1st Trimester
KrisB755
member
More animal issues - long
KrisB755
member
I was going to add this to the pets post below, but I thought it was so long it might warrant its own post.
We have two cats and a 1yr old puppy. I am actually more worried about my cats than my dog. My dog is a 15lb cockapoo who is a complete lover to all people. She is well trained, and we have up'd the training since we found out I was preggers. The difference between her and the cats, is that I feel like the training may take a while with her, but she eventually gets it. With the cats - they just do what they please, and they still have their nails. One of the cats (our big guy) loves people, but does not love little people....case in point, my brothers 3 year old was over the other day and was bothering him and he scratched her, on the face.....I felt sooooo bad. Our little cat is kind of a mean/fraidy cat. She has been like this since we brought her home from the shelter at 8 weeks old. She is afraid of ALL people, but if she gets approached, she does not hesitate to fight back. So, aside from the fact that they can do harm with their nails, they have some habits which are not going to fly when we bring a baby home. For instance, they like to scratch on closed doors to try to open them (and those smart kitties usually can). So, when we are sleeping soundly, they start scratching at our door and wake us up. We shoo them away, we block off the door so they can't get in, but every night they are back. I'm worried about them waking up the baby, and worse yet, possibly getting in the crib and causing harm.
I love all my animals so much, but the reality of all the bad that can happen is starting to set in. I have absolutely no idea what to do with the cats. Has anyone encountered anything similar, or have any words of advice?
TIA
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Re: More animal issues - long
First, don't stress. Everyone with pets worries about what a new baby will do to their pets.
I for one, am in a tough situation myself. Long story short, I have an aggressive dog that hates strangers and sometimes my son.
I see it this way. I adopted my dog to save her life. I owe it to her to do EVERYTHING I can to make her life and my family's life the best it can be. We are working with an animal behaviorist to deal with the dogs anxiety and stand-offish-ness (is that a word?)
The animal behavorist said the BEST thing you can do for pets with a new baby is to make the time when baby is around the best time of the day for the pet. So for my dog, we give her treats, play with her, take her for walks, throw the ball while my son is awake and with us. When he's asleep we don't pay as much attention to her.
I`m not sure how well that translates to cats, but I`m sure you could make sure to pet them, give them a treat or favorite toy when your new baby is awake. And then, you just don't pay as much attention to them while baby is away.
This way the learn to associate the baby with positive things.
It's working for us so far. I mean, I`ll never leave the dog and the baby alone, they`ll just never be buddies like that...but at least they tolerate each other better.
(Sorry! That ways long!!!!)
Well they should still have their nails. Claw removal can be detrimental to a cat's behavior and you could end up having a much, much worse problem on your hands doing a surgery like that.
I have used a squirt water bottle to curb unwanted behavior. Is it positive reinforcement? No, but it could work, especially for a cat who isn't exactly the people-pleasing, treat wh0re a dog is.
Positive association is a HUGE thing, as the pp says.
I think scratching on closed doors is pretty harmless behavior, but you may be wise to keep cats and baby separated. If the one cat is scared of all people, it may be likely she will bolt any time baby is near her.
I never allow visiting children to pester or bother my dog. I think the same should go for cats. Keep the cat at a safe distance from babies so that they don't feel the need to defend themselves. Cats hiss and scratch when they need to defend themselves. Dogs growl and snap in the direction of the offender.
Also post on pets, some of the ladies there have cats and babies and will be a wealth of information for you.
This is something I'm considering for my cats:
https://www.softclaws.com/
I would keep the bedroom doors open so they won't make noise and scratch.
Your cats will have lots of time to get used to your child and you have no idea if they will scratch them. It seems premature to get too concerned about that. Your brother's child was older and not as known to them- it doesn't mean they won't be able to live with your kid, who isn't even here yet. I wouldn't get this concerned yet. You can be careful when the baby arrives, as pp suggest, and it may be fine.
Hi, I am just a lurker but thought I would chip in:) I used the soft claws on my cats and they just bit them off. They didn't like them and I would find them everywhere lol So I had to keep buying new ones and eventually just stopped because I was wasting money.
I've heard that this can happen. I think it depends on the cat. It might just be worth a shot.
I do this for my cat that isn't declawed. She doesn't mind it at all and it just keeps that really sharp point off so her claws don't get stuck in anything (she uses her claws for stability a lot, she only has 3 legs).
I was worried about how my 2 cats would react when we brought DS home too. But, my worries were completely unfounded. My cats were more freaked out about him than anything else. They basically hid for the first week whenever he cried. After a while, they were just curious, but didn't try to touch him or get too close.
Once he became mobile, we had to teach him how to pet the cats and to interact with them. He's learned to be gentle and not pull their fur. The only time there was any sort of incident between the cats and him was when he started walking and stepped on one of their tails. He got a scratch on his leg when she reacted, but it was really little.
Maybe the cats will surprise you.
That is really good to hear! Thanks!
We trim our cats' claws, too. We used to use toenail clippers, but we got a set of real claw clippers (Bamboo brand) for our pup's claws so I use that on the cats now, too. I just pick kitty up and position her like she's sitting in a chair on my lap, press on her pads to retract the claws, and clip the tip of the claw (be careful of the quick!!). We've been doing this since our 7-yr-old cats were kittens, so they're very used to it and are actually quite content while we do it. Our dog just hangs out while we trim his claws, too - it's nice when pets are cooperative!
What is a chichi???
I wouldn't waste your money on these. My mom got them for her cat and she just chewed and pulled them off. They did look cute when they were on though! All black cat with bright cherry red nails.