Depressed Pets?

Lskypeck · July 2014

Hi there! Long-time lurker here. Has anyone else noticed their pets acting strangely as you've progressed further into your pregnancy? My rescue husky/chow mix Max has been laying on the floor with just the saddest look on his face, especially when ever we need to leave the house. However, he does like hanging out with me in the baby's room when I'm in there getting things ready. I try to give him extra cuddle time and lots of petting, scratching and general physical contact. I don't think he's sick, my theory is that he senses a big change coming. Has anyone else experienced this? Do you have any tips? TIA!

JenniferKru · July 2014

My pets have also become sensitive to my pregnancy. Not so much depressed, but definitely more concerned. My dog watches me take the stairs whenever we go out to pee, my cat escorts me to the bathroom and heaven forbid if I get off the couch without a reason! I am eyeballed. I don't think it's depression so much as your dog is trying to "babysit" you and make sure you're ok. When you're out, he can't watch Mommy. My critters also love being in the nursery with my husband and I; we think it's the good vibes we give off being in there.

Hang in there. Soon your Max will have another member of the family to babysit...literally!

RedBaramid · July 2014

I have a very anxious and over protective cat.. he has been very vocal about his dislike about a lot of the changes occurring (baby furniture, new things etc). He herds me, he watches me, he follows me through the entire house.. I think our pets just sort of know something big is coming, and especially if your a FTM and they have never dealt with these changes before, I bet it's scary to them. I just continue to reinforce positive behavior, but I will admit that a couple of times when we've walked in with big baby items we have also come home bringing new cat toys or bearing cat treats, it seems to lessen the blow.

absolutelymaybe · August 2014

It's weird that you mention this, because my Great Dane mix has decided he wants to sleep downstairs at night (we have three dogs and they have always slept in our bedroom).

caballablanca · August 2014

RedBaramid said:

I have a very anxious and over protective cat.. he has been very vocal about his dislike about a lot of the changes occurring (baby furniture, new things etc). He herds me, he watches me, he follows me through the entire house.. I think our pets just sort of know something big is coming, and especially if your a FTM and they have never dealt with these changes before, I bet it's scary to them. I just continue to reinforce positive behavior, but I will admit that a couple of times when we've walked in with big baby items we have also come home bringing new cat toys or bearing cat treats, it seems to lessen the blow.

My cat has become even clingier (if thats even a word) these last few weeks. I joke he is my shadow and ask him if he knows if I'm about to go into labor. When DD came home, he would be protective of her the first couple weeks until the novelty wore off. Then once she was mobile, he wanted nothing to do with her and would run away. I imagine he will be like that this time around as well. We had a GSD mix when I was pregnant with DD, but he was declining in heath and we ended up having to put him down when she was 4 months old. I do remember him being clingy too during pregnancy, but I can't remember how he was around her before the end.

MermaidMom123 · August 2014

I've seen a big change in our cats and dogs also. Some of the changes have become very annoying, and some are very sweet. In working with wild animals too I've noticed that even they respond to my pregnancy. Also, my cousin who is a vet said during her pregnancy that the horses she treated acted differently around her. I wonder how the animals sense this about us?

JenniferKru · August 2014

Animals are much more sensitive to hormonal changes in our bodies and their senses of smell are heightened so they catch these changes in our bodies before we do. It's quite funny because my mom owns a mare who has foaled before, so she knew what my hormones were indicating when I visited the barn and was sweetly nuzzling my tummy waiting for the baby to come out (she loves babies!). And yes, some of their behaviors are annoying (really, guys, I can do the bathroom alone), but I appreciate the extra cuddles and nuzzles.

GraceWagner · August 2014

We just started noticing changes in our 5 1/2 year old labrador. She mopes around every day, and almost seems upset with me. She still eats and acts the same when we're at the park or on walks, but she keeps curled in her ball and just looks sad all the time. We've finally started bringing baby things into the house, and we think that was the final trigger. It just makes me so sad to see her so sad about the big changes that she has no control over her. We've kept all of her routines the same to show her that when it comes to her care, the baby won't get in the way.

katiefritzler · August 2014

Yes! My mom's dog and me used to wrestle a lot. I would play fight with him when he was a puppy, and he would bite me (not hard obviously) and growl and play. He wouldn't play like that with anyone else. And now whenever I come over he looks at me, smells me, and when I try to play with him he won't he'll just go lay in his bed. He doesn't like being very close to me anymore. My boyfriends cat though is different. He didn't really like me very much before I was pregnant, but apparently he doesn't like women very much. And now that I'm pregnant he always lays with me and on me when I'm laying in bed. I don't know, it's interesting how animals just know what's going on... I'm sure once the baby is here the cat will be hiding at all times though haha

soldiersangel2014 · August 2014

Oh goodness, yes. My husbands cat who hated me at first has now taken a new liking to cuddling with me. She always has to be right there wherever I'm at. As long as I'm in bed, it's not too bad until bed time. She will come up and lay across my chest with her head on my shoulder and sleep. She follows me to bathroom and sits on the back of the toilet. She's only a few months old so I know she sees my husband and I aS her parents essentially, but sometimes I think she forgets that she's a cat. She also likes sleeping in the car seat. We haven't installed it yet so it's just setting on the floor in my room.

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