Does anyone own a parrot ?

I've been thinking about getting a parrot of some kind but I'm wondering exactly how bad an idea it is if I have 3 cats? Also, are there certain breeds of parrot that are more friendly than others? Thanks

what type of parrot are you thinking of? There are many varieties, One I can say try to stay away from is the cockatoo, they tend to be quite neurotic if not given a LOT of attention, which is the case with many parrots...but they tend to be the worst.

On the other hand I can recommend a double yellow head amazon parrot, they seem to be able to handle all sorts of enviroments, and are in general very friendly

African Greys have the highest vocabulary, and are also a very nice bird, I prefer the timneh, they are a little smaller, but seem friendlier.

As far as the cats are concerned..hmmm, make sure you have an ideal place to put a parrot...lots of warmth, where they can spend some good amounts of time out of their cage daily. Most likely the cat would end up hurt more than the bird....large parrots are pretty tough, but you would have to monitor the bird VERY closely anytime he/she was out of the cage.

It's a HUGE commitment, birds live a very very long time, just make sure to research this very carefully.
If you have any questions, please feel free to FM me...I am not an expert, but have had a LOT of experience with many diffferent types of birds. I'll help if I can. Good luck with this decision.

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Posted by lulugrrl

what type of parrot are you thinking of? There are many varieties, One I can say try to stay away from is the cockatoo, they tend to be quite neurotic if not given a LOT of attention, which is the case with many parrots...but they tend to be the worst.

On the other hand I can recommend a double yellow head amazon parrot, they seem to be able to handle all sorts of enviroments, and are in general very friendly

African Greys have the highest vocabulary, and are also a very nice bird, I prefer the timneh, they are a little smaller, but seem friendlier.

As far as the cats are concerned..hmmm, make sure you have an ideal place to put a parrot...lots of warmth, where they can spend some good amounts of time out of their cage daily. Most likely the cat would end up hurt more than the bird....large parrots are pretty tough, but you would have to monitor the bird VERY closely anytime he/she was out of the cage.

It's a HUGE commitment, birds live a very very long time, just make sure to research this very carefully.
If you have any questions, please feel free to FM me...I am not an expert, but have had a LOT of experience with many diffferent types of birds. I'll help if I can. Good luck with this decision.

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Thanks so much for the information!! I'm definitely going to think about it more - we would want to make sure that the bird AND the cats were happy with the situation

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Posted by SomethingBlu

I can't help Jenn but just wanted to post since I too was thinking about birds...I wanted to get love birds to keep Blue company...but DH nixed my idea. I still think my baby gets lonely during the day...so another cat or a doggie might do. But I love birds in a home...so cozy!

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I think you should get Blue another cat to hang out with. My friend did that and - there was some fighting at first - but now the cats are best friends. And we all know about my two gay cats who love each other waaayyy too much We support our 'children' in their alternative lifestyle though

i think getting a big bird will be ok with a cat, but i would be a little hesitant.

we used to have finches and one day when i was young and the whole family was outside swimming the cat jumped on the bird cage and killed one. the bird cage was hanging from the ceiling, not really accessible from table or anything. cats are tricky...