Squirt bottle not working on stray

[tashaam]

Hey guys!
About 3 weeks ago I adopted a new cat from the local shelter who apparently came in as a stray.
We currently have 2 cats and 2 birds (not including this new one) so it took some time getting him used to the other cats.

One problem we are having though is the birds. Since he was a stray, he seems to be very interested in the birds. We squirt him with a water bottle every time he goes to close to the cage but it doesn't seem to bother him much, he'll run then just lick off the water - Then he's back in another 10 minutes. We kind of figured that he's used to water/rain since he was a stray but we can't think of another way to tell him not to go near the bird cage!


Any ideas of how we could "punish" him other than the water bottle? - Because it's not working

 

[howtoholdacat]

You don't need something to punish him as much as something that will break his focus. Seti goes after one of my other cats. I discovered inadvertently that he's afraid of the fly swatter. He doesn't like the noise it makes when I swat bugs. When he starts hunting kit, I can show him the fly swatter and he'll forget all about her and go to the other side of the house. It's nearly been a miracle worker in my house. I wonder if there's something similar that will work on your new kitty.

Or, a much simpler solution, could you just set a few Scccats around the cages?

 

[nekochan]

Yeah those Ssscat things work really well.

 

[arlyn]

You guys are forgetting that not only are birds also living, breathing beings, but that they are easily startled prey animals.

I kept birds and did exotic bird rescue in my home for a number of years.
You cannot untrain instinct.

Two things will help, well three, redirection, placing the birds in a cat free safe room, and time, eventually the novelty of the birds wears off.

One of my girls was a stray for a number of years, brought me dead doves almost daily, she learned to ignore the bird in the house.

 

[ducman69]

I agree, a bird is as likely to be freaked out by the SSSCAT as the cat. Both are jumpy animals, and if anything the birds are more so.

IMO, you simply need to cat-proof the bird enclosure by putting it out of reach, as a cat that loves birds and didn't grow up with them to recognize them as just a fixture in the house isn't going to unlearn instinct.

 

[tashaam]

Wow, I just watched a few videos on Youtube about the SSSCat thing and it scared ME. I really don't think that would be a good idea to put near my bird cage because my budgies are 11 and 12 years old - I don't need them getting heart attacks

I'm kind of hoping that they will eventually just fade into the background of the house like they did with my other cats, but this new cat is HUGE and I'm scared that if he jumps at the cage (he has before) he'll do some serious damage to the birds or the cage.

Here's a photo of the 2 boys, the orange one is my kitten that I took care of from birth (he's 2 years old) and the brown one is my adopted cat who's apparently the same age. The size difference is insane.
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._5536344_n.jpg

 

[nekochan]

I had one of the Ssscat things near my sugar gliders' cage and they never even noticed it. Actually it hardly ever even went off because the cats figured out very quickly to stay away from the area.

 

[howtoholdacat]

You'll notice when I mentioned Scccat I posed it as a question because I don't know the birds and that way the OP could determine what's best for her pets. I did not forget that birds might be scared of them. Many birds that I have pet sat over the years would be amused watching the cats dart away. Other would be terrified. It just depends on the animal. However, this comment:

Originally Posted by Nekochan

Actually it hardly ever even went off because the cats figured out very quickly to stay away from the area.

gave me an idea. You could use the Scccats in other parts of the house where you don't want the cats to go i.e. kitchen counters. They do learn that they don't like the Scccats and will start avoiding them on site. (Mine haven't been turned on in months and I can even move them to new areas and get results.) Then turn them off and put them in front of the bird cages. With any luck, the cats will have learned to keep their distance and the birds will never hear it go off.

 

[tashaam]

Hey everyone, I was thinking about it and I have another question regarding this.

Every time that we spray , he runs and licks most of the water off. Water doesn't have any taste so what if we added something in the water that gave it a sour taste maybe?
I've read about mixing vinegar but I don't think that very safe for him

Do you know of anything that could be added to water to make it taste bad AND is safe for cats to consume/lick?
Maybe if he gets sprayed with something that tastes bad every time he goes near the cage, and starts to lick it - he'll finally learn that going near the cage is bad?

 

[tashaam]

You could use the Scccats in other parts of the house where you don't want the cats to go i.e. kitchen counters.

But he doesn't really go anywhere else around the house that's "off limits"
It's just near the cage

 

[orangeishcat]

I don't think that a squirt bottle is necessarily a good idea- if you hit kitty in the head on accident, the water can get into his/her ears and cause an infection. Someone may need to verify that, but I remember reading information to that effect!

 

[tashaam]

Originally Posted by orangeishcat

I don't think that a squirt bottle is necessarily a good idea- if you hit kitty in the head on accident, the water can get into his/her ears and cause an infection. Someone may need to verify that, but I remember reading information to that effect!

We make sure to only hit his body, he's a large cat so it's not that hard