Multi-species friendships?

[OwnedbyMacaws]

Nancy’s post about her Joey reminded me of a conversation I had a while back with someone. They expressed amazement that I have a multi-species household. Most people are amazed when they find out the number of animals I have (Heck, I am amazed sometimes, when I think about it, LOL) but this person asked me an interesting question. She wanted to know how the interaction with so many different kinds of animals was. It got me to thinking about the dynamics in my household.

There are so many souls in our house; no one gets a lot of one on one time. This is probably something to be frowned on, because any pet owner will tell you that spending time with your animals is the most important thing for their happiness and socialization. And while that is true, I think that as long as an animal isn’t ignored, and has someone to interact with, be it human or same species, or different species, things can be ok. This is not to say that everyone doesn’t some love from the folks in the house, they do, but there are some interesting friendships going on here, and I was wondering if it was the same in other multi-species households.

One example is the comradeship between the lovely Lola and Eliza the English Sheepdog. They are best buddies. Lola talks to Eliza, and Eliza listens. OES’s are supposed to be a smart breed but our sweet Eliza is….well, to put it gently, an airhead. I’m convinced that there is next to nothing in the space between her ears. She’s gentle, incredibly easy-going, but just dumb. She’s the one that gets into scrapes like getting tangled in the garden hose, getting her head stuck in a bucket, and getting wedged into tight spots that she has to be pried out of. Lola on the other hand, is quite the brain, as many of you know from the escapades I post about. Ever seen a macaw toss grapes through a cage to a big fluffy dog? And the dog beg the bird for more?

Another odd friendship is one that doesn’t involve a bird. It’s the trio of Jango the Tibetan Mastiff, Bandit the Maine Coon, and Dash the Norwegian Forest Cat. Jango is 193 lbs of Alpha dog. He took over the leadership role when he became part of our household. No one argued much. (Would you?) Bandit and Dash are the alpha cats at my house. I was fortunate enough to get them both at approximately the same time as kittens, and even though they are both very dominant, they seem to have decided to share the role. The three of them can often be seen patrolling the ‘grounds’ together. Rather odd looking to see a huge dog and two huge cats walking about together.

Overall, I’d say everyone at my house are pretty good friends. I’ve been fortunate enough not to have any serious clashes within or between species. I guess that’s very lucky. I was just wondering if anyone else has the odd friendships at their house?

[AmandaB]

That is quite a houseful you have there!! I just have birdie friendships, not with any other species. Could be that we only have a dog in the house, and she's afraid of the birds.

Our friendships are Fred and Billy, a 29 yr old OW amazon and 12 yr old Indian ringneck. They've been together for Billy's entire 12 yrs and are inseperable. As a matter of fact, I have no doubt that they would fight to the death to protect one another.

Our other relationship is Skittles, sun conure aprox 5 yrs and Ducky, African ringneck 11 yrs. Ducky is Skittles protector, and is a vicious little turd when he's near her. But get him away from Skittles and he is an absolute sweetheart. Skittles is a sweetheart also, but has some handling issues. She's in love with my husband and he's just about the only person that she'll go right to.

[OwnedbyMacaws]

Oh, we have plenty of inter-species friendships going on too. Sam and Simon are inseperable. They grew up together as well. Several of the cats have duos and trios, as do the dogs.

One very interesting friendship developing at my house is the one growing between my Bonnie Bird and Mickey. Both are prickly pears and they keep circling one another cautiously, and yet, can't seem to leave each other alone.

[felisdomesticus]

I don't have any interspecies or intraspecies friendships. I have 3 cats of my own who have very different personalities and don't particularly like one another.

My one cat, Cappuccino, LOVES all of the foster puppies and dogs who come through the house. If I had a dog of my own, I have no doubt that they would be BFF. Interestingly, he does NOT like new foster cats that come into the house.

Scarlett likes to yell at the puppies and tell my whiny cat to "stop it!" but none of the animals really pay her any attention.

[The Outlaw]

Dana:

I have owned 2 OES in the past 20 years and they are my most favorite breed. However, they aren't known for the intellectual powers. In fact, most trainers cringe when you show up with one (LOL). I guess all things are relative because I got 2 well behaved and sweet boys that were just fun and lovable pets. They got along with any pet I owned, including 2 baby coons and my daughter's rabbits and guinea pigs.

I agree that many odd species combinations can occur in a household. I've seen that often with farm animals. Everyone has probably seen the new cat mom nurse baby rabbits or whatever showed up hungry.

In my home, I am the alpha. Just ask Will (LOL). All of the pets here know who feeds and protects them. Will may bring home the bacon, but I fry it up in the pan.

I only had one bird for 3 months before I added to my flock and its been growing ever since, so I don't know about lonely birds. In my home, just about all of the birds have a buddy. I am Eenie's buddy.

[OwnedbyMacaws]

Oh, Nancy, I didn't mean to imply I wasn't the Alpha over all here. I guess I am head Alpha but there seems to be a pecking order here, and Jango is at the top of the dogs, with me and Jack and the boys above him. It wouldn't do to have such a huge dog thinking he was MY boss.

And do you know everything I've ever read said that OES's were intelligent. I thought it was just Eliza. It's good to know that it's common. She minds well, follows simple commands without any trouble, although it took FOREVER to get them down. She just does....silly things. Usually the things she does are pretty funny, actually. She's just not bright. We love her though. We got her when she was about a year old. She had been chained in a backyard and was matted, dirty, and neglected. Her owner expressed his dislike for her because she was 'stupid'. I talked him into giving her to me, took her home, cleaned her up, and she's been the most grateful ,apprecitive dog we've had.

[OwnedbyMacaws]

Originally Posted by felisdomesticus

My one cat, Cappuccino, LOVES all of the foster puppies and dogs who come through the house. If I had a dog of my own, I have no doubt that they would be BFF. Interestingly, he does NOT like new foster cats that come into the house.

LOL, that's funny! I have one cat, Max the Manx, who doesn't care for the other cats. His prefered company is either my son, Devin, or Lilly the bulldog. I don't believe he knows he is a cat. He fetches balls and sticks like a dog, and has been known to drool just like Lilly does.

[felisdomesticus]

Originally Posted by The Outlaw

I only had one bird for 3 months before I added to my flock and its been growing ever since, so I don't know about lonely birds.

Brave woman! I've had the redhead for almost a year now and I still don't think I'm ready for another bird!

seeing the beautiful Scarlets and GWs on this board make me think about being ready, though!

[Tiki]

I have three species-9 Cockatiels, 2 Princess Parrots, 1 Quaker who all get along very well in my bird room. Chaska still sleeps in my room, because I would miss her if she didn't! Every morning I put her in the bird room and she eats with the others.

[featherduster]

This is very interesting. I have 6 adult parrots, a dog and a cat. For the last 3 months I have had 3 bappy Timnehs. My adult birds are very upset about the time I spend with the bappy's. I even have one that is plucking!
Our regular "flock" routine was established, but the bappies have made them all feel "off".
Normally, the dog is at the bottom, the cat is next to the bottom. The birds are on the top except for the humans in the house. This has been our routine for over 6 years.

Anyone else experienced this?