Moms with Outside Babies: How is your furbaby adjusting?

goldenB · January 2014

Ladies, I need some distraction from the fact that I am still not in labour...so talk to me about how your furbabies have been adjusting to your outside babies? Were there any surprises or behavioural changes that have caught you off guard? Was it love at first sight? How are you dealing with the cold winter weather and making sure your furbaby is being walked?

Did your feelings toward furbaby change after having a real baby?

**Bonus points for posting pics**

here's Mischa from our maternity photo shoot...she has no idea her life is about to majorly change in less than a week.

hurricanekb · January 2014

Jerkcat is actually oddly nice and curious towards the baby. Bella, my pride and joy cat, hasn't fully forgiven me. She will st least come up stairs now, but the first week and a half I never saw her.

OSUWifey09 · January 2014

We've spent a lot of time with my parents since DD was born, and they have a 6-year-old pit mix [our 13-year-old chow mix was put down yesterday...sad]. He has been very, very curious around baby but hasn't been aggressive or anything. He tries to jump on the bed to look at her and always comes around when she's crying. He stays by me and the baby a lot, and he really didn't want anything to do with me while I was pregnant. :P He's more protective; he was the same way when DS was born.

wedbliss5 · January 2014

My cat has ignored LO, but he is still demanding attention and you can tell he's feeling a little ignored with HOW demanding he is.

goldenB · January 2014

@OSUWifey09 - I'm sorry to hear about your chow mix (hugs)

@Amylou333 - those pictures make my heart melt. Crossing my fingers Mischa will tone down being hyperactive and just learn to love baby. I made H promise me that he will cuddle her when I have to nurse baby and then we'll switch

@katiemarie86 - Jackson is a very handsome dog; he looks regal guarding DS2. Like a real 'Lassie dog. And DS2 is super cute:)

slmille4 · January 2014

Indie our lab has been not too curious. She'll occasionally sniff or lick but pretty much ignores her. The two cats will occasionally sniff but that's it. We can't set her down in the living room alone though because the cats want to sniff her in the bouncer and we don't want them to get comfortable climbing in there with baby.
Strangely since we brought LO home our anti social cat has become way more social. We had gotten a new kitten last year that she had been on strike about and hid or slept most of the day. But ever since she hangs out in the living room and will even tolerat the younger cat sleeping by her (still won't tolerate the younger cat playing with her). Kinda makes me wonder if he had actually adjusted to the younger cat a lot earlier and my pregnancy hormones were stressing her out.

Siblynika · January 2014

Sophie (my older cat) took one sniff and decided Nova wasn't worth her time. Sam on the other hand has take. Her presence with much more enthusiasm. He still tries to sit on my lap while I'm nursing so I've just been setting Nova on top of him.

Size comparison. My cat is a fatass.

Clbragg33 · January 2014

I was really concerned about our dog because he is pretty needy and hyper. He has actually became quite calm. We brought home a hat that DS wore in the hospital to let him sniff but that's all we did. He is his little guard dog. He runs in anytime DS makes any noise to check on him.

salsamommy · January 2014

Alaska is very good with V! She's been through it before and I was more concerned when DS was born.
The only time she goes crazy is when I am coming home or about to leave and she can't see the baby but can smell her under the car seat cover!

ashybear · January 2014

Our cat Sadie ignored him for 2 days, but has started being more friendly and curious now. She'll sniff at him, and has given him a few headbutts while I'm feeding him, which is her code for, "I like you, you can pet me if you want."

Here's an early morning photo from today.

precious72381 · January 2014

Spaz, my pug, loves the baby but pretty jealous he isn't getting all the attention. I was on bed rest for 4 months and we hung out all day, so it is a big adjustment. He likes to lick her toes and loves to check her out in the car seat. Pretty sure he would crawl into the pack and play with her if he could. He does want to eat her socks. He will push himself under the boppy pillow and tries shoving it out of the way to cuddle with me.

My younger cat Roxy is very confused, like usual. But she thinks the baby stuff is her new beds. My older cat, Precious has always hated change and keeps taking it out in Roxy by smacking her. But both cats sniff near the baby and come around when she cries but otherwise they don't have much of interest, just adjusting to the changes.

[Deleted User] · January 2014

Jacob has been home for 3 weeks. For the most part our cat, Bella, ignores him and won't come near us when he's crying. She has been demanding more attention, especially from me since she had a spat with DH. He actually yelled at her about a week ago bc she peed into our plants. I don't think she was doing it to be mean about the baby though. I think she just prefers soil to kitty litter (she's special). I'm hoping she will come around more once she is comfortable but I won't push her.

moosebaby2011 · January 2014

My pug has been very curious (wants to sniff and lick the baby whenever she is close enough to do so) but other than that her behavior hasn't changed at all since bringing DS2 home. She also goes over to the PnP and whimpers if he cries. It's pretty much the same way she acted when DS1 was born so no big surprises there.

My sister's pug also is living with us, and hadn't been around a baby full time prior to this. She completely ignores the baby and continues to spend her days sleeping on her pillow.

ashleywiz · January 2014

Kunu wants to be involved with everything to so with her...BUT I'm pretty sure it's just because he wants more of our attention. He's definitely acting a bit jealous in the form of being extra needy (no amount of walks, petting or cuddles are enough for him anymore where before we usually had to call him over to give him lovin). I'm hoping it will level out soon, but I'm thankful he hasn't acted out by being naughty or anything.

peanutmuse · January 2014

My three cats are curious and confused. They try to sneak in any time with us that they can. My husband bent down to check a text on his phone, and this is what happened:

ETA: Our one wild and crazy cat (the one pictured above) has calmed down significantly. I am happy about that, it was time. He's 3+ years old but still behaves like he's a 2 month old kitten!

km_md · January 2014

I love all of these pictures!! It makes me smile to see all of these adorable babies being loved on by their pets.

I'm not anticipating problems with my dog - she's been around kids since we brought her home (she visits my moms daycare often), and she's been great with all of the baby stuff around the house.

Here's a sort of dog/bump picture from December. The other picture I thought I had must be on my phone!

chicki1012 · January 2014

I have 2 boxers, my male is sooo sweet towards LO but my female is still a work in progress. She was the dominant dog of her litter when she was a puppy, so she wants to show LO who's the boss. She will just lick him to death. But it's only been a little over a week since we brought LO home, there's good improvements though.
I really should nap while LO is sleeping during the day but sometimes i play fetch with my furbabies or even cuddle on the couch with them. Eventually they will love their human brother until he's old enough to chase and tug on them, ha ha

Roses87 · January 2014

I have two cats. They have been 10xs better than I ever imagined. When we first brought baby home and brought her inside the cats didn't really bother her too much they sniffed her and then did their whole thing. Since then they have become more curious and will come up and sniff her. My one cat will sit on my breast friend pillow as I feed her and lay next to her. My other cat will look at her from a distance. The cats do appear hyper stimulated when she is crying and will kind of run around but are not aggressive or anything, like I was afraid of.

bellamatson · January 2014

Sully is depressed and has turned into an old man. Lol

moosebaby2011 · January 2014

Forgot to add my picture!

JKVanValey · January 2014

My apologies for the pictures being sideways...
My fur baby Ellie had been completely in tune with my entire pregnancy (even laid on my stomach before we found out I was pregnant)... She is DS's protector/companion now... She will go up and sniff him and occasionally lick him but at command she will back off and sit or lay next to him...

While she's uber good with DS, initially she was defiant going out to do her business... She's always been a "come out with me" dog, but during the cold of winter will reluctantly go out by herself... Before DS was born, we had daily walks either morning or evening, but with DS and the extreme cold, those have sort of been nixed... Well, taking her out on her leash to expedite the process of doing her business and give her some attention time led to her tugging on her leash to the point where she wouldn't listen to her typical commands such as "this way" and "slow"

In the past couple days (DS is now 2 weeks), she's been doing a bit better in terms of listening to and following commands we had pre-baby, and I think she will get back to normal, but I didn't really expect this behavior from her - she has NEVER been defiant

But on the greater scale of "how is she doing"... She loves her "little brother" and doesn't leave his side... Whoever is holding him, you better believe she's no more than 2 feet away

4lilmunchkins · January 2014

I don't think SO's cat even knows we have a baby in the house. He also has a 10yo pit bull. 'Shady' had never been around kids until SO and I moved in together. My youngest was 4 at the time. 3 years later and he seems very protective yet jealous of baby. Our first week home he continuously whined. If SO was holding the baby he would bark. SO gave him extra attention (too much in my opinion) taking him on walks everyday, running errands with him, giving him a treat every time he came near baby to sniff her, etc. Now SO is back at work, Shady follows me around throughout the house which is normal. Other then that he's only a PITA when SO is home. SO hasn't been able to take him for a walk since the temps here are negative. The constant whining drives me nuts.

beamstar · January 2014

My dog (Rottweiler) is very protective of baby. When baby cries she comes running and when new people Re holding the baby she sits right next to them watching. She likes to lick the baby a lot, on her feet and head.

daltosostarby · January 2014

Cringer will sniff Aeneas some, but doesn't ever come too close. However, any time Aeneas makes a noise of discomfort, Cringer looks at me like "do something mom."

BShreeve · January 2014

Our dog Alta is very anxious and pretty jealous of the baby. She is very gentle and elderly so we are not too concerned but she worships my H and sometimes will stay upstairs when we are downstairs (very strange for her). We've taken her on walks with the baby to cheer her up.

Our cat Raj is freaked out and spends a lot of time under the bed. He is starting to come around us with the baby little more after I spent some QT with him brushing and petting him, just the two of us.

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