Cats and Birds communicate well. The Cat stalks the Bird and the Bird flees for its Life and then the bird is caught and killed by the merciless hunter. Now that's a pretty clear communication. Birds are cats prey. It has caused a dilemma for me over the years because I love cats but I also love birds.
I already had two parakeet birds when I brought my first cat home. To remedy any conflict I put up a shelf and kept the bird cage on the shelf. The shelf was up high and I had to step on a stool to reach it but it granted the birds absolute safety from my two cats while I was at work or away. The second cat I got was a female gymnast that could jump high and climb anything but the shelf was not in her reach.
Over the years my original set of birds changed because they died, except for a blue colored bird that survived the three other birds in the span of ten years. I named this bird "Bluebird." Everytime a bird would die I thought it was sad that the single bird was all by itself and I would drive to the pet store and purchase another bird to make the world right.
After the third bird died there was a short lapse of time that Bluebird stayed by herself. I noticed that Bluebird was not sad at all. In fact, I never saw her so happy.
She started singing all the time and jumping merrily around the cage like she was having the time of her life. She would go into the corner of the cage and do little somersault flips in the corner of the cage that were so funny and cute that I would laugh out loud when I saw her do it. I would make a clicking noise to the bird that she would repeat back to me and at that point I just couldn't find a good reason to purchase another companion bird for my single bird that was so happy to be on her own.
At the end of the day when it was time to relax, I would be in the living room watching evening television with my two cozy, affectionate cats. Usually pet people consider their pets their family as I did, and I started bringing the bird cage in the living room in the evenings so that Bluebird would spend time with the family.
It is perfectly alright to laugh at this because it is hilarious that someone would consider their cat creatures their family but I was sincere, single and loved my pets which have always been a major part of my life. Since I didn't have anywhere to put the birdcage I just set the cage on the floor against a wall right in front of me so I could see the cage at all times.
At first my girl cat would sit in front of the bird cage and just stare at the bird and watch the bird closely. I would make an announcement to my cat that Bluebird was a family bird and not for hunting.
As time passed, the cat would lay casually by the bird cage and watch the bird casually. Further down the road the cat would lounge and take naps by the bird cage, abandoning the need altogether to watch the bird so closely. The other cat stayed away from the cage and was not interested in the bird.
The cat and the bird started playing through the cage. A game of tag was initiated by the bird. Now, in the evenings they played tag through the cage and I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it myself.
My twelve pound girl cat was gentle and careful as she pawed where the bird was chirping and jumping inside the cage and insisting dramatically that the cat catch her and when the cats paw touched the bird through the cage it was caught and the bird would acknowledge the catch by touching the cats paw with its beak and then continue jumping all around for the next tag.
They did this on a regular basis. It was neat. It was love. It was fun. Sometimes when the cat would leave the cage and be heading a few feet away, the bird would make a lot of chirping sounds as if calling to the cat and the cat would stop, turn around and go sit back at the cage keeping the bird company.
The bird actually called the cat back to the cage to hang out. I was never so brave as to let the bird out of the cage to play with the cat without the protection of its cage.
It was just a pleasure to see the cat treat the parakeet bird as one of the family as the two of them became very good friends.
