If you remember Tweety Bird and Sylvester, then you might think that cats and birds are natural enemies like cats and dogs. Only instead of wanting to fight, like a dog would a cat, the cat actually wants to make a tasty meal out of the bird. While this might be true in some instances, this isn’t true in my personal experience. I’ve never had a cat attack a bird or try to eat it. However, I also believed that a cat might try that, so I took time to adjust my cats and birds. Here is how I did it.
The first thing I did was to make sure I got kittens and birds, not full grown cats and birds. As a kitten, I would take my cat and put him on my lap. Then I would have my wife bring the bird over, place it on my shoulder, and I would calmly pet the cat. Being curious, of course, the cat would crawl up my arm to see the bird, but I kept the cat calm and so the bird didn’t panic. I would also feed them treats at the same time. With the cat and bird close together, I would give the cat a treat, and then the bird a treat.
This helped to bond them. I don’t know what animals think, but I imagine that my cat was thinking, “Okay. So there’s no competition here. And this is what food is, not this flying thing!” Sure, there were times when the cat would just suddenly claw and swipe at the bird, but he never tried to really attack the bird.
The bird was surprisingly always calm around the cat, even when I got multiple cats. This might not be the case for your birds, however. If your bird starts panicking, leave the bird in its cage where it feels safe, and bring your cat to see the bird. As they grow up together, they will start taking to one another. This might not always be the case, so don’t hold me to it. I just know I have never had issues in this regard.
imasnakecharmer 