HELP! SHAFT TAIL GRIEVOUSLY INJURED!!!

[wildbird]

If you value your cat more than you do your birds, sell the birds to someone who will put them first. Cats can NEVER be trusted with birds. Sooner or later they WILL kill them. I wouldn't trust one even if it was declawed and defanged. They should not be allowed in the same room with birds. Birds know they are predators and it creates constant stress to them. How would you like to have a predator stalking a house that you are trapped inside of? The suffering and death caused by cats is so preventable. I feel so sorry for any birds where cats are allowed to be near them.

[lovezebs]

wildbird
Thankyou Wildbird for offering such kind words during a difficult time.

I have had cats, birds, dogs, fish, mice and hamsters all living together quite harmoniously for the past forty years or more with no misshap until now.

I suppose it would have been alright in your books, if another bird had injured Holly, but then again we all know that birds are never aggressive or predatory, and that they never hurt or kill other birds.

I don't put any of my pet companions as first or second, I happen to love them all equally. I do however happen to love all animals better than I like most people.

I wish you a good day.

[lovezebs]

Hunter keeps calling for Holly today and looking for her all over the flight. It's so sad. How long does it take birds to forget?

[Rox]

lovezebs

So so sorry for your loss

[KarenB]

Oh no, I'm sorry you lost her. I really thought she'd pull through. You must be heart sick. *hugs*

[lovezebs]

Rox and KarenB
Thank you.
I'm glad she is not in pain anymore. The injuries were just too severe. I don't think anything could have helped. At least she had her beloved Hunter with her in the end.

I feel so sorry for him. He goes around the flight peeking into all the nooks and crannies. Then he gets up on the highest perch and looks around and starts calling for her, after which he stops and listens, then calls again. He's been doing this all day.

It's simply heart breaking to watch and listen to him.

[wilkifam]

So sorry!

[KarenB]

I know how heartbreaking it is. I felt so sad for my parrot finch male after he lost his hen in a night fright incident. I found her dead on the floor of the flight, and after I removed her, he called and called for about two weeks. She left behind a clutch of eggs, too, and he never went back to sit on them. Now he doesn't call except occasionally. I'm hoping to find him another mate at an upcoming bird mart. It was a real shame to lose that hen as they were a very good pair and were very attentive parents. Ugh.

[MiaCarter]

Oh no!
I'm so sorry, lovezebs.
That just plain sucks.

Like Karen, I was optimistic that she could pull through as she wasn't needing the full amount of support via the heat lamp and so forth. And she was up and perching. I was hoping it was just some missing feathers and a relatively minor flesh wound.
Such a bummer. She was a beautiful girl.

I feel so awful for Hunter. Poor little guy. I know how hard that is to watch.
I lost a hen very suddenly and for no apparent reason and her mate Jackson just went nutters with anxiety, pacing non-stop.
She left 2 eggs and I fostered them to Molly Sue and Ivy and the one survivor was my beloved little Squeepers.

It's so tough when pets that you love so much hurt each other. But I'm sure you can find a good solution that will keep everyone safe. I like the plexiglass idea a lot!
I'd also make sure you anchor the cages to the wall so they can't be knocked over.

[afinch]

This sucks lovezebs. Sorry about the loss. Maybe getting him a new mate will help him forget sooner? That has usually kept my birds from cqlling to their mates in the past.

But now you know the culprit, so onwards to solutions. Is it possible to prevent the cat's access just to the bird room? I wonder if its mere presence stresses the birds, and more so now that they've wittnessed fatal attacks.

[MiaCarter]

afinch's comment made me think of something I saw once.

It was basically a screened box, about the size of a couple large curio cabinets. The front tilted open so you could access the cages.

They had reptiles in there. Apparently, some had been prone to escapes, and that's why they made this. So they could enjoy the beautiful terrariums without worrying about poisonous reptiles wandering the house.

The same would work well for birds and it could definitely prevent cats from accessing the cages.

Cats and birds can live in harmony. You just need to find the right system for your animals.
I know some of the more intelligent, larger birds can get noticeably stressed by having a cat around. But it seems much less common in finches. When I had just a few cats, they had access to the birds and the finches weren't bothered in the least by them.
In various arrangements of my bird room, I've had cages right up beside one of the french doors and the birds didn't seem to notice when the cats would sit and watch them.
Conversely, I've had others who DID notice the cats and stayed on the opposite end of the cage when there was a cat around. So I have little sticky rice paper inserts that I can put up on the French door panels to create a shade if they seem bothered.
I think birds are naturally programmed to be more tolerant of predators than we think because they face predators in nature all the time. If they were stressed to the extreme, it would be debilitating.
The fact that Lovezebs' birds are reproducing tells me they feel safe and secure, despite the kitty. So definitely doing something right!

@Lovezebs --- You asked how long it can take for them to forget.
It can take quite a while. I had one little guy who was super upset for several weeks. It wasn't until I moved him into a new cage and got him a new girlfriend that he settled down. Just moving him into the new cage was helpful; he was right next to the female he'd shown a preference for. But she was new so I had her on quarantine for a bit. He was better once he was in the same cage as the new female.

[afinch]

Mia I think you are generally correct. But I was also wondering if seeing a peer or two get wounded like that might influence any acquired tolerances? This actually reminds me of what you say about taming exercises. Little things can cause a back slide. Even the absence of continuous conditioning can cause a backslide in the level of tolerance. In any case I'm not going to make a case for birdie psychologie here lol. I agree that the bottom line is probably just figuring out how to ensure that future attacks aren't allowed to happen. I also wonder if the fact that the cat has now had a taste (and seems to like it) also changes the dynamic a bit. What worked in the past may no longer suggest that it will work the same way in the future. It's a tough situation, so I wish you luck lovezebs.

[MiaCarter]

afinch -- That's a good point. Not really sure on how that would impact their tolerance.

Dynamics can definitely change over time. Once an animal discovers a new enjoyable activity, they're more apt to repeat that action. Especially problematic are actions that are inherently rewarding, like play. It's self-conditioning, as the enjoyment from playing with the birds is the "reward."

But I think covering up the lower portions with plexiglass and ensuring the cages can't be tipped over should do the trick.
I'd also secure the little sliding cage doors with wires so he can't get a paw in there.
I would also work to keep the cat away from that general area with spray bottles and cat alarms (the cat alarms are especially important because they'll sound even when you're not around to squirt him with water.) So he'll consistently get negative feedback for approaching that area.

[Colt]

Again, so sorry that all this happened. I would definitely see if you can't track down that breeder and another hen possibly. It'll help him to have another one around him. Not to mention you get to observe social/pair behavior you won't see with him alone calling for her.

In the wild if an accident like this were to occur he'd probably pair back up with another fairly quickly. After all just about every organism we know of is hard-wired to pass their genes on. The best chance of doing that is finding another mate.

[Sally]

So sorry you lost her, lovezebs, she was just too badly injured.

As far as keeping cats and birds together, it definitely can be done. Attaching sheets of plexiglass to the cage is the easiest way to keep the birds safe. I have done this very successfully in the past.

As far as the level of stress is concerned, it varies. I have two 14-year-old cats who have difficulty jumping or climbing to high spots. They are so used to the birds in my house that they pretty much ignore them. The birds show no signs of stress, even when the cats walk past their cages, they continue just as if the cats aren't even there. When I had an aviary with a plexiglass front, my cats at first were fascinated when the birds were down on the floor. They rushed the glass a few times, which would send the birds back up to their perches. In very short order though, the birds stopped reacting to the cats, the cats became bored, and that was the end of that problem. The birds were much more stressed when I entered the aviary for cleaning.

I have a friend who keeps a cat in her bird building to keep out rodents. I was amazed to see this cat sleeping on top of the cages, yet the birds did not appear to care, continuing to breed as well as if there was no cat around.

I think it is unfair to expect that people with cats cannot have birds, or vice versa. My dog doesn't bother the birds at all, yet when I had a loose bird in the house, he was faster than the cats, pouncing on it and killing it instantly. Many members have multiple pets. It just takes a little extra work and planning to have them all co-exist in harmony.