Bird cage alert

Dear Heloise: As an animal lover myself, I'd like to pass on a warning to all bird lovers. I have a 3-year-old Quaker parrot. Her cage is hanging from the ceiling by chain links.

As mischievous and curious as parrots are, I never gave a second thought to Nikki sliding the links up and down the cage until I came home from work one day and found her with the chain link stuck underneath her beak and neck.

I pried one of the links open and, with five still hanging from her neck, rushed her to the vet in tears. Fortunately, he was able to remove the chain.

Please let all your readers know to make sure all toys and chains are securely linked tight and checked often for loose links to avoid a near-death situation such as I encountered.

Nikki is fine now, but the cage is no longer hanging by a chain. -- Carol, Webster, N.Y.

FUN FOR KITTENS

Dear Heloise: There is no need to buy expensive toys for your kitten. The toys kittens enjoy are probably in your home right now.

Kittens have the most fun playing in paper bags. Simply cut a couple of holes on the sides and top, fold over the open end of the bag and just lay it on the floor.

Put a string with something attached at the end, like a rubber washer, wooden spool or feather, and dangle it through one of the holes. They will stay amused for hours. -- V.Williams, San Antonio