Cat and baby

[Koothrapanties]

I have a 5 month old dd who absolutely adores my cat. She gets so excited when she sees her and koothracat is the only one who can distract her enough to get her to take her reflux medication!

The problem is, dd keeps grabbing the cat and pulling her fur out. Koothracat is bloody daft and keeps coming back again and again and rubbing her face up against dd, so it keeps happening.

What I was wondering is what would be best for the cat. Should I push her away each time so that dd can't grab her? Or should I let her keep nuzzling dd but risk getting grabbed? I don't want the cat to feel rejected because she is absolutely fantastic with dd, but I don't think it's fair for dd to grab her. I can't pin dds arms down to stop her, and the cat just cant seem to leave her alone!

They are never left alone together, but I am worried that the cats patience will run out eventually. At the moment she purrs and dribbles when dd is touching her, but I dont want to make her uncomfortable.

What do you think?

[Koothrapanties]

I was planning to have a no touch policy until dd could touch gently but it's a bit early for that!

[cozietoesie]

Well the cat is making all the running, it sounds like, and presumably she has a quiet place where she could go to get away from DD if she really wanted to?

I think I'd just keep a watchful eye on the situation for the moment but start to plan the 'no touch' policy for a little later on when DD is more mobile. It might be more awkward when the cat couldn't escape so easily.

What a tolerant and loving animal she must be.

[Koothrapanties]

She has a floor to ceiling cat scratcher with a bed right at te top so she will always be able to get away no problem. Once dd is mobile I am also going to put a gate on the lounge door so koothracat can get away completely if she wants to and dd will have to stay in the lounge.

She really surprised us actually. We let her approach dd in her own time and she started off by licking her head! The daft so and so keeps purring while dd is pulling her fur out. she was never this tolerant before dd came along, she was quite aloof and grumpy a lot of the time!

[cozietoesie]

I recall Firstcat (an aloof and pretty grumpy old-fashioned Siamese) being 'pulled apart' by my two brothers one afternoon in the garden. One brother had the front paws, the other had the back - and they both wanted him.

Firstcat could have done some serious damage to them - and could certainly have wriggled out of either of their grasps in seconds - but all he did was moan a bit. Who can figure some cats and children? (Not all cats.)

[Koothrapanties]

My nan had Siamese cats when I was little and I would usually wake up with one on my head having licked my hair into an Afro. She used to let me carry her around everywhere, brush her and slept with me pretty much every night I was there. I wasn't even 'her' human!

Some cats can be incredible with kids!