My cat conundrum

jeannkerricotober09

(for the new people - recap) I have this cat, Henry, and he is the best animal I have ever met.  Ever.  He is 100% love.  Sadly, Henry (4 years old) has congestive heart failure.  He was diagnosed in January, the same week I found out I was pregnant, at which time they gave him a day or two to live.  Actually, I was looked at like a barbarian by my vet when I didn't immediately put him down as he was in 'the worst shape (the vet) had ever seen (for his condition)'.

I took him home, sat over him for 2 days straight, until he was out of the woods and brought him to a cardiologist at Tufts.  Since then it has been rocky but with frequent medicine changes, EKG's & chest x-rays, millions of vet appointments and leaving my job (for the impending babe.. not the cat) we have been able to keep him in a place where he is exceptionally happy and very comfortable.  

But it takes a lot.  Among other things, he *has* to sleep in our bedroom at night to get quiet time away from our other animals.  If he isn't given alone time each day and most especially at night (i.e. forced to rest), his breathing becomes really shallow and he, quite clearly, doesn't feel well.  Our cardiologist is blown away by his quality of life.  He was given a day or two, and then a couple of months.. and now here we are entering into month 8 and, most days, you would never guess he was sick.

The problem?  He is fearless.  We have a co-sleeper, which I set up last weekend to be sure it would fit with our bed and he became obsessed with it.  I had to take it down in the middle of the night so I could sleep, he *had* to claim it as his new tower and I love him but there is no way in h*ll I am going to let him walk or sleep on the co-sleeper.  (gross.)

So what am I going to do?  Henry has to sleep in the room, the baby has to sleep in the room.. but I don't trust Henry not to climb right in the sleeper snuggle up to/smother the baby.   I am 99% sure he won't be scared of the baby, he isn't scared of anything.. but I also don't want to wait that long to find out.

 Any advice?  I was thinking about getting a motion detection toy (??) and putting it in there to startle him, which I think would work a few times, but then lose it's effect and with his condition.. startling isn't an awesome idea.  Tin foil won't work, he loves it.   Tape might work, until it is removed.  He will keep going back and testing the waters and once it is gone, he will climb right in.  A net over the sleeper wouldn't work either, he would climb on it and cave it in.

 ug.. this stresses me more than I could possibly explain.  I got Henry after I moved back from Hawai'i, after my father died.  I know this sounds super gay but I had no friends here and no clear direction.. but I had Henry and he was the perfect companion.  I know his quality of life will immediately drop if he doesn't sleep in our room but there is no way I will allow him in the room with the baby without knowing for sure he won't go near the sleeper and I don't know if I will ever get there.  

My cardiologist has kept reminding me that a cat with this condition *never* lives past a year, so managing the 2 (Henry and the baby) wasn't a real concern.  But here we are.. 5 weeks away.. and (knock wood) Henry is looking absolutely fantastic.

  

butterflygrooves

Will a small kennel fit in the room?  You can get him used to it now before the baby gets here so he is comfortable and *hopefully* prefers that space.  Get a nice fluffy bed for it and maybe a blanket, pretty much whatever he likes so he will choose the kennel over the co-sleeper.

ssg73

We had the same fear (of the cat jumping and sleeping on the baby) before Ella was born.  Our cat drew is super active and can be aggressive at times.  It was pretty easy to keep her out of the nursery since she kept jumping in the crib but our real concern was the pack n play we had in our room.  It is not an option to lock her out of the room since she would cry until we let her in.  When E finally came home the cat really didn't care about the pack n play.  We didn't put it up until E came home and perhaps Drew figured out that it was the new "cats" bed and left it alone. It was odd.  Drew is not scared of anything and she just kind of got it.  Hopefully Henry will get the idea when the baby comes home.  In the mean time I would keep it put away so he can't claim it as his own.

leapgirl8

I'm sure you've thought of this, but can he just have his quiet/away-from-other-animals time in another room? Or would be super uncool with that? I've never had a cat. I know that our dog Lucky would bark and cry if you shut her in a room alone, but Pippin would be very much in the "Whatever, I'm sleeping" camp.

Tanya+Da

ditto all pps and a ton of luck figuring it out. I have found animals to just 'get it' when they need to. Their intuitiuon seems to be better than humans.

So excited for your 5 weeks!!! and for Henry's extended health.

Duchess1

Our cat did the same thing before the girls came home. I was so worried the first few nights. Somehow though, she just understood that it was not for her and never went near it.  They are so smart.

See how it goes, you may not have an issue at all.

P.S. Great job keeping him so happy and healthy all these months. Lucky kitty!