‘It’s A Rare Combination’ – Inside Helena Crevar’s Chaotic, Cuddly Home Of Cats And Parrots
IBJJF No-Gi World Champion Helena Crevar has built a career putting bodies into positions with no way out. At home, however, four very opinionated roommates make sure she remembers who is actually in charge.
The 19-year-old will return for her sophomore appearance on the global stage against Paige Ivette Clymer in an openweight submission grappling showdown at The Inner Circle 22, live from Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium this Friday, July 17. The Asia primetime card will be exclusively available to subscribers via live.onefc.com.
Crevar needs little introduction at this stage.
The Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu representative became the youngest female athlete ever promoted to black belt by John Danaher last year, and now, six months following her victory over Teshya Noelani Alo in her promotional debut, she carries a staggering 355-7 record into her upcoming battle.
But away from the mats, Crevar’s household looks less like a training camp and more like a small, chaotic zoo. Two cats and two birds share her home, and by her own admission, it is not exactly a common pairing.
Feathered Rulers Of The House
The birds could not be more different from one another, and the story of how they arrived says almost as much as the creatures themselves. Kiwi, a Senegal parrot who is now 23 years old, entered the family in Canada before Crevar was even born.
Over more than two decades under the same roof, Kiwi has firmly settled into his role as the family’s self-appointed gatekeeper, deciding early on exactly who belongs in his orbit and who does not.
The teen star, unfortunately, has learned to live within those terms, even when they do not always work in her favor:
“He’s a one-person bird. He only likes my mom. So, he’ll bite or want to attack anyone that is not my mom.
“He’s tried to attack me and still wants to attack me whenever he’s out of the cage. Despite me feeding him, he still just wants to attack me.”
Chubby arrived under very different circumstances. The 12-year-old white-bellied caique came into the family after friends who could no longer keep him needed to find him a new home.
While Kiwi guards his affection like a closely held secret, Chubby hands his out freely. He has none of his housemate’s territorial streak. Instead, he is content to be handled, moved around, and passed between whoever happens to be nearby. That easygoing nature has made him the far simpler of the two birds to live alongside.
Crevar told onefc.com:
“He’s much friendlier with everyone. I can hold him, carry him around, and pet him. He’s fine with anyone.”
A Purr-fectly Independent Duo
If the birds bring the drama, the cats bring the balance. Bernie, a four-year-old cat with a black-and-white tuxedo coat, and Tiger, a three-year-old tabby, round out the household at a hefty 20 pounds each.
Crevar’s history with cats goes back further than either of them. She had her first cat from the age of three until it passed away when she was 15, and the loss eventually led her to welcoming home two new furry besties.
The teenager said:
“My parents and I kind of decided to adopt two more – one year apart, actually, after the loss of my first cat.”
Despite her love for cats, Crevar admits that a dog was actually her first choice growing up.
Her parents, however, had other plans, having already settled into life with a bird well before she was born. Rather than adding a dog to the mix, the family leaned further into the pets they already knew, and cats became the natural next step.
That decision ended up suiting her lifestyle far better than a dog ever could have, as she shared:
“Dogs, you have to walk them and give them a lot more attention. But cats sleep most of the day, they come when they want to, and you pet them and feed them a couple times a day.
“They’re really easy, and they’re very independent, so you don’t have to give them attention all day. But when they want attention, they’ll let you know.”
Making It Work Under One Roof
Keeping two cats and two birds under the same roof is not as simple as it sounds, and the early days of the arrangement tested that firsthand.
Two young cats moving into a house with birds already living in it meant old habits needed correcting before anyone could fully relax.
The Kingsway Jiu-Jitsu product explained:
“When we first adopted the cats, we had to teach them not to jump on the cages or try to put their paws through.
“Now, they won’t really try to attack them through the cage, but sometimes they still do, so we have to stop them.”
The arrangement takes constant, deliberate balance. Crevar and her family divide their attention across all four animals, keeping the birds separated from the cats for much of the day and giving each its own supervised time out.
Even the neighbors who check in while she travels have taken notice of just how unusual the household is – and the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu prodigy is not shy to admit it.
She added:
“It’s a rare combination. For the birds, people probably don’t consider them as common animals or pets that you can cuddle with like cats or dogs.
“But birds, they’re also very easy to care for. You clean the cage once every couple of days, they aren’t very demanding, and they eat mostly seeds and fruits. Probably, if we didn’t have the cats, we could pretty much carry them around on our shoulders all day.”
