Cats and babies. Advice?

sphillips18 · May 2015

I have a cat and he's like my child. I'm afraid of how he will act when baby gets here. He's not mean but he has a temper if you bother him too much and will scratch. He's not a fan of toddlers because they scream and get excited around him. I'm worried that he might scratch baby once she gets to the point of crawling and whatnot. Is there anything I can do about it? I can't keep them separate forever. I'm hoping by the time she crawls he will be used to her but he's kinda got separation anxiety and is always attached at the hip to me, he also gets jealous if I give other animals or people attention lol

chelseajeanene · May 2015

I'm in the same boat. My one cat is a complete asshole and has scratched an infant before. He was only a kitten at the time and he's 5 now but I'm really worried.

runner636 · May 2015

My biggest concern would be a cat thinking a baby is a nice, warm, cuddly buddy to sleep next to and inadvertently smothers baby. Just make sure cat isn't anywhere near him/her when they're sleeping.

bpv101283 · May 2015

I have 2 cats. We never had issues, they pretty much kept their distance away from the baby. Only recently my 3 year old started to chase them, but they usually run upstairs where he can't go past the gate. I put beds and toys up there for them so they have a lounging area that he can't disrupt. If possible in your house give them a space they can retreat to that is theirs.

sphillips18 · May 2015

He has his own room. He's that spoiled lmao but while I live with my mom the first year when my hubby is away, he won't have much space of his own. I'm hoping he won't scratch and will just run and hide but he's so unpredictable

Izzies · May 2015

My cat is a really big jerk and I was very very nervous with him around DD. He was never allowed in the room when she was sleeping . He has scratched her twice, once resulting in a scar on her face. I keep a constant eye on him and DD stays away from him for the most part because she's now learning (at 19 months) that kitty is mean
It worries me with our second now coming. I will probably end up having to keep him locked up. To be honest if I have to I will put him to sleep, I love him dearly but my child's safety comes first and if his behavior worsens I won't have a choice.

sphillips18 · May 2015

I couldn't put my cat to sleep. I'd be miserable without him. He literally is like a child to me and the love of my life. I'm hoping if anything doesn't go the way I want it to that my mom will take care of him for me. But I have anxiety and depression and he's been my savior since I brought him home.

squigles28 · May 2015

I know when our older cat will be fine. We have a newer cat but don't feel too worried. The older cat has been around triplets and done fine. And we will just introduce carefully to newer cat.
I would never put down a cat for this reason though. Re-home in a really drastic situation.

I know people have posted a link to an article about prepping a cat.

Honestly we are working right now on letting cats in baby room now so that they aren't so curious about the new stuff or the crib; I just don't want them in crib with sleeping baby. They did really well with that. It looks like they will play guard duty under the crib.

I would say if there are specific behavior concerns, ask your vet now for ways to help correct

jenboston22 · May 2015

@Izzies If you're not able to keep the cat, you may want to look into bringing it to a no-kill shelter (like the SPCA; mine at least is no-kill). Good animal shelters will figure out the best type of home for a cat and adopt out specifically to that type of home (in your case, likely a home with no children). I volunteer at an animal shelter and we handle difficult cats all the time, and it's almost always possible to find even difficult cats good homes. Please look into this option before taking the drastic step of killing your pet. (Hopefully, though, your baby and your cat get along fine and none of this is necessary!

)

sphillips18 · May 2015

I'm pretty sure vets won't put an animal to sleep without a legit medical reason. It's not a vicious dog that can be put down by animal control for biting someone. In fact putting a cat to sleep for that reason is horrible. But that's a discussion for another time. My cat used to be the biggest jerk but has calmed down over the years, just not sure about his reaction to children since its been a while since he's been around anyone younger than 10.

Growingapepper · May 2015

I think if your cat has a problem with the baby it will naturally just stay away, you won't have to separate them. My one cat hates our dog, but they don't fight, she just makes sure to stay away from him. When he tries to come bother her she makes sure to give him a warning hiss and clawless bat to the nose if needed. I really think your cat will simply stay away if it doesn't like the company.

Izzies · May 2015

It's not a first step by any means. He is very old and has health problems. If he was a young cat or one without health issues and it came to it I would re home him. He can't be declawd due to his age and health, which I never did when he was younger because I felt it was in humaine.
I'm only being honest in stating that I have prepared myself for that just in case. If he had scratched my daughter just 1/2 inch closer it would have been her eye. I can't rehome him because the stress would literally kill him, I've allready discussed that with my vet and she agrees (and my vet is by no means pro euthinizia).
He stalks people and attacks when the mood strikes. Obviously not a behavior that is ok. We are taking and have taken all of the steps we can to not have to put him to sleep but it may have to happen that's all I was saying.

ButterflyRae · May 2015

Our cat sometimes gets in a mood and scratches and bites me (never my husband, who I think he considers dominant). I've been worried about this with the baby coming, but my husband says not to be too concerned. He loves cats and his mom always had 4 when he was growing up. He says that he was "beat up" by cats with claws a couple times as a tot but that it wasn't serious and he got over it. I'm still definitely going to try to keep them separate when the baby is young and will shut the cat out of the baby's room when he is sleeping.

missliz53 · May 2015

The biggest thing to remember is to never leave the baby (or any young child for that matter) alone with the cat unsupervised. Most of the times when cats bite or scratch a kid; it's because the kid instigated it. Pay attention to kitty's body language when your child is interacting with him because there are always warning signs that the cat has had enough. Look for dilated pupils, ears back, yawning, a tail twitch, leaning away, and don't pet your cat on it's belly or any other sensitive areas, or encourage it to play with hands and feet. You can actually manage play aggression and over-stimulation really well by engaging kitty in appropriate play every day, staying away from sensitive areas, not rubbing or petting roughly, and backing off when your cat is showing signs that he's had enough. Also make sure kitty has an escape. If you can't give him his own area then get a tall scratching post or some cat shelves so he can get up off the ground and out of reach when he needs a break.

jenboston22 · June 2015

@sphillips18 Unfortunately some vets will put cats to sleep for no legitimate medical reason (and dogs, too, for that matter). It's pretty horrible.

I like to think that while I can't help out all of the kitties in the world, I can significantly help out my own (he's a truly spoiled cat!). And, of course, I can help out the cats at our SPCA currently awaiting adoption (through the simple acts of playing with them, petting them, feeding them, etc.).

krmicmac · June 2015

I also have a cat, and she is totally my first child. Oddly, she is the first furr baby to act differently with my pregnancy by getting super cuddly and super protective of me (against the dog.....who she won't even let into our bed with us anymore). I also have some concerns but have been putting together an action plan.

I worry about her snuggling the baby to death more than biting, scratching..... so no pets will be allowed in the bedroom AT ALL once the baby comes. Also.... when I feel I don't need to be feet from our only bathroom, all us humans will be moving upstairs into the two bedrooms up there. I'm in the process of making one of the rooms a proper nursery and the other will be our bedroom, just a few feet away from baby. NO PETS are ALLOWED upstairs AT ALL, and never have been. We'll be keeping it this way. The dog has his crate and the cat has her house.

Once baby is crawling, then we just need to stay up on discipline.....with everyone. Cats get spray bottled.

Keeping a spare spray water bottle in the nursery may help you with kitty discipline. It's a gentle way to tell them NO.

Animals can adjust. If you let them, they may surprise you and be your baby's best friend in the end.

shaunnar053 · June 2015

Yeah... I have five cats and four large dogs so I guess I'm screwed...

Lol, I'm totally kidding. I grew up around tons of animals and me and DF are super active in rescuing (can you tell?? Lol), volunteering at shelters, fostering, etc. We're animal lovers in every sense of the word. I've never had any problems with my cats, they're all super chill and easy going, not aggessive in the least.

Our plan regarding our fur babies and child is to teach our son to respect animals and their boundaries. They aren't toys that you can poke and pry, climb all over, or hit on, they're family members and will be treated with love and kindness, period. This is what my parents taught my brother and I and we never had any problems with any of the animals we grew up with. I'm excited for our son to be surrounded by furry love butts and tons of cuddles and kisses will be in his future lol.

AmandaNacora · June 2015

I don't have a cat but I did want to tell a story, not to scare anyone but just so they can be cautious and teach their children to be nice to kitty. My mothers cat has always been a mean one but generally left us kids alone and would run away from us. Well my little brother was about 3 he was playing with a baby doll and the cat wanted to sniff it. He pushed the cat away to protect his baby and he was sitting on the bed so well the cat scratched, I think to keep her balance not to be mean, and got him right in the eye. I was 13 and to see him holding his eye with blood running down his face, I PANICKED! And she literally got him in the eye, just a few millimeters away from his iris. Luckily no real damage was done, although we would have to hold him down and hold his eye open to get the ointment and rinse in there, which made me feel really bad. So just a warning, please try and teach your babies to be nice and push or pull on kitty. Btw she kept the cat and he was never mean to the cat again.

Growingapepper · June 2015

This is just one of those things that I feel so strongly about. My cats and dogs are my family, I would never even consider getting rid of them unless they are going out of their way to be aggressive. Pets are family. The same way you should never leave a toddler alone with a newborn, you should never leave your pets unattended either. Accidents are going to happen, you just have to accept that and try to prevent them. Toddlers will hit and bite newborns and sometimes for no reason, it happens all the time. My friend just told me a story about how they had their newborn safe on the bed while they were getting ready right there in the bathroom. They came out and their two year old had placed a pillow on top of the baby and was bouncing up and down on it saying "comfy comfy!" Eventually your baby is going to grab onto the cats fur or pull the dogs tail and they are going to get scratched or nipped. It's going to happen, but it's no one's fault. All you can do is keep an eye out and eventually your child and animals will learn each others boundaries. Now if your dog/cat is purposely going up to the baby to instigate fights that's a different story. But to me the risks of baby/pet interaction is no different than the risks of toddler/baby interaction. They are family members that have personality and feelings and limits just like everyone else. We have to respect their limits, take proper precautionary measures, and teach acceptable behavior.

jojoladeeena · June 2015

I have 2 kitties that are actually my babies. We are planning on keeping the nursery a no cats zone once we get it set up. They are not declawed, but they are very well behaved. If I do sense tension with them & the baby, there are silicone claw caps you can buy so kitties can't scratch. So no need to get rid of a pet for fear of scratching. We used the soft paws brand caps when they were kittens to help teach them not to scratch furniture or people. It's important to make sure cats have their own spaces where they can escape from kids, With shelves or a cat tree. Bad animal behavior usually just needs re-direction and not punishment.

St3ph4ni3 · June 2015

I remember stories from when I was an infant, my parents had 2 cats when I was born. One was shy and just stayed clear and the other was curious and would look into my crib and calm me down when I was crying. My mother told me the cat looking in on me was one of the only things that would calm me down, I guess I was a colicky baby. As a toddler my parents taught me to have respect for the cats and the only incident I can recall is being upset when my lollipop got stuck in the cats tail because he was brushing up against me. We have 2 cats now and I'm not concerned about either of them as they are docile around people even strangers.

beansideirae · June 2015

I have two cats, one is attached to me at the hip and the other is kind of a jerk. (I should say he's easily provoked and will scratch if you get in his space.) I was pretty worried about how they would be with kids, especially the aggressive one. BUT, we lived with my goddaughter for the first year of her life, and they seemed to understand right away! we never had to shoo them away from her or her bed, they just avoided her like the plague. I'm hoping they are afraid of my baby too and don't feel differently *because* she's mine. either way, they aren't allowed in the nursery unsupervised (even now, I don't want them scratching anything) and I plan to start shutting my bedroom door at night, about a month before my due date to give them time to adjust. (baby will sleep with me at first, so no kitties in bed at that time. which will make me a little sad, because my fur baby is a good snuggler. but baby comes first.)

Cats and babies. Advice?

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