Cats and babies

[juniper904]

Hello,

Just found out I'm pregnant and was wondering how other people have dealt with the inevitable problem of the cats wanting to sleep with / on the baby?

My 'D'P has lovingly suggested chicken wire over the baby's crib, but weirdly enough I'm not so keen on that concept . He also suggested the baby was placed inside a large hamster ball. I think he misunderstands the mix of 'humour' and hormones, as he now has a date with the underside of our patio.

Anyway, how have others stopped the little buggers?

[Samvet]

Rarely an issue. Cats don't like screaming, wriggling things very much. Buy a cat net. You get them to cover cots, prams, Moses baskets but really I never used mine as cats stayed well away!

[EnjoyResponsibly]

When DS was brn the Dictators had ruled with an iron paw for nearly 14 years. The entire populace me and DH were at their beck and call. Entitled doesn't even touch it.

We were advised to introduce the damned infidel DS by initially sending stuff home with his scent. TBH I'm whether this worked we're talking about cats here, niot trained sniffer dogs but TBH they barely twitched a whisker at the interloper.

I caught one in the Moses basket once but only after DS had vacated.

But on a serious note, as with all pets never leave them alone with a baby.

[OldLadyKnowsNothing]

Agree with Samvet, cats are not keen on small babies and will generally avoid. My more skittish cat has just stopped hiding from dgs, and he's three and a half!

[OldLadyKnowsNothing]

Oh, and congratulations!

[Peggotty]

Yep, don't sweat about it. I had 3 cats when dd was born and they all totally avoided her. I bought a cat net and think I used it once - it was a huge pain in the arse and the cats weren't within a mile radius of either her or ds until they were both around 3 or 4!

[Wolfiefan]

Bedroom door shut.
Cats find high places to hide. They like a quiet bed.
Not sure a cat net would've stopped either of mine but they stayed well clear of the smelly, loud little intruder!

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Insect nets for cot etc always worked really well till DD was 6 months old. Then the beautiful moggy girl found her way into the cat and watched over her every night for the next 8 years. Had DD in my bed more since the loss of beautiful moggy girl 5 months ago than I had in the preceding 8.5 years.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Obviously she found her way into the cot.

[cozietoesie]

A fair point to make. Just because a cat eventually finds their way into a cot or a child's bed doesn't mean they're going to sleep on top of them or anything like that.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

I also felt that at 6months old DD could roll and pull herself up. So on balance the cat was more in danger from the baby rather than the other way round.

[Ionasky]

Just wanted to reassure as others have - we have 2 cats - we were worried too, contemplated cat net over cot but some people say they are a safety risk too as the child can pull them in.

My DD is 2 yrs 3 months and my cats at first were not remotely interested (they don't like the crying noise at all), now they'll jump in her cot when empty but as soon as she is in it, they're straight out. But as others have said, we were always vigilant to make sure that the bedroom door was shut and the cats weren't in, to be on the safe side. One of my cats is excellent with my DD, will sit there and let herself be poked/prodded and the other one runs away, which is fine although I do keep an eye on them when DD is around the cat if the cat is signalling a bad mood (growling).

[pepperrabbit]

My cat moved to the shed for 3 months when we bought DS1 home, she'd sit in the window with her back to us. I have never seen an animal so majorly pissed off!
She'd stalk in for food, and stalk out again.
She came in again after about 3 months when it got a bit nippy in the shed .
She wasn't as bothered by DS2 and by the time we produced DD she just sighed dramatically.
Seriously, we just ensured doors were shut between cat and baby, and cat was very aware that DC were higher up the pecking order.

[juniper904]

Thanks all.

I'm hoping my cats don't relocate to the garden (especially as we don't have a cat flap, and it would be quite a feat for them to claw through the door!).

Cats are currently happy to use me as a make-shift springboard, but hope they'll be a bit more elusive with a screaming blob around!

Thanks for the suggestion about nets- I will get one just in case

[Iain666]

My LO is three days old and we have just had first visit from midwife (we live in Islington). We have three cats and the midwife was fairly horrified and told us that LO could develop cysts from breathing in cat hair. She elaborated that it could result in newborn being operated on. This obviously horrified me and my partner. I have since searched for this issue on-line and cannot find anything about it. I am starting to fume slightly that midwife was perhaps peddling a line that has not basis in research. Does anyone know about this issue or have had a similar experience?

[cozietoesie]

I know that cats can get sebaceous cysts in their own hair follicles but that's not the same thing at all. (And in any case they're not contagious.) I have no idea what she was talking about.

Perhaps one of the vets or doctors who post can advise.

[thecatneuterer]

It sounds like total nonsense to me. Many midwives do seem to be very anti-cat without any scientific basis it seems.

[AnitaBlake]

Therewas a study a few years ago that suggested that children in households with cats were less likely to develop asthma.....

I have three cats, one is only 1 the other two are much older. My old girl likes to sleep under the cot, but other than that doesn't bother. My youngest, well I was still feedig my oldest when he arrived and he was definitely more interested in me than a noisy one year old lol.

[cozietoesie]

Iain666

Why not phone your GP tomorrow, tell them what the midwife said and ask for their advice. I'm pretty sure they'll tell you it's nonsense.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

I think your midwife may be alluding to cysts from toxocara. This requires faecal oral transmission to your newborn - so newborn would need to be wallowing in litter tray or you would need to fail to wash hands after handling litter tray or cats would need an exceptionally high roundworm burden.
Prevention don't allow newborn to play in litter tray, wash hands after handling litter tray and worm cats every three months.
These HCP professional conveniently forget all the fabulous research that shows just how beneficial growing up with a pet is to children. Both health and social benefits.

[cozietoesie]

Thanks for that Lonecat. It was the hair that flummoxed me.

I hope that's eased your mind, Iain666.

[Devilforasideboard]

I think I'd complain about the midwife and suggest a bit of retraining if what she's saying has no basis in fact and could result in cats being rehomed/pts needlessly.

[Iain666]

Thank you all very much for feedback, it helped set my mind very much at rest. There is indeed no research indicating this issue at all. Did resist the urge to complain and have pretty much chosen to ignore her. Don't need to see her now. We have happy child (mostly) and happy cats cohabiting well. Sorry for late reply, had password issues.

[Fluffycloudland77]

That's good, there's so much hysteria about cats all being baby killers.