Bird?

I know this is gonna sound silly,, because Cats by nature like small prey.

But,, we have a Cockatiel,, his name is Snikkers,, and he sits on a counter space in our dining room / kitchen area. Anyways,, both cats,, won't leave him alone. They keep putting their paws in his cage, and trying to get to him with their claws. I'm really afraid they'll hurt him.. We've twist tied the sides of the cage down, and the front is even hard for us to get into.. But now that's there is two of them,, it's seems like a mission.. Literally..

Anyone got any ideas of what I can do to keep my rug rats away from the bird????? (It's funny they don't bother him at night,, just when we are awake.. there so curious)

Thanks
Heather

If you can afford it, there are now cages made of wood frames, with acrylic sides.. a friend made one for my budgies. It's 4 x 4 x 3', with a wire grid roof, wire grid on part of one side for climbing (the side's against a window so cats can't get at it) and a broom handle is hung down the middle with perches drilled into it going various directions. Toys hang all over as well. There are tiny brass hinges on the 2 doors held by little brass sliding locks and while the cats may occasionally scare the birds by prowling around (we actually keep their cage in a room off limits to cats because being scared isn't good for them, though a cockatiel is probably less fragile than budgies), they can't get at them. I never go into the cage for any reason without being sure the room door is closed. You can find acrylic cages online (smaller, larger, with and without climbing devices, interesting branches, etc.) and I'd definitely look into it, but think hard about what you want out of the cage for your bird - after all a cockatiel has to come out of his cage every day for exercise (what have you been doing about that?) so cats would have to be banned from the area anyway - my 4 birds have room to fly a little and show no interest in coming out.

Thanks for the reply...

Snikkers, doesn't really care to come out.. He will while I'm feeding him,, but he quickly goes back in. I think it's fear of the unknown from the cat view point.. We've taken the cats and put them in a room while they eat, and let him out for a bit,, but he doesn't much care for the whole getting out thing. We've been thinking about puttin him in our room, but the cats are in there too, and the room has a draft from the fan.. So he' gets lots of stimulation which he likes from the place he is now..

Cats putting their paws in cages or just physically getting near the cage can be very traumatic for a bird. Birds fear cats naturally. I would try getting the cage to a place where the cats can't possibly get to (like hanging from the ceiling or a special stand that only fits the cage high enough off the ground). Also perhaps putting the bird in a special room the cats aren't allowed to go. If that dosen't work then I'd think about rehoming the bird.