My cat attempted to attacked my conure

dizzydreamerJEN · Sep 12, 2017

Hello! Last night my cat grabbed my conure by his tail... and 2 of his tail feathers came out...the longest one, so now he have really short ones and old ones that are he been trying to take off. My question is will they grow back? Idk I'm thinking about giving my cat up for adoption, because i been very paranoid since last night. Any tips?? :orange:

Flboy · Sep 12, 2017

Get rid of the cat! I am in the same situation, so it is easy for me to tell you what to do! But I am not following my own advice so far!

dizzydreamerJEN · Sep 12, 2017

Flboy said:
Get rid of the cat! I am in the same situation, so it is easy for me to tell you what to do! But I am not following my own advice so far!

Yeah that's all I been thinking ever since last night. I don't see no other way this stopping.

Scott · Sep 12, 2017

Re-homing an animal companion is always difficult, but you know first-hand birds get the short end of the stick in an altercation. The forum has so many stories of birds lost to cats or dogs, truly sad.

IMO it is not even the case of which animal came first; the odds of losing a bird to cat attack is extremely high. As guardian to both, whatever decision you make means making every effort to locate a great new home.

dizzydreamerJEN · Sep 12, 2017

Scott said:
Re-homing an animal companion is always difficult, but you know first-hand birds get the short end of the stick in an altercation. The forum has so many stories of birds lost to cats or dogs, truly sad.

IMO it is not even the case of which animal came first; the odds of losing a bird to cat attack is extremely high. As guardian to both, whatever decision you make means making every effort to locate a great new home.

Yes definitely. It hurts me to even think of giving my cat up but it hurts more knowing that my cat can easily kill my conure. My cat foster mom is willing to take him since she got other cats & cared very much for my cat. So I know he be in great hands with her.

wrench13 · Sep 12, 2017

Parrots and cats a high % of the time mean dead parrot, or traumatized so much they are no longer companoin material. A lot who experience this are too ashamed to post about it and we never hear from them again. Sorry if this seems cold hearted but parrots didn't ask to be put into houses with a predator. If our cairne terrier was not a lump ( literally - sleeps eats poops and sleeps some more, she would have been rehomed. Plus she is scared sh*tless of Salty. My opinion, but I know Salty will never be eaten or have a heart attack becasue of a cat.

dizzydreamerJEN · Sep 12, 2017

wrench13 said:
Parrots and cats a high % of the time mean dead parrot, or traumatized so much they are no longer companoin material. A lot who experience this are too ashamed to post about it and we never hear from them again. Sorry if this seems cold hearted but parrots didn't ask to be put into houses with a predator. If our cairne terrier was not a lump ( literally - sleeps eats poops and sleeps some more, she would have been rehomed. Plus she is scared sh*tless of Salty. My opinion, but I know Salty will never be eaten or have a heart attack becasue of a cat.

I was not asking you nor anyone else what should I do, I know exactly what I should do. My question was about wondering if his tails feather will eventually grow back.

dizzydreamerJEN · Sep 12, 2017

wrench13 said:
Parrots and cats a high % of the time mean dead parrot, or traumatized so much they are no longer companoin material. A lot who experience this are too ashamed to post about it and we never hear from them again. Sorry if this seems cold hearted but parrots didn't ask to be put into houses with a predator. If our cairne terrier was not a lump ( literally - sleeps eats poops and sleeps some more, she would have been rehomed. Plus she is scared sh*tless of Salty. My opinion, but I know Salty will never be eaten or have a heart attack becasue of a cat.

but thank you for being straight forward about it, I really apprecite it. I didn't know this was quite common.

IndySE · Sep 12, 2017

The tail feathers should grow back ! Mine has regrown her tail feathers 3 times probably in the year I've owned her. Especially if they're pulled, the parrot's body will prioritize growing new feathers. My conure almost went duck-butt in her clumsy baby stage and she regrew some new ones in what seemed no time at all.

I sympathize with your difficulty in keeping both a predator and prey pet in the same room. I wish you the best of luck in making your decision.

clark_conure · Sep 12, 2017

the tail feathers will grow back but maybe not till his next molting period.

plumsmum2005 · Sep 13, 2017

Have heard that some birds release their tails in this type of situation, not sure if that includes Sun's. If he is flighted keep an eye on him as it may affect this?

Do please make sure they are kept separate it only takes a scratch to cause your bird some serious issues that can be fatal.

wrench13 · Sep 13, 2017

Conures are amoung the types of parrots that can scare shed their tail feathers, the same way some lizards, like skinks, can snap thier tails off on purpose to escape a predator. Predator tries to grab them by their tail ( or tail feathers) a voluntary contraction of their tail muscles just the right way, and Mr. Predator is left with a squirming tail or a mouthful of tail feathers and our prey animal lives to fight another day. Reptiles who do this almost never regrow their tails fully as their original ones, and sorry, I am not sure if parrots and other birds who have this ability regrow the tail feathers fully. They do regrow though.

This whole process is called caudal autonomy. LOL, even some worms and fish have this same response.

itzjbean · Sep 13, 2017

Please reconsider rehoming your cat. Just because your cat has instincts and you didn't take precautions doesn't mean it should be punished and kicked out of your house. There are ways to keep them separated and happy!

I HAVE TWO CATS. AND A HUGE DOG. AND TWO BIRDS.

Contrary to what others say...it IS possible to own different kinds of animals without them killing each other. You just have to take precautions. My birds are not out of their cage unless the cats are in their room (they have their own room and a front patio, so they do just fine) and the dog leaves them alone. You just can't leave them alone unsupervised, just like with children.

It works even better if the birds have their own room (like a spare bedroom) because you can just shut the door (or put up a home-made curtain) and that way everyone can be happy and no one has to be rehomed.

The feathers should grow back with time. Just keep the two separated and be mindful of the cat when you have your sun out.

dizzydreamerJEN · Sep 18, 2017

itzjbean said:
Please reconsider rehoming your cat. Just because your cat has instincts and you didn't take precautions doesn't mean it should be punished and kicked out of your house. There are ways to keep them separated and happy!

I HAVE TWO CATS. AND A HUGE DOG. AND TWO BIRDS.

Contrary to what others say...it IS possible to own different kinds of animals without them killing each other. You just have to take precautions. My birds are not out of their cage unless the cats are in their room (they have their own room and a front patio, so they do just fine) and the dog leaves them alone. You just can't leave them alone unsupervised, just like with children.

It works even better if the birds have their own room (like a spare bedroom) because you can just shut the door (or put up a home-made curtain) and that way everyone can be happy and no one has to be rehomed.

The feathers should grow back with time. Just keep the two separated and be mindful of the cat when you have your sun out.

I had taken precautions ever since the indecent. If I'm not home I put my cat in my room so my conure can fly around the house & what not. I decided to keep my cat, just being more responsible & more aware...thank you very much for your reply, needed to read exactly what you said. Thank you again.

smbrds · Sep 18, 2017

I'm in agreement with the posts. Cat - predator; Bird = prey. Any time a prey is present no matter how many times they get along is putting up a risk. There are certainly times where they can be together (supervised) and unscathed, but the risk is just too great with our precious fids, even supervised. One quick response and could be that. It is never too careful to be "too careful" because of the "too much." The keyword here is: precaution.

LordTriggs · Sep 18, 2017

dizzydreamerJEN said:
I had taken precautions ever since the indecent. If I'm not home I put my cat in my room so my conure can fly around the house & what not. I decided to keep my cat, just being more responsible & more aware...thank you very much for your reply, needed to read exactly what you said. Thank you again.

I would think it would be better all around to have things the other way around. when nobody is around a bird should be in their cage to avoid any accidents in general, not just cat related. Meanwhile to lock a cat in a room isn't exactly fair on them is it? It's not your cat's fault they have instincts.

keeping cat and bird separated by a door is always a good way, although you do need to make sure you make it a habit to check before the bird is allowed out

AmyMyBlueFront · Sep 18, 2017

Back in the day,my first "parrot" was Wally,a budgie. We also had Moe,a black,indoor kitty with her front nails removed.Wally would land on Moe's back and preen her tail as Moe walked around.

I was young,uneducated with birds and STUPID at the time

Thank GOD nothing bad happened..

Jim

itzjbean · Sep 18, 2017

dizzydreamerJEN said:
itzjbean said:

Please reconsider rehoming your cat. Just because your cat has instincts and you didn't take precautions doesn't mean it should be punished and kicked out of your house. There are ways to keep them separated and happy!

I HAVE TWO CATS. AND A HUGE DOG. AND TWO BIRDS.

Contrary to what others say...it IS possible to own different kinds of animals without them killing each other. You just have to take precautions. My birds are not out of their cage unless the cats are in their room (they have their own room and a front patio, so they do just fine) and the dog leaves them alone. You just can't leave them alone unsupervised, just like with children.

It works even better if the birds have their own room (like a spare bedroom) because you can just shut the door (or put up a home-made curtain) and that way everyone can be happy and no one has to be rehomed.

The feathers should grow back with time. Just keep the two separated and be mindful of the cat when you have your sun out.

Click to expand...

I had taken precautions ever since the indecent. If I'm not home I put my cat in my room so my conure can fly around the house & what not. I decided to keep my cat, just being more responsible & more aware...thank you very much for your reply, needed to read exactly what you said. Thank you again.

Great that you decided to keep the cat, however you should NEVER let your bird fly around unsupervised, cat around or not. If you're not in the house, the bird should be in the cage. Anything could happen while they are out flying around and if no one is watching, just like a toddler they get into things so easily.

LordTriggs · Sep 18, 2017

AmyMyBlueFront said:
Back in the day,my first "parrot" was Wally,a budgie. We also had Moe,a black,indoor kitty with her front nails removed.Wally would land on Moe's back and preen her tail as Moe walked around.

I was young,uneducated with birds and STUPID at the time
Thank GOD nothing bad happened..

Jim

we were all there once. Years ago my step-dad got a Kakariki who couldn't fly and didn't like me so I didn't interact with him much (lots of biting). We had him out in a house with 4 cats who were all known to have eaten pidgeons and a golden retriever. Nothing ever happened, the cats had no interest in him at all. I think the flying was what interested them

sometimes they do fine together but looking back boy were we dumb as a family. Ofcourse we've all seen the videos of birds playing happily with cats and dogs. Always look upon a predator pet as what they are, a predator. Blaming them for acting on their base instincts is nature, if anything happens it's the lump of flesh called a human that is to fault. Luckily in the situation here the conure is fine, just got a duck-butt for a bit.

dizzydreamerJEN · Sep 19, 2017

itzjbean said:
dizzydreamerJEN said:

itzjbean said:

Please reconsider rehoming your cat. Just because your cat has instincts and you didn't take precautions doesn't mean it should be punished and kicked out of your house. There are ways to keep them separated and happy!

I HAVE TWO CATS. AND A HUGE DOG. AND TWO BIRDS.

Contrary to what others say...it IS possible to own different kinds of animals without them killing each other. You just have to take precautions. My birds are not out of their cage unless the cats are in their room (they have their own room and a front patio, so they do just fine) and the dog leaves them alone. You just can't leave them alone unsupervised, just like with children.

It works even better if the birds have their own room (like a spare bedroom) because you can just shut the door (or put up a home-made curtain) and that way everyone can be happy and no one has to be rehomed.

The feathers should grow back with time. Just keep the two separated and be mindful of the cat when you have your sun out.

Click to expand...

I had taken precautions ever since the indecent. If I'm not home I put my cat in my room so my conure can fly around the house & what not. I decided to keep my cat, just being more responsible & more aware...thank you very much for your reply, needed to read exactly what you said. Thank you again.

Click to expand...

Great that you decided to keep the cat, however you should NEVER let your bird fly around unsupervised, cat around or not. If you're not in the house, the bird should be in the cage. Anything could happen while they are out flying around and if no one is watching, just like a toddler they get into things so easily.

Usually someone is always home, meaning my mother. So he's being supervised by my mother if I'm not home. But if no one is home then of course I'll put him in his cage.

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