Long story short we are getting a bird tomorrow. The cage we picked out for him has nice tall legs, the cage is around 6 feet tall. Does anyone have any tips for keeping my dumbass cat away from him?

If he hurts my new bird, I'll feed him to the ****ing dog.
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Landmines.
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lemme tell you a story, and let from it what you will. i hat a parakeet, i bought a cage from him, the cage was made for a parakeet, i also had a cat, the bars on the cage were not big enough to hold the bird, though it was made for a parakeet, the bird got out. i could not find him, so i lit up my pipe, called my friend watson, and we did a search. found feathers. but that was all....2 weeks later i lost something under the couch, as i moved the couch to find what i had lost, i found my poor little parakeets head. the rest i assume was cat food.... double check the bars on your cage.
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This is all I can provide. It is of no help though, for that I am sorry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx43vcV2aX0
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Water gun. Spray the lil puss until he equates being near the cage with high velocity H2O. He'll stay away after that.
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x2. my cat pissed on my guitar case (i no longer have a cat BTW) and so i stuck him in the shower and gave that little bugga a bath (he needed one anyway) i came out with 253245 cuts and he never did it again.
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Many years ago I was a professional entertainer, a magician, and featured doves in my act...I had several, and also a couple of cats at the time...the cage I used for the doves was a large one and hung from a chain that went to a hook in the ceiling, like a swag lamp...the cats were always sitting under the cage dreaming and wishing, but there was no way they could get to the birds...eventually they gave up other than stopping by occasionally to watch the birds...on a further note I also had gerbils that I used for children's shows...one day the gerbils got out but they'd been around so long the cats just accepted them as part of the family, and when I came home I found they were basically playing with each other on the floor...neither of the cats even attempted to eat a gerbil...go figure...
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thanks for the welcom darrell, i hope you try puff again. if not. thats ok. your one of few good men on here.
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a 5th dan ninja crab
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I had an African Gray parrott who could more than defend himself by whacking anyone looking for trouble with a hook beak that would make Randy Couture cry.
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D, I had hundreds of birds at one time. Lots of cats, too.
Not once did any of the cats ever harm a bird, but it's because I always took time to introduce the cats to the birds.
Cats are really smart, despite the way they act. Just bring the cat to the bird, introduce them, make them friendly, and spend time with the cat and bird together.
Oddly enough, my cats knew the difference between the birds they were allowed to kill and the birds they weren't allowed to kill. I had a black cat that spent all day sleeping with my golden pheasants, hanging in the netting like a hammock.
I watched another one of my cats hunting tweety birds one day. She was totally intense. She bolted at the tweety bird when a mother hen and her chicks walked by. The cat put on the brakes, watched the hen and all her babies poass, then resumed the chase.
How they can make the distinction, I'll never know, but they do.
Just take some time with both of them together, and let the cat smell the bird and lick it and rub on it and stuff.
Don't try it with a rabbit, though. Doesn't work. :-)
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I don't know Darrell very well, but I can't picture him doing this. :-) But then again I didn't picture him having a cat either? :-)

BTW, I have two cats. :-)
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It is kind of a stretch, but D's just a big softie.
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Let the cat rub on the bird?
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How big is the bird? Larger ones can handle themselves, but a little guy might be a problem.

A friend of the family had a huge bird, 2 dogs, and a few cats all in the same house and the bird got so nervous it ripped all of its feathers out and now takes prozac... Hopefully it doesn't turn out that way but if it does, don't let the little guy be traumatized, give one of them away

aj
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He is a Conure.

I don't think trauma is going to be a problem. He lives in a busy pet shop with dogs and stuff running around all day. However if it did become a problem, I would find the cat a good home. :-)
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I built a largish bird cage for my parakeets when I lived at my parents house (3x3x5). The one cat wanted to do nothing more than sit on top of the cage. The other cat, however, wanted to kill and eat the birds.

I solved this by building a screen door for my bedroom door to keep the cats out.

That's right, an indoor screen door.
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Well, my cat won't be able to get on top of the cage seeing as it's 6 feet high and their are no objects high enough for him to take flight from on to the cage. :-)
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Actually, now that I think of it, that's what I did too...the cats knew the birds and the gerbils were family because I used to let them be out together under my supervision...most cats are pretty smart, and figure out what's what quickly...
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I've seen a cat jump on top of a fridge before. :-) All depends on the motivation of the cat.
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