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| Question about Pets:Do you have birds and cats? |
I have cats, dogs, ducks and parrots that live peacefully together in the house (the ducks wear diapers in case you're wondering). Our cats and dogs were 4-6 years old so they were pretty settled when we started acquiring birds. It takes a great deal of time and training to teach not only the cats & dogs that they should not hurt the birds - you also have to work with the birds not to irritate or harm the cats & dogs. The conures loved to 'buzz' the dogs and the macaws like to floss their beak with cats' tails.
We constantly talk to the animals and reinforce good behavior. They still think about doing naughty things and probably always will. A good example is one of my macaws. He walked down the sofa and bent his head to taste the dog's tail. I said his name to get his attention then told him that wasn't polite. He glanced back like he was thinking twice then gave it up and walked back. I gave him a lot of praise for being a good boy and gave him scritches. I do not clip wings because that is the bird's last defense if someone in the house goes loopy. I believe our animals have learned "flock" and "pack" that includes the other species living in our house. Outside the house it's a different story. Our dogs are hunters and take down wild ducks; the cats take down rats.
It does not happen overnight, takes a tremendous amount of attention/work, and it won't necessarily work for every animal. We did re-home one cat that could not get along with the rest of the animals.
Good luck with expanding your 'family'.
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