I have been an advocate for keeping cats indoors only for many years. For two reasons:
1. Being allowed unrestricted outdoors access can be dangerous to the cat – cars, diseases, fights with other animals and malicious neighbours who might leave out bowls of milk and aspirin. Keeping your cat indoors or at least restricting their outdoors access will ultimately keep them safe.
2. Cats are born killers, it is in their nature so keeping them indoors also keeps our wildlife safe.
We have two bird cages in our house, one for peachfaces and one for budgies. The peach face cage can be easily wheeled inside and outside but the budgie cage we cannot shift outside because it does not fit through our door (long story that). Anyway, the budgie cage initially I thought was great because it allowed them heaps of room to fly around, was very sturdy and secure from cat curiosity. There is only one problem with it – the door you lift up to change water and feed has a little door inside it and sometimes the little door sticks on the bar above it. This morning, operating on perhaps two brain cells after having worked all night, I changed the water and checked the feed and closed the door.
I didn’t notice that the little door was still open. Apparently neither did the budgies, until just after I woke up. I heard a strange noise from Mojo and saw Rosie with her hackles up. I went outside to find Mojo with something in his mouth….he had just come in from the cat park so I assumed it was a small lizard. When I went to retrieve it, I was so shocked to find a budgie in his mouth….I thought perhaps it had gotten in the bars of the cat park. It was already dead, neck was broken and then I noticed the budgies were very very quiet. I looked on the top of the budgie’s head and noticed a small yellow spot. Shock turned into horror and overwhelming sadness when I realised this was one of my dearly loved budgies, Spot.
I know that Mojo is a cat and this is what cats do so I cannot really get angry at him. I am very angry with myself for not making sure the door was shut properly. More than anything, I just feel so sad because it was just so quick and there was nothing I could do – I didn’t even hear Spot make a sound. It just proves to me the point that even if your cat is well fed, they will still predate for sport. The other budgies are still safe within their cage, but it’s almost like they know the fate that has befallen their comrade and holding their cheerful chirps for a little while as they mark his passing.
I have laid him to rest in the herb garden underneath the bottle brush with one of the balls he used to play with in the cage. I’m so sorry Spot….I can’t tell you how much.
