how do u introduce other pets to your lovebird?

[tokameaki]

Hi everybody...this is tessie...well I have a cat name lily...she is siberian...very wierd cat compare to the ones I had in peru...everything in peru is just different...anyways this cats doesn't really make noise unless she is bored or hungry....she lovesssss water...u can't leave a glass of water she through it down the floor...she plays with toilet water etc...anything with water is fun for her...now she is very curious too....since I got my chichi bird...she just wants to know what is that thing (my lovebird chichi)....she looks and looks....get near the cage...tries to play with chichi when he moves a lot inside his cage by trying to jump at the cage...I saw in youtube...so many videos of birds getting along well with cats...but how do u do it?....I have two evil chihuahuas...they are in my mother house because they don't allow dogs at my aparment but very soon we will be together again and I want my chichi and my evil chihuahuas to get along...my chihuahuas do hunt...they kill a baby wild rabbit once...(I was trying so hard to save all of them)...they never killed a bird...but when always bring home the dead birds they find...and my chihuahuas bark soooo much...help...thanks

[kimsbirds]

I always cringe whenever I see a pic with birds and dogs/cats etc!!
Never ever ever allow your bird to come in contact with your dogs or your cats. Dogs and cats are hunters and you cant remove that genetic trait from them. Don't take the chance !
Dog and cat saliva is deadly toxic to your bird, so it's important that they never have the opportunity to interact.
Can you trust your dog or cat 100%??
Please be extra careful and let them be 'friends' from a distance. Better safe than sorry:)

[Flapjack]

I'll second that!!!! Please do not let your cat or chinchillas play with your bird. It only takes a fraction of a second for a pet to swat, snap at, step on, crush a little bird. Even if they didn't mean to be aggressive and are just playing. Not to mention the bacteria animals and even us humans have in our mouths that can kill your baby.

[Flapjack]

Ok- I know the picture in my avatar sort of contradicts what I just said. I do trust my dog 100%, but when that pic was taken, Jack couldn't walk yet, Shenzi was being held by the collar and petted, just so she could take a look at the new little alien. Jack tries constantly, but is NEVER allowed to land on Shenzi, and my dog is trained to stand stock still in the event that Jack is too quick for me. For the most part, they are not in the same room when Jack is out. My Shenzi is the most wonderful dog in the world, and would not hurt a fly. But, if Jack were to land on her face, and accidentally get a nail in her eye, she would understandably try to get rid of the thing before she realized it was Jack. It's not worth taking the chance...

[tokameaki]

Hi again....thanks for answering....yeah I wasn't thinking about the bacterias of cats and dogs...well I will try lily my cat not too get to curious around chichi...teach her to keep her distance from chichi...right now we only let lily watch chichi inside his cage...and when chichi is out of the cage lily is in my room...one day lily got out of my room when I was with chichi out of his cage but I was watching and lily just mind her bussiness paying more attention to my fishtank....thank god....I will get me a trainer for my chihuahuas they are just evil....they get along with lily but my female chihuahua just can't stand lily too close to her...I might get a ferret in the future so yeah I need a trainer to train my chihuahuas not to kill small animals....thanks

[Flapjack]

oops- sorry... I guess I was distracted while reading your post. I don't know why I thought you had chinchillas :rofl: I hope we didn't sound harsh, but just wanted you to know how serious it was. I'm also sorry to say that ferrets are probably not the best pet to get when you have birds either. They are very crafty, have the manual dexterity to open a cage door, and would likely see your Chichi as a fascinating little snack. I had thought about a ferret for years, would still love one, but not as long as I have Flapjack.

[Janie]

.one day lily got out of my room when I was with chichi out of his cage but I was watching and lily just mind her bussiness paying more attention to my fishtank..

That was one time and you and your lovie got lucky. I would never ever trust a cat around a bird. Cats instinctively go after birds....not their fault, just their nature.

[BarbieH]

Everyone has given you very good advice. :) I am so glad you asked that question! I have a cat too, and I keep her and the birds apart for her sake as much as for the birds. I know Neko couldn't help it if she ever tried to "play" with a bird, so I don't test her.

I want to always feel good about my cat. I love her very much. In fact, we owned her first. She always gets her food first, and lots of attention.

One thing I learned, is that if a bird flies to the floor while the cat is around, if I make a loud noise (shout and clap my hands), it bothers the cat but doesn't bother the bird. It's useful for stopping anything from happening and picking up the bird again.

We also discouraged Neko from jumping on the table near the birds' cages, also by hand clapping and yelling. When she moved away, we praised her. :2cents:

[Kirby]

When I had budgies in the past, my old cat Tosca would actually snuggle the birds. Now this is VERY RARE behaviour for a cat and would not trust ANY of my mums cats with my lovies (They are all in Ontario and I'm in BC).

Chris' parents originally had two cats and they unfortunately were killed by a shotgun, and I would NEVER have gotten my birds if they were still around.

I have come so close to losing Kirby to our rotweiler Bear, who is just a big old puppy who wanted to play with Kirby. From that incident Kirby and Skittles are NEVER in the same room with Bear.

[alwaysodile]

While I'm very sure that my two dogs know that my indoor lovie is not for terrorizing (they love chasing pigeons and crows outside), I don't take the risk. I'll certainly have them in the same room with Elphie...but only when she's safely in her cage, too far up for them to reach. They'll have a good look at her (and her them!) but then quickly move in to something more interesting, but it's best to never underestimate a predator. :omg:

Kirby! You have a rottie! How wonderful. I grew up with one of those gentle giants. :D They truly are fantastic dogs.

[tokameaki]

Thank u so much guys....I love this webpage...I'm always reading stuff from this site...my apartment is so small that I put chichi's cage on the table of my kitchen almost near a window....because daylight is importan for birds...and I always put the chairs away and nothing near the table so my lily won't jump at the table...about the ferret thing...well I was thinking about it but maybe no...I don't even know yet...at least until I buy a house...because I'm such an animal lover I was thinking to foster some dogs, cats, birds, and ferrets...but only when I'll save to buy a house lol...everytime I cook I move chichi's cage to my room...my boyfriend is not allow inside the aparment...my mother always had this big big amazon birds...I'm peruvian so when I was in peru I could get any amazon bird for like 10 dollars....lol so I grew up with birds everywhere...but I never really care much for birds (I guess because I was little and I couldn't hug them)....but now I love them...and its such a big surprice to see all those amazon birds at petstores for like two thousand dollars...and well in peru in my house they are loose inside the house (everybody in the family knows how to trim their wings but me)...they don't play with our dog....and the dog doesn't care about the bird....but my chihuahuas are from another world so I would be very careful with them....thanks again guys....

[tokameaki]

Oopsy...I meant to write that...my boyfriend is now allow to smoke inside my aparment...not good for me or the bird...lol...

[michael]

My wife is an incessant smoker. And the great outdoors is the only place she'll ever smoke around here. I'm not at all fond of it being a non smoker myself. It gets on furniture, clothing, and damages the environment. It also destroys life. Also its the one thing thats never been tolerated well in the animal kingdom. I know of no species on earth but humans that can withstand the effects of smoke of any kind, yet so many poeple continue to satiate themselves to the point of death. Smoke will kill your pets, especially birds. And they have no way to escape it while in our care. As far as rights are concerned, which I know many smokers feel strongly about, pets have rights too. To extenuate the effects of smoking on our beloved pets for any reason whatsoever is inconsistant with the proper care we promised to give them. I hope your boyfriend takes into consideration other lives besides his own......................Michael and Goofy lovebird

[scooziee11]

hah i have no problem with my bird and my dog being out at the same time...my dog is afraid of my bird and just runs away... i'm more afraid of my bird hurtting my dog...she has bitten my dog numerous times. my dog just runs away and hides somewhere.

[tokameaki]

thanks guys...lily is learning not to get near chichi...

[Janie]

hah i have no problem with my bird and my dog being out at the same time...my dog is afraid of my bird and just runs away... i'm more afraid of my bird hurtting my dog...she has bitten my dog numerous times. my dog just runs away and hides somewhere.

And one day, your dog might get tired of being chased and bitten by your bird and turn around a kill it before you can blink your eyes. That would not be your dogs fault.

My birds don't bother my dog and she has no interest in them but if they ever went after her, that would be the end of them ever being in the same room together.

[dani]

My dog is smaller than my macaw but I still would never let them out togther at the same time. The risks are too great, and I don't believe that we are ever certain of what animals will do when instincts kick in. Please be careful with your dogs and birds. There have been a great many sorry and regretful people who have thought that their birds would never be harmed by their dogs, and found out at some point that they were wrong. :(

[tokameaki]

Hi again....I will be careful....people say chihuahuas don't hunt....they aren't real dogs bla bla...but when I say my star killing a babywild rabit that my family was trying to save from our cocker spaniel...I learn that dogs will be dogs...but those videos on youtube of lovebird playing around with cats and dogs confuse me a little...but yeah u never know....thanks

[michael]

I've seen many birds interact with other animals on several occasions. Be it Utube, Worlds funniest video's, ect....they always present themselves as heart warming, cute, and at the least very interesting. The reality is many members here have experienced tragedies involving their bird/s with other pets. There are three things that come to mind when this sort of thing happens. How "unexpected" it occured, how "fast" it happened, and "I should have known" better. Unfortunately there are but only two ways to handle this situation, and the choice is yours..............Michael and Goofy

[Jessica]

I have 15 other birds (starlings, pigeons and doves) and 4 cats. I can't let my lovebird play with any of them. The cats are hunters and nothing is going to change that. My cats aren't allowed to look at the birds let alone be in a room with them. Celestino can't play with the other birds because he is over zealous and wants to play with birds that don't. This isn't safe for anyone. I know he would like a birdie mate but there is always the questions of will they get along. One love nip from a lovebird is bad enough and a real bite would be bad for all of us. We will one day get another lovebird and I do hope they get along but for now humans are the only safe lovebird companions in my house. Please know this is just my :2cents: