Cat + baby = ?

[Binglesplodge]

Hi,

This may be pregnancy paranoia but I'm concerned about the prospect of combining our cat with our baby when it arrives...

Our cat is 2 years old and is mainly lovely. He is pretty well trained and will do tricks (high five etc) but he still occasionally likes to pounce on a moving foot, especially if the weather is bad and he hasn't been outside.

Is he likely to steer clear of the (noisy, unpredictable, weird smelling) baby, or see it as another fun moving thing?! Obviously we'll be doing everything we can between now and October to cure him of the foot-fighting once and for all but it would be great to hear stories from people who have had similar experiences.

Thanks!

[PrincessScrumpy]

With dd1 our cat stayed as far away as possible, when dtds arrived she was less bothered and would get fairly close and even sit calmly while they stroke/brush her now and dtds are only 2 and fairly lively so that surprised me. She now sleeps in dd1's room (6) and seems very protective of all 3 dc.

[MinkyWinky]

Originally our plan was to keep DD's room cat free, but on our first night back from the hospital Fluffcat kept meowing at us from outside her door while DD was snuffling etc in the room and we weren't getting any sleep. In the end we gave in and opened the door. Since then they've had a good look at her cots with batcat jumping into them when she wasn't then. We shooed him out immediately and he hasn't been back in them since.

Generally they will now stay in the room when she there and not wailing, but once it reaches a certain volume they leave the room. Fluffcat has also had a good sniff of her when I've been sitting on the sofa feeding her a couple of times.

If I had to sum it up I would say cat + baby = less sleep and general avoidance.

[Essexgirlupnorth]

Had a baby in October when our cats were just over a year old.
One loves her and will curl up next to her if she is on my knee or on our bed. We don't let her go in Moses baskets, pram or cot.
The other is indifferent mainly because she gets less attention.
We keep them out of the room she is sleeping at night but have had no trouble with them

[OneMoreThenNoMore]

Our cats stayed well away from dc1 for quite a while.

By the time dc2 arrived 21 months later they were used to the sound of crying babies etc so tended to be around a lot more.

My cats have never seen the dcs as fun moving things to play with- I think the dcs are perhaps a bit too boisterous for them, and their movements too sudden! They do like to have cuddles with the dcs though- in fact dd (3) is giving the younger cat a cuddle as I type

They're not allowed in our bedrooms but they have freedom downstairs, with plenty of opportunity to hide from the dcs (and the dog), if required. They were also not allowed in Moses baskets or prams; and the dc are not allowed in the animals' beds either

Not sure what I'm saying really but I hope it's vaguely reassuring for you!

[growltigersontheloose]

We have 3 cats and 1 baby. It's been fine. We stopped allowing them in the nursery and our bedroom before he arrived so they wouldn't grow resentful towards him (an idea I got from a thread on here). Once he arrived they've all treated him differently. One refuses to be in the room with him but the other two are fine. They're curious and interested. At first they couldn't understand why they couldn't climb on my knee with him when I was BF but they'd come and lie next to us instead. Now they give him baths and try to play with him, they'll chase balls, bits of string etc. or let him push them around in his trolley. He gets the cat treats out of the cupboard for them. Only once has he been hurt, but he jumped on one of them while she was asleep and she panicked. He's never done it since...