We have a friendly tabby cat visiting us now. He turned up one day, meowing at the door and since we mistakenly fed him, he’s turning up every night for a meal and cuddles. (Ok, I admit it, it was deliberate. We knew if we fed him he’ll keep returning. We simply couldn’t help ourselves. The cat is so friendly and adorable!)
Meet "our" cat.
I’ve been trying to get a good photo of the cat, but the flash is so harsh. I’ll keep trying.
I borrowed a microchip scanner from work to see if the cat has a microchip (since he hasn’t got a collar on), but the scanner didn’t pick up any. Since the cat is in such good condition and is of a good weight, I don’t think he’s homeless, however, his hunger worries us a bit. But then again, cats can be just as greedy as dogs! 
We let the cat in a few times with the pigeons safely away just in case, but the cat doesn’t like it if I close the door. He needs the option to dash out if he wants. He’s a bit wary but loves his evening meal, and once we start stroking him he usually wants to cuddle up onto our lap. After a while he gets up, goes out, and disappears into the darkness.
The cat comes into our flat
I want to call him “Sir Drools-a-lot” since he is a drooler. I’ve never known a cat to drool so much. Every time he lovingly head butts my hand (to scent mark it. I’m no fool; I know why cats rub), he leaves a little wet patch. Yuck. And when he sat on my lap the other night, he left a puddle on my leg.
Last night we let Elmo meet the cat. In a controlled manner and under strict observation, of course. We cannot risk the cat attacking our beloved pigeons. But the cat wasn’t interested in Elmo at all. In fact, when Elmo flapped, the cat ran away. Elmo, on the other hand, wasn’t impressed with the intruder. Richard was stroking the cat, who was lying down on the floor, and Elmo walked over and tried to peck the cat. Elmo has no predator awareness instincts; he thinks he’s the king of the house and no one tells him what to do.
Elmo and the cat
In the above photo, the cat is having his dinner while Elmo checks him out. When he was finished and walked away, Elmo went over to inspect what the cat had left (first time he left anything):
Elmo inspects the cat food
Even though I know that there are people who have pigeons and cats living together, I don’t think I could do that since you cannot trust the two together. You’d never be able to relax and would always have to keep an eye on them. I have enough trouble keeping an eye on Elmo and Georgie together since Elmo doesn’t like Georgie and will attack her if she gets too close to him. However, the cat is so lovely and I’m sure he’ll continue to visit us. I hope we find his owner just so we can sleep in peace, however, if the cat is homeless then we’ll have to find him a good home.
Heya!
Yes, I know it’s silly for me to say this since you have so much experience with animals, but please make sure Elmo and Georgie are going to be safe with the cat about.
Indeed! You can just tell that Elmo does not like the cat ’so far’….
From the photos, he really looks like he wants to say something like, “Come on? What is this all about?”
I understand your concern, but please don’t worry. We haven’t let the cat into the house unattended (and only in the corridor so far). He’s really not interested in the pigeons at all, but I’m not taking any chances. The cat doesn’t like to stay with us for very long anyway, so I don’t think he’s looking for a home, just a place to eat!
Heya Rev,
You guys ok?
Haven’t seen any updates on the site in over 2 weeks now.
Just touching base!
Hi Frank, thank’s for contacting us. We’re all doing fine, just been very busy and sadly I haven’t had the inspiration to write anything. I think I have a touch of “bloggers block” although Elmo and Georgie pigeons are such darlings that I shouldn’t have any problems writing about them. I’ll try better.
Hi!
I’ve been searching the web for some information about how to care for pigeons, and I came across your website. I am currently caring for a feral pigeon (Monty) which has been shot. He/she? had a bleeding wound on his head, so I took it to the vet to be checked over, and he said to take it home, feed it corn, and let it go after a few days. I have now had the pigeon 4 days, and I’m wondering if it has brain damage. It has two small bumps on it’s head (as if lead shot under the skin, although it could be scabs from being shot). I have tried seeing if the bird can fly, but it just flaps a bit and gives up. I’m keeping it in a shed, with a window to look out, but I’m worried that if it doesn’t attempt to fly soon, it’s wings will become weak. I’ve had the pigeon 4 days now. Are you able to advise how best I can help it, and any advice on pigeon-care would be appreciated. Many thanks, Christine.
Heya – yeah, I understand. Ya can’t be inspired all of the time.
Thanks again for always sharin’!
^_^
Dear Revati and Richard,
(I sent the below message yesterday via the Feedback button, but it was a little wonky and I’m suspect of whether or not the message went through at all – so I’m sending it again via the comment form)
I’d like to thank you both for maintaining such an informative, entertaining, and awesome blog. There isn’t much useful information on the internet for a person who happens to suddenly find them self taking in an injured pigeon as a pet, so finding your site was like discovering a little gold mine.
A few weeks ago I found a terribly injured pigeon on the ground near where I live. I could see it’s wing feathers were in disarray and that it’s head had a strange bald patch. It was backed into a corner and was obviously grounded and in distress.
I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving the creature there for the neighborhood foxes to feast on, so I went up to my apartment where I happened to have a small carrier for birds and went down to retrieve the pigeon. It was evening, so I couldn’t get a good look at the bird until I’d gotten it out under the street light, and Oh My God it’s entire scalp was missing; I could see it’s skull.
This made me terribly sad, as I believed that such a wound must surely prove fatal, so I brought her home with me to give her a comfortable place to die. I took my large parrot cage down from where I’d been storing it, lined the floor with cardboard and outfitted it with everything a dying pigeon could possibly want. I had a large sprig of millet on hand, so I placed it inside, as well as a dish of various grains and a bowl of water. I cranked the heat so she would be warm, rubbed antibiotic cream on her head wound in a vague hope that it would do something good, and went to bed.
The next morning I woke to happy cooing and the sounds of millet being consumed. The dying bird seemed absurdly lively.
I wanted to take her to a shelter or vet and desperately searched the internet for information, but I’ve only recently moved to Berlin and don’t speak German well enough yet to figure out how to find a shelter for wild birds, nor do I know how to get around the city well, or even really know people here to ask about things like this yet. So I felt at a loss for how to help this little bird other than to continue putting antibiotic cream on her head and providing a warm, safe place with as much good food as she cared to eat (which was a lot).
I was eventually able to find an avian vet to treat her, and was informed that Rasputin will never be able to fly again. This was sad news, but I am more than happy to have her live with me as a house pet.
And so I have became the proud guardian of Rasputin, the brave pigeon who refused to die.
Rasputin is currently recovering from a surgery to close up the wound on her head, but once she is back to 100% I plan to work on taming her. She’s currently scared to death of me, and I feel awful having to administer medicine down into her crop via a plastic syringe (she HATES it), but I hope that when she has recovered she can grow to trust me.
You can see a photograph of her here:
http://pics.livejournal.com/alcippe/pic/000t5e3e/s640×480
Do you have any advice on how to tame a feral bird under these circumstances? I have no other birds and live alone, so my hope is that she will eventually bond with me. I used to have an African Grey parrot* whom I taught many tricks, and I’m hoping I can use the same techniques with Rasputin – target training and using food as a reward.
If you have any words of advice for me I’d love to hear them. Otherwise, I plan to continue to gradually comb my way through your blog and learn as much as I can – it’s great! Thanks for putting all of this information out there
All the best,
Sarah & Rasputin
* When I moved from Chicago to Berlin I re-homed my parrot to a veritable bird paradise with my friend Wesley. He lives in a warehouse loft space and has three other parrots, so the birds play and fly together amid the rafters high above, and have a jungle of toys to play with. I miss my parrot sooooo much, but know that he has a much better life in Chicago than I could ever provide him here in Berlin. Rasputin is definitely filling a void in my heart where a bird needs to be
Hi Christine, thank you for your enquiry. Poor pigeon, sounds like he has had a rough time. I’m glad you’re able to care for him. You’ve done the right thing to keep him contained in a sheltered area. Don’t worry about his wings becoming weak, once he’s built up strength with the food and warmth you provide, and when he’s feeling better, he’ll try to fly. I will email you with more information.
Hi Sarah, thank you for contacting us. I will email you as soon as possible about your darling Rasputin.