Plans for pets

kaymariec · December 2017

for those who have pets, what are your plans for when you go into labor? Boarding, keeping them home, sending off to friend/relative?
Also, plans to welcome pets to your baby?

MJDsquared · December 2017

My dogs hate everyone but me, DH, and my mom. My mom lives an hour away and plans to come up ASAP when I go into labor. The hospital is about 30-40 minutes from our house so we'll just have her go check on them at some point. And depending how long I'm in labor maybe she'll sleep at our house overnight and be with them, etc. It's all kind of up in the air, but boarding we'd have to schedule in advance so that won't work unless something comes up at an appointment or I go late so I get scheduled for an induction (or c-section).

failuretofly · December 2017

My lab is good at home alone for 12-14 hours, thanks to me being a shiftworker and DH working out of town most of his life... So he'll be fine.

alysapuggles · December 2017

If I knew in advance when I would be going into labor, I'd love to board our younger dog. My dad is on call to come stay with DS, which will be enough to handle, and I really don't want him to have to deal with that dog. He's a good dog, but he's still puppyish and kind of big and rambunctious. Depending on timing, I might still try to get him in to board last minute for a couple nights. It would so be worth the $30 to not have to worry about that.

nothingbuttherain · December 2017

Our neighbors offered to let our dog out when we're in the hospital (she's friends with their dog). Beyond that, the plan is to keep her home with us mostly, although if she starts getting squirrely we might take her to day care here and there to run off some energy.

KayLee77 · December 2017

We have a cat and a dog. The cat isnt a big deal. and the dog has been left alone for long periods before with no issues if we had too. But my FIL lives 5 minutes away that he can let her out. And I'm sure DH will come home at some point, depending on when I go into labor, if my other kids need to get items together to go to my moms house.

babytimeagain · December 2017

Good question! My two cats have automatic feeders and will be fine for a couple of days. For my dog, he's really calm and has never had an accident in the house, so either my MIL will come let him out once she gets into town (she lives 1.5 hours away), or I'll ask my neighbor to let him out.

balletnerd · December 2017

I have a cat and 3 dogs. It all depends on timing... So if she comes the 18th on.. then I will have my Mother in law in town to let the animals out, feed them etc. If she comes before the 18th then my friend has offered to let them out and stay at the house if needed. But that friend is currently out of the country for a few more days. So then if she isn't in town yet then I will put an emergency call into our pet-sitter and hopefully she will have availability to swing by quickly. The not knowing stresses me out. I'm currently reading two books : "Good Dog, Happy Baby" and "Please Don't bite the baby, please don't chase the dog" for ideas on introducing our animals to baby. I would recommend them

Victoria Stillwell has some resources online as well.

cait5413 · December 2017

When I had DD, we had a dog that was not friendly to anyone but family. We left him in the backyard with access to our sunroom and plenty of toys and water. DH slept at home while I was in the hospital to take care of him (and the cat, but the cat would've been fine for a couple days). This time my mom is coming to help with DD, so she will also take care of the pets (different dog), but DH will probably still go home at night to sleep and help out.

To prepare the pets, DH brought home a swaddle blanket DD had been wrapped in for the pets to smell, and I went in solo to greet them when I came home and then DH brought in DD in her carseat. They mostly ignored her at first. I also played some baby crying noises for my dog leading up to it to try to get him used to it, because he used to bark and cry if he heard a baby crying on TV.

kaymariec · December 2017

We have a 5 year old male shih tzu who has been our baby since we got him at 10 weeks old. Shih tzus are extremely protective and loyal of their owners. He’s very suspicious of anyone new coming home. We are worried about how he’s going to handle the baby. I like the idea of the swaddle with baby scent and order of entry upon arrival. I tried playing crying baby noises but they don’t seem to phase him. He’s been more aggressive since I became pregnant, not sure if I’m just reading too much into his behavior. DH and I made the big mistake of coddling him like a child and now he thinks he runs the house. He even growled at me last night for trying to move him off my side of the bed, which is very unusual behavior for him. He favors my husband so perhaps he won’t be too upset that I’m distracted with the baby.

splsmama2016 · December 2017

We have a cat and a rabbit. Both very low maintenance pets. We will be leaving instructions for whoever is staying with DD1 on how to care for them (feeding the rabbit greens, wet food for cat, water for both).

Amber_Waves · December 2017

Our cats, goats, and chickens will all be fine for 48+ hours. Our dog is the only concern—hopefully we’ll be able to get her to
boarding or FIL’s house. Plenty of people have offered to walk her / let her out, but the one time she bolted was when a houseguest came home when DH & I were out, so that plan makes me a little nervous.
We want to get the dog back home before bringing baby home & will have her smell blankets and such ahead of time as well. We’ve been cuddling this weird crying/singing teddy bear to maybe help prep the dog. All the other animals are outside/barn animals so I doubt they’ll care about the baby’s arrival!

Marley629 · December 2017

My inlaws live less than a half mile from us now so they will take our pup for a week or two when we come home mostly because I'm having a c-section and my pup thinks she's an 80lb lap dog and is my shadow. With my first, we did the same.

We also gave her a blanket the baby used from the hospital to get used to his scent and will do the same this time around. It seemed to work. They are best friends!

Tennis11785 · December 2017

We have two dogs. We've got a good friend who offered to come by and pick them up when I go into labor and take care of them. We also have a doggie daycare/boarding facility we use for vacations that will serve as a backup (in case it gets really close to the holidays and/or something happens with our friends and they can't keep them)

muskratbaby · December 2017

We have a cat, and we often leave her alone for a weekend, so I think she will be fine. I told DH about introducing the baby scent via a blanket, and he looked at me like I was a special kind of crazy. I'm going to tell him that many of you are doing the same.

kaaverill · December 2017

We have a 100lb 8 month old leonberger puppy who is just the sweetest creature on Earth. He loves kids and has met several babies- his only reaction is to kiss them! We're both super attached to our pup, so I'm getting pretty emotional thinking about being apart from him for a couple of days, especially since I'm now two days past my due date! Eventhough my parents are coming asap (2 1/2) hours away) to stay over while we're in the hospital and they do adore him, they aren't in the absolute best physical he and haven't had a dog in nearly 30 years. As wonderful of a dog as he is, he's still a puppy in many ways and 100lbs is a whole different world than say a 30lb dog. They insist they'll be great with him but we've opted to board him for when we're in the hospital...I think my parents are a tiny bit insulted, but we just think it's best for everyone- our pup is SO social and loves playing with other dogs and will be so tired at the end of each day. We take him to an awesome place where they love him and are expecting him at any moment, no advanced booking required, given the circumstances. We even have his overnight bag all packed and ready to go

kaaverill · December 2017

We've stocked up on his treats and have a whole arsenal of big treats to chew on, including a 36" bully stick we'll give him once we get home. My parents or husband will pick him up before the baby and I come home and give him a chance to settle first. That's when he'll get a receiving blanket from the baby to check out. Then my husband and I will come in alone, greet him and then we'll all go back outside to welcome the baby in together.

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