My husband and I are about two weeks from welcoming our daughter and we are getting increasingly paranoid about the cats. We have three and they get on EVERYTHING. We catch them on the kitchen table, counters, windowsills, bakers rack, laying on the tv stand...the list goes on. The amount of hair in the apartment is a huge factor also. I dust regularly and a minute (I am not kidding) after I dust, the surface of the thing I dusted will be covered again. We will be eating at the kitchen table and find a cat hair in our glass or food. As if the hair were not enough, we have carpet on our stairs and bedrooms, so we keep the litter box downstairs where the tile is. We have purchased different litter mats that are supposed to minimize litter being tracked around, but like I said the cats get on everything and we will find litter on the table and counters and sofa. I am worried about setting out my daughters playpen, with the hair and litter that might end up in there or that the cats will jump in. I am also concerned about putting her bottles on the bottle drying rack to dry because of the hair that just seems to fall on everything. It makes me so frustrated I have had so many crying breakdowns because it feels so hopeless. Never ending hair and I can't help but think my daughter will never be able to touch couch or be put in playpen or high chair because of the hair and litter issue. My husband is reluctant to give the cats away but we don't know how to deal with this anymore. If you have cats and a child or baby, please let me know if there is anything that can be done or am I just being really paranoid?
***I know I forgot to mention this but someone suggested so for the record I do vacuum, everyday...the vacuum never gets put away it is a permanent piece of decor in our home
Re: Anybody with cats I need advice please! (long)
Do you have a garage?? We're putting our cat in the garage primarily while LO is little. He doesn't shed as much as it sounds like your cats do.. I would recommend sweeping & dusting DAILY.
You can also:
- get training spray to keep them off certain areas (must spray daily)
- go to PETCO & get a "furminator" brush, it is AMAZING!! We use it on our dogs & cat... it gets all of the loose fur off. We do this daily!
-Sweep & dust DAILY- a must if you have as much shedding as you do.
Your LO will survive, but if you're like me, you don't want him/her covered in hair all the time... yuck!
Try brushing your cats more so you catching the loose hair before they shed it. Also maybe get a better vacuum cleaner. We are looking at the Dyson Animal.
If you are keeping your bottle on a drying rack cover them with a towel.
Start training them now to stay off baby things, either with a spray bottle full of water and a touch of vinegar (our prefered method) and you could get a crib tent to keep them out of the crib. Also I heard putting foil down where you don't want them deters them. I have not tried that.
For what it is worth, we have 5 indoor cats and I am not concerned that cat hair is a life or death situation, I will do what I can to minimize it but I am not going to stress if the baby gets some fur on him.
Also my best friend has a 6 month old and 3 indoor cats, and these cats pretty much have free range of the house. They sleep in the babies crib (when she is not in it) and the baby plays on the floor, and so far she is still alive and well.
I have 4 cats AND A dog and the whole hair paranoia ended for me as soon as LO came home and I realized it was really not a battle worth fighting.
The hair won't kill your child and the litter crumbs are what they are.
You'll find then when you have a real live baby the cats have less interest, not more in his/her things because they smell like the baby and not like some new novel thing.
I would try to just let it go. I went through the same thing, I mean, I went NUTS over cat hair only to find that the only way to live in harmony together is to just let it go.
Vacuum every day like you always do and just live with it.
this EXACTLY - I didn't realize cat hair was poison to babies - oh wait - it's not....no allergy = no problem
I have to admit I am disgusted by this post. I understand wanting to protect your child, but try worrying about real threats first. Cat hair is not the enemy. Your house is clean. Cat hair doesn't make it unclean or unsafe.
We have 4 cats and 2 large dogs. We have crazy amounts of hair around the house and I am not concerned 1 ounce about my child's well fair. As long as the kid doesn't have an allergy then it won't hurt the kid.