Bird Newbie, Mom is moving in with African Grey

[engineerjohn]

My (human) mother is moving in with me next month and bringing her African Grey (Mikie). Mikie is about 16 and Mom is "pretty shure" that Mikie is female; Mom and bird have been together about 10 Years. Mom is retired so she will have lots of time to take care of Mikie.

I never spent much time around birds; I've allways been a cat person. I have a duplex so keeping the cats and the bird seperated won't be too difficult (I hope). I've played with Mikie a bit when I visited them in TX (I'm in CA).

I have lots of questions, but let me start with a generlized plea for advice. Any experiances with parrots and cats in the same house (or wives and mothers)? What suprised you most about having a parrot?

Thanks,
John

 

[mnkeastman]

I am just stepping into the parrot world myself after having dogs and cats all my life. I found a copy of Parrots for Dummies on ebay and got it very cheap. After finishing it I felt a lot better. It has sections on everything from dealing with other pets to harmful things in your home you may not be aware of. I would highly suggest it.

Welcome

 

[roxynoodle]

I have a cat and 3 birds. My cat is quite predatory though and really, really wants to play with the birds. So during the afternoon, kitty goes into my bedroom and the birds come out. So far there haven't been any bad experiences. A couple weeks ago she did try to grab my conure's tail when it was sticking out of the cage, but luckily I was right here. Most parrots are capable of running off a cat though. You do want to make sure that the parrot never gets scratched because cat claws have all kinds of bacteria on them. If it does, even if it's too small for you to see, it is a vet emergency. Likewise, the bird could hurt the cat if it bites it. Chances are they will learn to coexist though.

 

[Mitchell]

Teach her to say...here kitty kitty! That would be awesome.

 

[Remy]

Some cats are predatory towards pet birds, but others aren't. I'm moving in with my mom next week, but her two cats don't take notice of pet birds. They pretty much ignore them. Not all cats are like this though.

And like the above poster mentioned, any cat scratch or bite, no matter how small, is a veterinary emergency due to the bacteria. As I told a cat lover recently, cat bacteria is not compatible with birds at ALL.

 

[roxynoodle]

My cat gave me quite a bad infection almost 2 years ago. I had chairs here that belonged to my sister and needed to be repaired. They were the kind with the fabric skirt on them. Well, she was hiding under one, and as I walked by, barefoot, she got the bottom of one of my feet really bad. Very deep, nasty scratch. The next day I went on vacation and as soon as I landed at the airport I knew it was infected. The friend I met and I spent a good portion of that first evening walking around this strange city looking for bandages and Neosporin for me, lol!

And the cat and my conure will try to play games along the lines of "torment each other". They enjoy it, but I do have to keep my eye on them. Good thing the conure has pretty small bar spacing. Actually all my cages do for this reason.

 

[engineerjohn]

Thanks folks,
I'll look for "parrots for dummies".

I knew cats had that bactieia, I did'nt know it was so dagerious to birds. One of my cats (Tabitha) ran away whan I first adopted her and lived feral for several months; I know she has a VERY strong hunting drive. The other cat (Rita) is probably too lazy to try and attack anything as large as an Afican Grey.

I've been married 3 1/2 years, Mom (Paula) and the Mrs (Lyla) have never had an argument, but they've never lived together. That may be the more volital combiination. (sorry to go off topic).

 

[roxynoodle]

Well, I have to tell ya, I'd probably have trouble living with my mother, too. And a mother-in-law might be harder yet, lol! Good luck to all of you as you get settled in together.

 

[oled]

Hope the cat wil survive lol

 

[PiperAndRiosMommy]

I'm with Roxy. I don't think I could live with my mother, she would drive me nuts. As a wife, I am quite sure I wouldn't like my mother in law to move in. Just be supportive to your wife and let her vent to you, lol. As for the bird & the cat .... mine get along but they only get to be near each other if I am right there. I would start off by leaving the bird in the cage and see how the cat reacts to it. If it ignores is, I'd bring the bird out but only where the cat cannot get to it and slowly introduce them.

 

[lene1949]

I have lived with my mother as well as with my daughter... Give me a parrot any day... lolol

 

[ConureComrad]

Welcome to the forum even thow I cant help you with your situation Im sure you will find good help on are forum.