Maine Coon and parrot?

[afgreyparrot]

About 4 months ago someone dropped off 2 Maine coon cats in my neighborhood, male and female. The female was pregnant. I fed them but could not make friends with them...they were very scared. The female stayed near the house, the male only coming to eat when the coast was clear.

Female gave birth in my garden, one kitten died, the other is now almost 3 months old.

I made a nice house for them so they could stay dry and secluded it in the middle of my peonies.
I started interacting with the kitten when it was a few weeks old, so it would be tame. Tried feeding him kitten food starting at 3 weeks...he had no interest in food, just wanted milk from Mommy. After several weeks of trying to get him to eat many times a day, he was still nursing. The day before he turned 6 weeks old the mommy caught a bird (sad) and gave it to her baby. He started devouring that bird immediately, and when I tried to take it from him he growled and would not let me have it. So, his first solid food was a freshly killed bird.

His mommy was killed by a car that night, so the kitten has been inside since then. I didn't want to keep it, but couldn't bear to give it away.

Here's where the problem comes in...I have a 12 year old African Grey parrot...and I'm so afraid of what this kitten will end up doing to my parrot. And, I am so attached to the little Maine Coon kitty now I can't bear to get rid of him. His little paws are so wrapped around my heart.

I read on the internet that these cats were fierce hunters...and for 12 years I have never had to keep my parrot (Lola) locked in a cage. The cat we had for 16 years (died last year) never bothered Lola in the least. But, I wanted to see if anyone else had a Maine Coon and a parrot in the same house. I would love to know that they can live together, but I don't want to risk Lola's life by keeping this kitten...I've had Lola since she was an egg...literally.

Thanks for any input on this subject.


Cindy

[afgreyparrot]

Thanks for some encouragement!
I love this little kitty so much...I can't stand the thought of giving him to someone who would not treat him like I do.

I'll have to post a pic of the kitty and Lola...he is as big (or bigger) than her at only 12 weeks old. He is going to be HUGE!

I haven't named him yet...which my 34 year old daughter thinks is terrible (she wants me to keep him). I posted a picture of my kitty on Facebook ("Cat With No Name") and she posted under it..."Did it take you 3 months to name ME after I was born?"

"No Name Kitty" is very active in the morning...and Lola freaks me out by climbing down from her cage to taunt him ("Come here, Kitty!)...so I make it a point to be right there in case something happens.
Lola wants to play with him...and I hope he doesn't see her as a "meal".

[Pepsi2670]

Don't worry about either your parrot or the kitty. One of my Greys has lived with me for about 20 years and has always scared the hell out of my cats, and others. Even when I had two cats together, they had great respect for him. My last cat was a good hunter but she never touched Basil.

I have a video of my two Main Coon brothers hunting him at their first encounter. He was on the back of the sofa and they slunk up from each end. But while they were thinking about it, he marched up to each of them in turn and bit them on the nose. After that, they always checked if the cage was open when they came in and would keep under the furniture if he was out of his cage. I now have a second Grey and she would sit happily with my last cat even though Milly hunted other birds.

My current cat, Choo Choo takes no notice of them at all. A dog is more of a problem as dogs leap after the parrot when it flies. That is the only time I very nearly lost Basil.

[afgreyparrot]

Nice to meet all of you...and nice to know someone else here is owned by African Greys!

Pepsi...when you said one of your Greys "always scared the hell out of your cats"...well, that's Lola's problem. She wants to scare and intimidate the new kitty and I was/am so afraid the kitty will grow up to get even with her. Maybe it's a good thing she's putting him in his place right off the bat. I can't bear the thought of giving the little guy away...I love him so much, and he thinks I am his mommy.

As for "A dog is more of a problem as dogs leap after the parrot when it flies"...
I have been there, done that...
I lived in Washington for a year with a friend, and his cat was no problem...but when Lola flew off of her cage to get on the back of the couch his big dog would leap sometimes, trying to catch her.

I have no inside dogs now...so I just have to worry about the "Cat With No Name".

(...I gotta name this kitty!!!)


Cindy

[jckkerrison]

Going to be interesting to see what name comes from this for "kitty".
We once had a lovely fluffy black haired cat of about five months turn up on the doorstep,I didn't want daughter to become attatched & then we find rightfull owner so I just said we were looking after it while the owners were away,forgot the logical question was going to be whats its name & the only thing that rolled off the top of my head was "Pusskins"so that was what it had to live with....

[afgreyparrot]

...still a "Cat With No Name"...but I am trying hard to give him one that fits him.
So far I've called him several names that I can't post here.....LOL!
He is right under or on top of my feet all the time...literally. If I am trying to cook supper I have to put him in the bathroom to keep from stepping on him and possibly hurting him. Right now he is sleeping like an angel on my feet.

He's not an angel in the morning...he is into everything, from one thing to another...attack mode. I have been throwing wadded up paper across the room and he bats it around the entire living room like he's a professional soccer player...then puts it in a little wooden box for storage. He's a trip. I haven't had a kitten in over 15 years...so this very entertaining to me. I obviously don't get out much.

He's getting bolder with Lola...she was on the back of one of the chairs this morning and he jumped up beside her. I didn't let him stay there long enough to find out what was going to happen. And, this evening Lola flew from the other room into this room where I have a grand piano...she landed in the floor under the piano and "No Name" was there in a split second...and so was I.

I have some pictures of him, but need to read up on how to post pics here.
This forum is way different than mine, so I will be reading the help topics to try to learn everything.

[FreyjaRoMaine]

Good to hear that things are settling down a little - you must be damned quick on your feet to keep separating them so fair play! I'm sure I'll get shot down in flames here, but NoName's a pretty cool name - one with a back story - you could consider calling him that.

Can't wait to see photo's.

[jckkerrison]

I think that is a good idea,we have one on our books called "My Dog" called that because the partner didn't agree with any names put forward by the other half & kept saying no,its my dog,we have a cat called Sooty & no its not black but pure white,so...

[Howlinbob]

A friend of ours has 2 cats - one is called 'Boo' because she was a very timid kitten rescued from an abusive home (but OK now and very loved), and the other is called 'Hey you!'. The vet asked if it was a Korean name, as in Heiu, or something? Nope, it's just, Hey - you!

[afgreyparrot]

No Name is likely to be stuck with that name...because the last stray cat that showed up here never got a proper name. I took him to the vet for shots and neutering and when they asked his name I said "Here Kitty Kitty!"...so that's his name still.