Cats & Babies

Knottie1441289936 · March 2016

I have a 20lb orange cat who is extremely spoiled, but overall well behaved. That said, I have no clue how he is going to react to a baby in our household.

While I don't think he would purposely harm the baby, he's a pretty big cat, so I'm wondering if it will change his behavior, if he'll be interested in the baby at all or stay away from her, if we need to take precaution to keep him out of the baby's sleeping area, etc...

How did your cat react to your first baby? Or for other first time moms, do you have any plans on how to handle the cat + baby?

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marajay6 · March 2016

There really isn't much to worry about with cats+babies.

We have 2 cats. One of them is a total lap cat - the kind that kinds on top of the book I'm reading. She is the same way with my son but it hasn't been a problem. There were a few times she tried climbing on him while he was breastfeeding but I would just push her back (sometimes multiple times - she can be pushy), and she would cuddle up next to me instead. She never tried getting into the crib. She would have been a problem if we would have chosen to bed share. The few times DS has slept in bed with us, we closed the bedroom door and shut her out.

The other cat does not get close to DS. It makes her a little extra demanding for attention at night after we put DS to bed, but everything has been fine.

The biggest problem is keeping the kid out of the cat food, water, and litter once they get mobile. Toddlers get into everything!

audi681 · March 2016

We have 2 cats. They both seem to understand the hierarchy of this new, little person and have adjusted in their own way. 1 just leaves the baby alone. If I put the baby on the bed near where he is sleeping, he just moves further away. The other wants to be around the baby, and wants as much attention as the baby, but would never harm the baby. Again, I think they understand that little human is more important than cat in this house.

Unless your our cat has shown aggression towards other people in the past, I wouldn't worry.

Steephers123 · March 2016

marajay6 said:

There really isn't much to worry about with cats+babies.

We have 2 cats. One of them is a total lap cat - the kind that kinds on top of the book I'm reading. She is the same way with my son but it hasn't been a problem. There were a few times she tried climbing on him while he was breastfeeding but I would just push her back (sometimes multiple times - she can be pushy), and she would cuddle up next to me instead. She never tried getting into the crib. She would have been a problem if we would have chosen to bed share. The few times DS has slept in bed with us, we closed the bedroom door and shut her out.

The other cat does not get close to DS. It makes her a little extra demanding for attention at night after we put DS to bed, but everything has been fine.

The biggest problem is keeping the kid out of the cat food, water, and litter once they get mobile. Toddlers get into everything!

^^^ This. This is exactly how our two cats acted, I could have typed this exact same thing.

mamadomino · March 2016

Our cat is a huge baby and has been totally fine since we brought our son home. When he was tiny, she was curious but knew not to sit on him. Now he is 19 months and obsessed with the cat, and she is super patient with him even when he is less than gentle. We did put a car door on the laundry room that my son can't get through, that's where we keep her food water and litter and she could hide in there if she needed to.

sarahg8r · March 2016

My cat was fine with DS..interested and gentle at first, and now he stays clear of him since he's a terror!

mhilpisch10 · March 2016

I wouldn't worry. Our cat just came and nuzzled me awake from a nap bc the 10 month old had just woken up. She then went and pawed at his door and laid there in front of his door waiting for me. Needless to say she loves the kids! Unless he bites or scratches. I would let him and baby get acquainted.
We also have a cat door to the laundry room that she can escape to if the kids get too grabby which happens. It's really good for everyone.

hey_clever_girl · March 2016

My cats didn't care when we brought home our daughter. We kept the door to her room closed because I was paranoid they'd climb in her crib and smother her. I don't even know if that's a legit fear, but I was afraid of it anyway. Worst thing they ever did was howl at her door at 2 AM causing me to chase them down the hallway hissing and kicking at them in a sleep deprived rage.

camichael84 · March 2016

Our cat ignored our daughter until she was mobile. Once that happened, he started avoiding and running from her. He now will let her pet him if he wants food, but otherwise he still avoids/runs. The first night she slept in her crib, we tried gating off the hallway so he couldn't get into her room, but he had no problem jumping it and stayed out of her room/crib, so he roams freely at night. He occasionally will go into her room and scratch at her wicker laundry basket, which is annoying and pisses me off, but doesn't seem to bother or wake her.

SuperFudge00 · March 2016

One cat I trust and is really tolerant of my one year old. One time DS grabbed him too hard when DH was with him and DS got a single scratch on his chin. I was livid but it didn't phase DS who still wants all things kitty. Btw, kitty cat was his fourth word after momma, dada, and JJ (his brother).

the other cat I won't let near him because he is temperamental and I don't trust him.

star18star · March 2016

I'm a little concerned because we have 4 cats. I think 3 of them will be ok with the baby because they're pretty calm and self-sufficient. I'm worried about our cat Milo though because he's very needy and has severe anxiety. He needs to be around us constantly and loves to be around our neck/face area which could be bad for the baby.

We plan on making the baby's room a cat-free zone because I know the cats will try and go into the crib or want to "explore" the baby.

I think my husband and I will need to tag team loving the kitties - it's going to be a rough go when they don't get the level of attention they're used to. They're suckers for attention and get REALLY needy when one of us goes away.

yellowrose314 · March 2016

We have 2 cats, one is a huge snuggler. If we're sitting on the couch he is right beside us. Ever since he was a kitten he always sleeps between me and DH. I'm not going to lie, he's my favourite. Very very gentle, even with my niece who loves to pull on his tail. Our other cat... I'm not going to lie, he's an asshole. Hates to be cuddled, doesn't mind being pet but definitely has a 5 seconds or less and then I will maul you attitude. If you pass to close to him and he's in a mood he will take a swipe at you. He's the one I'm worried about around the baby, more so when baby starts crawling/chasing the cat.

mrshocin · March 2016

My cat is an adopted one. We adopted him back in January.
Adopted cats arent as gentle. My cat can be quite sensitive and aggressive so i have the same concern as well. I wonder how he will get on with the baby

Packokids · March 2016

My cats just avoided our first entirely. To keep them out of the crib here's what we did... when we set up the crib we left the mattress in the wrapper and put some double sided tape on the plastic. We then dropped the cats one at a time into the crib and onto the tape. They hated the sticky feeling so much they never jumped into the crib after that, even when we removed the wrapper and tape. We never had a problem after that.

schuberta · March 2016

Our cats went a little weird with our son. One was always such a snuggler, super sweet with absolutely everyone, and he loved laying on my big pregnant belly... but when we brought DS home that cat avoided him like the plague. The other cat has always been stand-offish to everyone except my husband and I, and he hated our nieces when they were little--but he LOVES our son. He's very patient with him, comes to him for belly rubs, and has only ever injured him once on accident (DS was playing with him with a string and kitty got overly excited and missed the toy, accidentally scratching DS in the process).

I also agree with @marajay6 about the food thing! Our son was always digging into the cat food and he definitely ate it several times. It wasn't a big deal or anything, but DS had some food sensitivity issues in the beginning so he got a rash every time he got a hold of some... so if your kid has any sensitivities or allergies, you might want to double check your cat food ingredients just in case!

owlcup · March 2016

We have one cat and she tolerates the kids fine. She mostly avoids them but has never been a cuddly cat. We do bed share usually and she does sleep on our bed but she stays by my feet and we've never had a problem with her and baby in the same bed. She did like sleeping underneath DD's crib when we finally transitioned her, but it was only during the day and she never, ever tried to get into the crib.

That being said, for us, most of our "cat problems" come from the kids being too aggressive towards her. Holding when she doesn't like being held, our youngest DD LOVES laying on her any chance she gets so there's a lot of redirection here and "gentle touch." We've had a couple of times where she's given a warning bite (she was declawed when we got her) but she's never broken skin.

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