# Looking for a cat breed which can get along with a budgie



## miba53 (Dec 15, 2018)

Hi. I've been a long time lurker but I signed up today to ask you good people a question.

I have wanted a cat for years but my parents were always opposed to the idea. I moved out of my parent's home last month and I can finally adopt a kitten, but the problem is I also have a budgie. She has been with us for five years. The budgie connected with me and likes only me. I love her so much too. Looking after something for five years makes you grow pretty attached to it. My parents gave the budgie to me when I left the house. And I was okay with that because like I said, I love her. And I'm the only person she likes, so she would be very lonely if I left her at my parent's house.

But I also want a kitten so badly. For so long it has been my dream to adopt a little kitten, so I'm looking for a cat breed that will get along with a budgie. I have seen videos of cats letting budgies walk on them, letting them clean their whiskers. I have seen videos where cats gently pet budgies with their paws.

I know that there is always a risk. But I heard and read that if a kitten gets used to a budgie from a very young age, there is a high chance they will get along when the cat gets bigger. So I'm looking for a cat breed that has the lowest chance of attacking a budgie. Which is the most chill, most laid-back cat breed? The kind of breed will just sit on the couch and won't care that there is a little bird flying around? A friendly and calm breed that won't be on the hunt for this little bird?

In my country, there is this huge pet adoption website that is very popular. So there are a lot of breed options to choose from.

P.S. I know that I can just keep the bird in her cage 24/7, but I found out that it doesn't always help. If a cat is determined to attack the budgie, it'll just jump on the cage, swipe at it or try and drop the cage on the floor. Also, this budgie is kind of a free spirit. We let her free-fly at our house quite often, so keeping her in the cage 24/7 will put as big a mental strain on her as a cat constantly on the hunt.

Thanks for reading.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

I think it would be less about breed than raising and training the kitten to co exist with the bird. Kittens are kittens regardless of breed. They don't sit on the couch much lol.

I'm sure it can be done, I have a friend who has always had cats and birds. I'm sure any moggie would do, unless you have your heart set on a specific breed? If that is so though, you'll want to find a responsible ethical breeder to buy your kitten from.

Your cat would have to be kept as in indoor cat.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Hello @miba53 and welcome 

In view of the fact you like your budgie to fly freely around the house quite often, I would strongly recommend not having a kitten at all, no matter what the breed, so the bird can continue to enjoy its freedom..

A kitten who grows up with a small pet bird like a budgie may well appear to accept the bird as a pal, and not as potential prey, but sooner or later the cat's instincts may surface, and I would fear it may be only a matter of time and opportunity (e.g. when you are out of the room and the budgie is not watching the cat) before the cat attacked the budgie. Maybe it would be in play, who knows, but it could be fatal to the budgie.

Having a budgie and a cat/kitten at the same time could be setting the scene for disaster, unless you are prepared to keep the budgie in one room with the door closed at all times so the kitten has no access to it.

As for cat breeds, it is impossible to predict which kittens, whether pedigree or non-pedigree, will have the strongest hunting instincts. Even kittens from the very same litter may differ in the strength of their hunting instincts and abilities.

I believe the average life span of a budgie in captivity is 5 to 8 years, (although there are a few cases of them living up to 15 years). It is possible your budgie may be with you only a few more years, so let him have the best life he can, and adopt a kitten when he has gone to the Rainbow Bridge.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

I have to say like @chillminx 's answer better than mine. While I do believe it can work (because I know someone who lives that way, but she is an experienced cat owner) it will take a lot of work and paying attention. Perhaps it is better to wait until your Budgie is gone.


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## miba53 (Dec 15, 2018)

chillminx said:


> Hello @miba53 and welcome
> 
> In view of the fact you like your budgie to fly freely around the house quite often, I would strongly recommend not having a kitten at all, no matter what the breed, so the bird can continue to enjoy its freedom..





lorilu said:


> I have to say like @chillminx 's answer better than mine. While I do believe it can work (because I know someone who lives that way, but she is an experienced cat owner) it will take a lot of work and paying attention. Perhaps it is better to wait until your Budgie is gone.


Thank you for your detailed replies. I am enlightened. I have one last question to ask. I don't mean to step on any toes here, I know you are the experts, but a friend of mine who has owned and fostered cats for more than 10 years has just told me that Scottish Folds and British Shorthairs are the most laid-back breeds and that they wouldn't attack a budgie. Is there any truth to this? Or is she just plain wrong?


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## LeArthur (Dec 20, 2016)

I have a British Shorthair, he does have his hunting moments!

I would never leave him alone with a free flying bird because he loves the feather attachments on wand toys (and I'm sure to him a bird would be the ultimate toy!) and he puts in a huge amount of effort when he's just chasing a fly! I see how he looks at birds outside too, he definitely thinks of them as prey/toys.

At the end of the day, a cat is a cat and they'll do what comes naturally to them. I would let your budgie have a peaceful life with you and then get a kitten.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

She may not be wrong about the breed characteristics. But a cat is a cat, and laid back or not a cat is a predator, a hunter. You would still have to raise and train the kitten to see the bird as family, not prey. It CAN be done. But it will require absolute supervision, even after the cat is trained. 

Kittens need an enormous amount of interactive play time.

I think you would have to invent Games that satisfies the kitten's needs to stalk and hunt and pounce that doesn't encourage, for instance, leaping after something flying by. That may be difficult because most kittens do love to leap and fling themselves at things flying through the air, it's in their nature and it is healthy for them, both physically and mentally, to do so.

It seems a bit..I don't know, mean, to not let a kitten play that way, but a kitten in the habit of leaping and grabbing may leap and grab the budgie.

It's a lot to consider, the quality of life of both animals is in question here.

You also need to think about how much stress having a feline in the house will cause to your budgie. The budgie is an adult and not used to cats. She is used to freedom and peace. I think it would not be fair to budgie, to bring a kitten in now.

Wait until she is gone.


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## ForestWomble (May 2, 2013)

The only way I could see it working would be if you could have a room solely for the budgie, however I don't know what the current setup is and if the budgie is used to spending a lot of time in the main living area it wouldn't be fair to change now.


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## LJC675 (Apr 24, 2017)

I agree with the others, I think for safety you would need to keep the 2 separate. The problem with training is that it takes time and a few errors before training behaviours are learnt. For you to have a cat and free flying bird it would have to go right 100% of the time, just one error an it would be likely that there wouldn't be a second chance.

i'd personally wait until your gorgeous budgie has gone, whenever that may be before getting a cat.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Two of my previous cats were British Shorthaired and they were two of the most skilled and determined hunters of any of my cats, past or present. They were both obsessed with watching and stalking the birds in the garden and they certainly would have attacked a budgie! I doubt I could ever have trusted them with a tame bird, even if they had grown up with one in the house. I would never have taken the risk anyway.

As for Scottish Fold kittens I do not know whether they are generally good hunters or not, but as I said in my previous reply different cats within a particular breed will differ in how fierce they are as hunters. So even if one Scottish Fold cat does not have a strong instinct to hunt, and could live with a tame bird without killing it, it does not mean all Scottish Fold could be trusted like that.

But whether they are skilled hunters or not I would never buy a Scottish Fold kitten as they all have a serious genetic disease called "Osteochondrodysplasia" which not only causes them to be in pain all their lives, but will cost you a lot of money in regular vet treatments over the years.

https://icatcare.org/advice/cat-health/scottish-fold-disease---osteochondrodysplasia


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

lorilu said:


> You also need to think about how much stress having a feline in the house will cause to your budgie. The budgie is an adult and not used to cats. She is used to freedom and peace. I think it would not be fair to budgie, to bring a kitten in now.
> 
> Wait until she is gone.


This ^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keeping prey and predator together is never a good combination , as already said even if you could prevent/train (unlikely) a cat not to hunt a free flying bird the poor bird will always be aware of the cats presence causing it stress.


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## miba53 (Dec 15, 2018)

A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to reply. Looks like Mission: Adopt a Kitten is a no go for me. At least until I say goodbye to my precious budgie.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

miba53 said:


> A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to reply. Looks like Mission: Adopt a Kitten is a no go for me. At least until I say goodbye to my precious budgie.


I think you are making a sound decision. But feel free to share stories and pictures of your budgie with us. We do have a bird section. : )


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## TriTri (Oct 31, 2017)

Not a budgie, true, but I would just keep thinking of this. I can't imagine it working I'm afraid. You can get a kitten later on....
I loved my budgies and didn't have cats until my budgies went to Rainbow Bridge. Good decision. Your budgie depends on you after all...


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