I have a couple of questions?? Im going to be having a new born pretty soon, and Im kinda been worried about having my cat around her. Any mothers gone through this? And have there husbands not understand how I dont feel comfortable with the cat being around the baby? ( He loves our cat, Its his baby. ) My cat is really tame with adults, but when little kids come around she either runs and hides. If they go to pet her, she swipes at them. Not meanly, she does it without claws coming out and no reaction from her face or tail. Also, shes always liked to sleep at the end of our bed at night. My husband thinks Im mean when I kick her off, because I dont want her doing that anymore now that the babys coming, and Im pretty sure the baby is going to be on our bed with me a lot. I try to explain to him how I feel, but I think he thinks Im being to over protective and neglecting our cat. ( I too love our cat.) By the way she sheds a lot, and thats the one thing that starting to bother me that hasnt really before.! In truth.....I can't seem to make myself not be grossed out by our cat now and worried about the germs that shes might leave behind. I cant get rid of her, my husband would be devistated. I would be too, but I guess Im just wondering has anyone been in this situation and everything be ok for the baby?
Thank you so much for all the input and info. You really have made me feel a whole lot better about the situation. My cat and husband thank you too Im sure! :) Ive had a more positive attituded about the whole thing, and I can tell my husband appreciates it. I'm pretty sure once the baby gets here and the shes at home around the cat Ill feel more at ease. Thanks again!
I have always had a cat or two when my kids were born. Cats really have no use for a baby. Really we are probably the only species that thinks babies are cute. None of my cats had anything to do with whoever was in possession of the thing that screams.
I would not worry about it.
Oh and other than the litter box there aren't any germs or anything the cat can spread. None of my kids ever coughed up a hair ball either.
When my daughter was born 16 years ago, we had a cat. She was terrified of my nephews, who would chase her down to try to pet her. When the baby was born, she was fascinated with the baby. She would hide under the bassinet skirt and pop out if someone dared to come and look at HER baby. If I closed the baby in my room so I could go shower, the cat would be standing guard at the door. Your cat sounds tame and sweet and there is typically no reason to get rid of a cat when a baby is born.
I would see how it goes. Give her an "out" so she doesn't have to be around little kids if she doesn't want to. Bring in baby stuff so it's not all news to her at once. Teach your child to be gentle or leave the cat alone. Try to find a middle ground. Maybe feliway would be good for when the baby arrives (phereomones in the room). Invest in a good vacuum and get DH to brush her frequently (it's partially the season). Bear in mind, too, that you are in a hormonal bath, both now and just after baby arrives. Don't make any big decisions about her right now.
We have 2 cats, one of whom is 20lbs (Maine Coon). They are fine. If they can't stand DD, they run away over a gate where she can't reach them. They like to lay on her changing table, but have never really bothered her. It can work out.
What about giving the cat her own raised bed at the end of yours so she can be near her person but not on the bed?
And how do kids approach her? Maybe you should ask that all kids ignore the cat until she comes up to THEM so they aren't in her face. Adults tend to be more like that and she seems to prefer it.
I had three dogs and two cats when I had my daughter, and I didn't change anything about their routine because of her. They got in the bed with me when I had her in the bed, and the cats would hop into the crib to check her out. No harm ever came to her.
We raised three kids with a cat similar to the one you describe and it was just fine.
I co slept during the early months, kitty was usually at the foot of the bed, no problems at all!
I would try to make it work for your husband's sake, the world will soon be revolving around you and the baby, it would be nice for you to let him keep his pet :)
We had three cats when my little guy (who turned three today!) was born. They all adjusted. As others have posted, cats generally aren't that interested in babies, and it will be close to a year before you child is able to go after the cat. By that time, they should be pretty used to each other. When my son was old enough to want to pet our cats, we taught him how to do it gently. Now, at age three, he is incredibly tender and gentle with our cats, which is so sweet to see.
As for sleeping, however, you should take some precautions. If you are planning to co-sleep with your infant (we did not do that), you should make sure that the cat can't get next to/on top of the baby. A new, small warm body may be very attractive to a cat, even if they normally sleep at the foot of the bed. For obvious reasons, you don't want the cat snuggling up next to or on top of the baby. You and your husband should figure out now how you are going to prevent that from happening (and that may include kicking the cat out of the room at night - not easy, but may ultimately be the best answer).
As for shedding, I have read that having pets at young ages helps protect against animal allergies as the kids get older. So, that is a plus.
Finally - as much as you and your husband love your cat, you will realize when the baby is born that the cat is, well, just a cat. Your baby is the top priority, and you will make choices regarding what is best for him or her.
Congratulations!
When my 7 year old was born we had 4 cats. When my 4 year old was born we had 3 cats. All of them were 100% indoors, and fully clawed. The cats will adjust to the baby, because it's a baby that isn't chasing the cats or tormenting the cats. As the baby starts to move, the cats will probably turn the other way. I never had any issues with any of our cats and babies. When the baby is old enough it will be your responsibility to make sure the baby isn't rough with the cats and leaves them alone. We still have 3 cats and the cats and my kids all live together with no issues.
We had our cat for 10 years before our child was born.
She sniffed the baby when we brought her home and then pretty much just stayed away from her.
Our child walked unassisted at 6 months, so our cat had already learned to just keep away from the human child. She did not want to be chased.
My husband loved that cat and would have hated getting rid of the cat, but if the cat had done anything to our child, my husband would have not put up with that even once.
We just had to put our oldest cat to sleep this past Monday. It was horribly hard for all us. We had had her for 16 yrs. Our oldest son is 15 and the youngest is 10. She was wonderful with both of them from the minute both boys were brought home from the hospital. She cuddled with them, let them do WHATEVER they wanted to her without a single swipe at them.
As for the shedding there are shampoos that will help cut down on that and if you brush her more it will cut down on the shedding as well. As for the germs well odds are your own hands are far worse than the cat. Think of all the things you touch throughout the day and all the people who also touch those same items. Your cat is in your home with germs you already have been exposed to which in turn your baby will already be exposed to more from you than the cat.
You might be surprised that the cat wont bother the baby or if she does odds are it will be out of curiosity and then once that is done the cat will probably ignore your baby.
Think on this it has been proven that children raised in homes with pets have less allergies than those raised in homes without pets.
My kids grew up with cats...the cats were 6 months old when our first child was born.
We now have a cat that is very timid, and whenever our grandson is around, she runs and hides.... your cat will probably find her hiding places and stay away from the baby.
Also, our cats were great "trainers" to the kids... when the kids were little, the cats did tolerate more "misbehavior" (pulling, poking, stuff like that), or just get up and leave... as they got older, they started swatting with a soft paw (no claws).
We taught our children from very young to be gentle, to pet nicely, and not try to drag the cats around.
Congrats on your baby!
I'm like you but in all fairness I went online and found some information for you to read that will hopefully help you and your husband prepare:
http://www.messybeast.com/cat_baby.htm
Again, congrats!!
We have 2 cats and they've never bothered our daughter. We prepared them by getting a doll and putting it in the baby's bassinet. The older, dominate cat sniffed a few times and that was it. Whenever our daughter cried my cats would run into the room and peer at her. Once she was mobile the cats started hanging out on the back of the couches and chairs out of the baby's reach. The only time they've scratched her was when she pulled my older cat's tail.
We co-slept and the older cat slept at my feet and the younger one slept on the floor by the bed. Once my daughter was in her own room we went back to our original routine, both kitties curled up on the foot of my bed.
Now whenever my DD sits on the couch at least one of the cats will lay down beside her.
Good luck and congrats on the baby!
It's perfectly natural to worry about things that never bothered you before when you're pregnant. :) My experience is that the cat is most likely going to "voluntarily" stay away from baby. Especially as you said that she normally runs away from small kids. I had 1 cat before my son was born and 2 cats before my daughter was born and none of them ever caused any problems at all. You might occasionally see the cat peering curiously into the pram, but all the "horror stories" are far-fetched, in my experience. Cats us and baby all slept in the same room and we're all alive and happy to tell the tale! Congratulations on the imminent arrival of your bundle of joy! :) God Bless
When I was a child, I was allergic to cats.
To the dander.
If I pet a cat or touched it then touched my face, my eyes would itch and get all swollen.
But sure, as an adult, I have had cats as pets and it was fine.
Really, get this settled BEFORE the baby comes home.
Cats, are animals. They bite/hiss/scratch. IF provoked or they don't like something. This is their coping skill.
A cat can also jump onto things... what if it jumps into the crib?
I love animals, but there has to be safety too.
Where IS the baby going to sleep?
Usually, it sleeps with the Mommy or in their bedroom in a crib. Nearby the Mom/parent.
Then again, you don't know how the cat will react. It is like an only 'child' right now.
Hard to predict, how the cat will handle all of this once baby comes home. AND hard to predict, how your HUSBAND will react to it all too.... and in conjunction with his beloved cat.
IS the cat, fully vaccinated and up to date on her shots????
Is it an indoor cat or does it go outdoors too?
Even more reason, to make sure the cat is up to date on its shots.
Hard situation.
You will be a Mommy so of course you are concerned.
I'm sure the cat will be fine with the baby. My friends all had cats when the babies were born and they did fine. We got our cats when my son was 3. They never hurt him but would walk away if he was bugging them. We sleep with my son and both cats and everyone is happy.
I don't think you have anything to worry about.
Good luck!
You got a lot of good answers, I just want to add our experience with our cat. We had her for about a year when we had our daughter. She was great up till then. She started to pee where ever she wanted. She had became very jealous. She never tried to do anything to the baby we just got tired of her peeing everywhere but her litter box. I had to get rid of her before she decided to pee on the babys bed or cloths. All cats are different. Just give the cat a chance and see how it reacts to the baby.
I had an old cat when my daughter was born. The cat did not have a great disposition, however she was very good with the baby. She liked to be near her, and likewise my daughter was in love with her. As my daughter grew, there were a couple of scratching incidents - because my daughter grabbed her fur and wouldn't let go. The scratches were cleaned really well, and all was fine. Our doc even said it was great that we had a cat in the house, as it could possibly help prevent allergies. Just make sure your husband is cleaning the litter box very thoroughly. It is really cruel when people get rid of pets just because baby comes along. There can be space for everyone.
We had a cat for 10 years when my daughter was born. We didn't have any issues until one night when my daughter was maybe 2 months old, I heard her muffled cries through the monitor and I ran in her room to find the cat sprawled out on her face. I mean the cat was laying on her face and could have smothered her. We got rid of the cat the next day. It was hard and may seem a bit extreme, but I was not taking any chances with my newborn's life. Just be careful. Good luck and congrats on your baby!
It will be a long time before the baby is capable of actually grabbing at the cat, and there may well be room for the cat to adjust to having the baby around. If not, you will be able to see any problems as they slowly develop.
I would be much more concerned about the possibility of the baby developing an allergic reaction. I've had severe asthma since infancy, and cats are the worst of all my problems (in spite of the fact that I love cats and have had many outdoor cats over my lifetime).
If you can avoid making it a "Chose the cat OR the baby" issue, your husband will probably come around. The cat's his baby now, and that's something to respect. But he'll probably fall even more deeply in love with his own child after he meets him/her. If you don't push him into emotional corners, he'll probably help solve problems as they arise. It doesn't help much to anticipate problems that may never occur.
Hi J. I hadf cats with all 3 of my new borns and there were never any issues, don't believe allm the wives tales people will tell you they just simply are not true, J.
