Tweet!

I've always considered myself an animal lover... but when it comes to pets, I'm definitely a dog person. I had a golden retriever named Toby, for 13 years... whom I just adored... He was the PERFECT dog, and I miss him dearly. Cats however... creep me out. I'm NOT a cat person.

I also have a great love for birds... having adopted the owl as my personal symbol. For the past 9 years, I have taken care of our pet parakeet, Tiki. She started off as my younger sister's pet, but when the novelty of having a bird wore off, I had to step up to the plate to care for this living creature that now depended on us for her well being. We've bonded.. and I just love her.

Even though I am the primary care taker of Tiki, she still resides in my sister's bedroom. I would love to keep her in my bedroom or living room, but there really isn't much space for her, the lighting is poor (birds will get depressed without good sunlight), and it gets very cold here in the winter. Occasionally though, I'll bring Tiki down in her cage and sit her on the ledge in front of my living room window. I'd done this a few times... but yesterday turned out to be rather different than other times.

It had been a nice day weather wise, so we had the windows opened. I brought Tiki downstairs, and set her cage on the ledge in front of my living room window.. letting her look out at the other birds. As long as there isn’t a strong breeze, I don’t mind her being there for a little while since there is a screen to protect her from bugs (we get a lot of wasps because of the roses outside my window).

So.. I went into my bedroom to tinker on the computer. After a while, I hear an awkward sound like a baby whining. I ignored it for a little bit.. but it kept up.. and it sounded close… like the baby/child was hurt. I went into the living room to look out the window… and there… sitting on the outside ledge of the window is a big orange CAT. It was making these odd sounds to Tiki.. who was just sitting there in her cage looking at this thing like it was on crack. I gasped at the sight of this cat inches away from Tiki…. The cat heard me.. and took off. Good thing too… I would have beat it for messing with my bird.

Needles to say, I will not be leaving Tiki’s cage in front of that window un-attended any longer… and I will keep a super-soaker handy in case Mr. Alley Cat comes back.

This incident did not help the cat cause in my opinion.. in fact.. I dislike them even more than I did before. -- And now that she has seen one, I think Tiki dislikes them too!