My 20-year old cat

[Amanda]

Hello Everyone. This is Sheeva and I got her from the SPCA 20 years ago. She still acts like a little kitten running around the house & playing sometimes, and at other times she just wants to nap and be left alone.

[Amanda]

2-year old, Blue-Point Himalayan

[birdgirl]

wow those are some good looking cats!

[Squawksx3]

Wow is right!. Your 20 yr old looks wonderful and Schatzi is gorgeous!. You have done a great job with your fur-kids!.

[Mrs.Birdy]

Beautiful kitties. They look so contently spoiled.

:)

[Amanda]

Thanks for all the compliments! Sheeva is my all-time "baby girl". She's been with me even before I had my first child! And she is VERY SPOILED! Sometimes my other cats (Schatzi & Jupiter) try to boss her around ... and I always step in and shoo them away...but hey, I just figured that she deserves to be the "queen" around here ... :D

[Amanda]

Casegura, I don't blame you for not wanting to rehome your birds to a household with cats. It takes a lot of training the cats not to bother the birds ... but it is possible. With my 2 youngest cats (Schatzi 2 yrs old & Jupiter 4 yrs old), I already had birds in the house when I brought them home. Of course, as kittens they were very curious about the birds. They used to sit in front of the bird cage and watch the birds all the time. I let them watch the birds but as soon as they made a move to get on top of the cage, I stepped in right away and told them "no!". Eventually, they got used to the birds and didn't bother sitting in front of the cage anymore. Then, I started letting the birds (cockatiels at the time) out of their cages ... but only under very close supervision. Of course, the cats were intrigued and would sit very still and observe the birds. If the cats made the slightest move, I stepped in again and told them "no!". Eventually, they got the idea that they are NOT to bother with the birds at all. Now, I can let the birds out of their cages and I don't have to worry about the cats at all. Like I said, it is possible to train the cats ... but it takes a lot of patience and time.

If your brother and sister-in-law have older cats, it might take more time to train the cats. When I adopted Sheeva from the SPCA 20 yrs ago, she was almost a year old and she wasn't used to birds at all. She used to jump at the bird cage (I had budgies then) and tried to knock it down to the floor. Again, with a lot of time and patience, I was able to train her. Of all my cats, she's the one I trust most with the birds. Sheeva often sleeps on the back of the couch and Rio could walk right by her and Sheeva wouldn't even look her way.

Now I'm in the process of training our Miniature Pinscher (she's only 1 1/2 yrs old). Believe it or not, it's taking longer to train her than it took me to train my cats! Maybe it's the breed ... because I didn't have a hard time training our other dogs (Scottish Terrier, Lhasa Apso & Chinese-crested powder puff).

[emroul]

I had my cockatiel brought in when I had 2 cats. THey were both completely intrigued by the bird, and sit outside of its cage and watch it all day. Similliar to Amanda's story. Whenever they would try to get on top of the cage, I told them "no" as well. Eventually though, I think they just lost interest. :)

[Jenny]

What gorgeous kitties! Sheeva looks EXACTLY like one of my cats that we found as a very sick youngster on the side of the road. They're both soooo beautiful, and tell Schatzi's that her eyes are very pretty!