had my birds but she has since passed away, she was old and didn't have much interest in them, now I don't have any other pets but sometime in the future I may get another cat, for now I am content with my 3 fids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parrotlover13 Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 I am going to be honest, I do not have any trust in dogs or cats around my birds. I used to own a cat but not anymore. The cat killed my previous blue budgie named eclipse. The cat has stalked my cockatiel before to and if she met my African grey then she would probably go for her to. we used to have dogs when we lived in a house and one of the dogs would try and attack budgies we had at any chance. This is my experience and I know others will have different ones. I just have 0 trust in other animals but if you keep them away from each other then it should work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 I only have my two greys, TAG and CAG. I did have a lovely pug, Lily for almost 14 years until she was old and blind and confused. I had to have her put to sleep. I have not gotten over that and probably won't for a very long time. No more pets for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 luvparrots... I am so sorry about Lily... I can so relate about the loss of a best friend.I can't do it anymore so won't be getting any new pets either. Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neoow Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Alfie has grown up with other pets, including a german shepherd dog, indoor/outdoor rescue cat, 2 gerbils and now 2 indoor only bengal cats. When I lived at my parents house we had a german shepherd who was as soft as anything. however, I didn't trust Alfie and Ben (the dog) in a room together. Ben always went outside or Alfie went upstairs. Alfie did get out of his cage once and spent the morning home alone with the dog in the house and nothing happened. If anything, Ben was a bit spooked about it (he hadn't seen Alfie fly around the room before then because they were always separated) and he got worried every time I went to open the cage door in case Alfie got out again. However, when Alfie was in the cage, they were fine together. Ben would stick his nose through the bars and Alfie would stick his beak up Ben's nose. He never bit Ben. If Alfie ever panicked in his cage or fell off a toy then Ben would rush over to check he was ok. I always kept them separated when Alfie was out of his cage though, just in case one of them irritated the other enough to earn a bite. My sister brought a moggie cat home who was VERY prey driven. So it was clear that Alfie couldn't be let out when the cat was in the house/room. Though actually, the cat (Busta) never paid much attention to Alfie. He obsessed over my two gerbils when I had them though... that was a whole other problem as the gerbils would chew their way of out their cage...! Fast forward to now and I have two VERY energetic bengal cats who live indoors. They are very curious about Alfie, though they know better than to stick anything in his cage. I know I couldn't ever trust them with Alfie when he was out of the cage. One of them, Widget, would pluck him out of the air. So they are kept separated when Alfie comes out of his cage. There are some members whose pets cohabit perfectly fine, even with the bird out of the cage. I just never wanted to run the risk of the dog having an unpredictable turn and going after Alfie... or, equally, Alfie getting in a grump and going after him or my sisters cat. Even after Alfie escaped into the house with the dog and they survived a morning together I still kept them separated when Alfie was out (Ben was happier that way). With the two cats I have now I know I can't trust them at all with Alfie out of the cat. There's no doubt about that one. Just like I wouldn't leave a child alone with an animal, I wouldn't leave Alfie alone with one either. As others have said, it fully depends on the personalities of all the animals concerned. It IS possible for the animals to all get along fine... just as it is possible for one of them to get grumpy and cause harm to the other. It's up to you how you manage it and it's up to you to judge the situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 I have 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 greys and 1 Amazon. All my 4 legged pets are afraid of my parrots....due to the fact that my Amazon will go after them and bite them to get them away from my lap. They all co exist nicely under my supervision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acappella Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 I have an older indoor cat. They are always supervised when Dorian is out. Jac (cat) is mostly irritated by Dorian. Every once in a while he looks at me as if to say 'is He still here?!" Jac is too lazy in his middle age to actually go after Dorian, but on the few occasions when Dorian has had a started flight he has shown interest. That predator instinct is a hard one to ignore. With a hyper kitten I'd be very cautious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathyth Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 I had a boxer and two Rottweilers with a CAG for many years. The CAG loved all dogs. She knew all dogs by name, family members dogs by name etc. the dogs were indoor dogs and all animals were treated as a part of the family. I never had any issues that weren't 100% positive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 I am a firm believer, cats and birds don't mix. ( I do love cats!) It was a lot of work, to get pups and birds to coexist. It was possible, and done! When I got home once, my Amazon was in danger, and my dog let me know. Ollie saved Kiki's life. She was trapped under a gate and on her last breath. I did CPR, got her back. Kiki never forgot Ollie ever again. They became best friends. Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 (edited) I had a boxer and two Rottweilers with a CAG for many years. The CAG loved all dogs. She knew all dogs by name, family members dogs by name etc. the dogs were indoor dogs and all animals were treated as a part of the family. I never had any issues that weren't 100% positive. I had a german shorthaired pointer who died last year at 14. I now have a Brittney 7 yrs old. Both are bird dogs but they totally love my greys. Their main interest is deer, squarriels, other rodents, doves, frogs and some snakes, feral cats--all outdoor animals. They have absolutely no interest in the greys but both can be used by hunters for getting quail, grouse, turkeys. The greys love the greys, play with them and I have pics that show them together. Others have seen those pics. Cats? They're a no no. Edited October 19, 2015 by Dave007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 All animals need to be supervised... some more than others! When Sophie was a youngster, I had to be extra careful with Sophie and guinea pigs. My dogs were pups, so they had to be supervised that they didn't hurt her during play. No more guinea pigs, and Sophie and Ollie are the last of the friends. I now just supervise during Ollie's eating. He won't attack Sophie, but I never take a chance, and he has a right to eat his breakfast stress free. Other than that, I don't supervise them anymore. On the weekends, if I oversleep, they are both at my door. One scratching with their paw, the other knocking with their beak. While I love cats, I can't imagine this kind of friendship. Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btollenaar Posted November 14, 2015 Author Share Posted November 14, 2015 Thank you all for the response. We were considering a cat but after reading the posts I'm thinking definitely no. I recently picked up my Timneh - almost 5 months now and the 2 older dogs have been great. The blind old Vizsla smells her and tries to find her but mainly fails. The TAG - Zazu, deals with it fantastically. The older Border Collie pays her no attention. She knows she's here but knows better than to bother her. Zazu in general has been awesome - a very sweet TAG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Oh wow, your original post said around Feb. Sooner the better! (as long as they're properly weaned). Sweet picture of the baby! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btollenaar Posted November 15, 2015 Author Share Posted November 15, 2015 Thanks! A 4.5 month old became available with the breeder and I jumped at the chance She's been a great bird so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neoow Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 What a beautiful little bird you have there! Glad it's all working out with the dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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