Help before my cat is attacked again!?

Question

this is getting to the point where I just want to squash the darn bird. And don't say give it away! that is NOT a solution. However, it does need to stop doing what it is doing! Everytime I allow the cockatiel to come out of it's cage it attacks my cat and dogs! My cat tries to get away. she is really scared. When my cockatiel pecked her today, you could tell that she was hurt. I'm truly concerned for my cats well being. The dogs are no help because they are scared of the bird too. I'm so afraid that it is going to peck my cats eye out when I'm not around. The cage doesn't have a door. So, it comes out sometimes when I'm not home. I'm afraid that I'll come home to a dead cat that was attacked by this heartless feathered freak of a bird! what can I do?

Answer 1

It sounds as if Tweety has some anger-management issues. Perhaps a bit of avian - psychotherapy might be in order. Consult
your vet for help finding a bird shrink.

Answer 2

Clip the bird's wings or have the vet or an experienced bird owner or bird breeder show you how. Clipping the wings makes many a bratty bird start behaving itself, its like the bird realizes that it can't get around as easily or get away with as much bad behavior. A cockatiel with wings clipped can still lift itself a few feet and go a short distance, although you may want to make sure it can get back into the cage without any problem (depending on the height of the cage door, of course)

Here's a link to the American Cockatiel Society's page on wing trimming.
http://www.acstiels.com/Articles/BasicCare/wing.html

One note, if a feather is trimmed or broken and starts to bleed, the solution is simply to pull the whole feather out of the bird.

Here is another link to a site with a lot of good accurate cockatiel information.
http://www.cockatielcottage.net/main.html

Another article from the same site, on cockatiels that bite
http://www.cockatielcottage.net/bite.html

You need a cage with a door. If you don't have a door, maybe you can make one out of a piece of wood or plastic that is just a bit larger than the opening on the cage, put holes in the four corners (and maybe inbetween the corners to make it more secure), and then use wire or twist ties to secure the wood to the cage. Make sure the homemade door is secured tightly so there's no chance the bird could possibly open it enough to get his head through and hang himself, and make sure there are no sharp edges on the inside of the cage.

Another thing you can do is cover the cage with a blanket when you go away from home. Cockatiels will go to sleep at night, and covering the cage so its dark, will usually make a cockatiel go to sleep within about 20 minutes or less.

Once you have taken steps to stop the bird's bad behavior, you also will have to make sure that the cat and dogs don't do anything to the bird to retaliate. A cat or a dog is able to kill a cockatiel easily.

Here is a link to an article on biting and aggression in parrot species generally (a cockatiel is a parrot btw)
http://www.companionparrot.com/agression-and-biting.htm

Good luck with your bird, and I commend you for wanting to solve the behavior problem instead of just getting rid of the bird. When you get a pet you have a responsibility to care for and work with that animal, just like when you have a child. Too many people just want to "throw away" a living creature when it develops a behavior problem, instead of working to change the behavior. Animals with behavior problems that cannot be solved are actually quite uncommon and even then, most of the problem behaviors have been caused by humans. In years of handling thousands of animals of many species, I've only seen two with severe aggression problems that couldn't be solved, and of those two one had a brain tumor and the other had inherited the behavior problem along with genetic blindness.

Answer 3

Try to makeshift a door for the bird while you are not at home or move bird cage to bathroom and close the door while you're away. This lil bird is protecting his territory, possibly he or she may be coming into season (ready to mate), or it's in the 'terrible twos' stage and has bouts of nasty behavior. Remove the bird with a towel or by hand if you dare and place it back in cage with the make-shift door, saying no bite! Leave him there about 20-30 minutes and let him out again. Do this every time, do not speak to him, just ignore him. When he doesn't bite give him praise and a treat. He'll eventually catch on. The death you find may not be the cat but the bird instead. Flying free while you are out is very unsafe for birds.Or go to www.freecycle.com asking for a newer cage.

Answer 4

If you know this, why in the world would you allow the cockatiel to come out when the cat and dog are in the same room and why wouldn't you have a door on the cage. One of these days if the bird doesn't do real damage, then the cat or dog is going to swipe at it, maybe kill it and you are going to blame the poor cat. Lordy, use your head and keep them in separated rooms whether you are home or not.

Answer 5

When you leave the house, secure the cat and dog in a big area where the bird can't go. If you have a large bedroom or bathroom, secure them in there with the door shut with food, water and a large blanket to lay on. If you don't have a large area with a door, lock the bird with the cage in the small bedroom or bathroom so the bird can't attack.

Answer 6

why not sell the bird to a good home? It might save alot of stress and upset for you and your cat and dog, and even the bird too, as he obviously does not like the other animals - perhaps he needs to go where he is an only pet? You could advertise, take your time and find the best home for the bird, where you could visit him. Then settle and all be much more relaxed

Answer 7

Get a new bird cage with a door. When you want to let it out put your cat/s and dog/s outside or a different room so it can have a fly around. Then put it back and then bring your animals back inside.

Answer 8

Get a door for the cage or a new cage, or put the bird in a room on it's own. I kept my cockatiel in the laundry for years so that my cats wouldn't torment him. It was sunny, people went in to see him from time to time & he was happy & he spent alot of time sitting on top of his cage and exploring perches & things we had set up in their for him (he did once crawl into the back of the washing machine through a small hole though & was covered in grease & lucky to not die as he was stuck in their all day while we were at work).

Answer 9

First of all get a door for the cage. Then supervise all interaction. You may even want to confine your dog and cat while the bird is out.

Answer 10

You should get a door for the cage, for one thing. If you cant, keep the bird in a seperate room, and close the door to the room when your not home. When you are home, you can leave the door open, but should supervise all interaction between the two.

Answer 11

the way that should work and that i use very often when raising different animal is to get them close to each other at all times so that the bird doesn't think that the cat is a threat and the cat isn't afraid of the bird.