Have I made a mistake? Cats and 18 mo

[Tand]

I persuaded my DH to adopt two cats, I’ve always had cats and missed this aspect when I met him and moved in.

I knew he wasn’t into animals but naively I thought it would be fine. It’s really not … he clearly resents them and is on edge with them. One has scratched DD and so I feel all guilty.

I don’t know what to do

Supervision and more supervision.. Show dd how to be gentle. Dc and dpets are very lucky to get to share a relationship..

Prioritise your family and rehome the cats.

You made a mistake, apologise and put things right.

How long have you had them? Did you get them from a rescue that will take them back if needs be?

Do you know why one scratched your DD?

I would encourage your DD to ignore the cats. There's plenty of time for her to form a relationship with them when she's older and understands how to behave around them. Do the cats have enough high places to get away from her if they need to.

My children have only ever known a life with cats and kittens. I’ve had cats in my life since I was 3 years old.
The cats would settle around the baby but if your DH doesn’t like them, he probably never will.
Rehome them before they get too settled

C'mon over to the Litter Tray in Pets . Lts of CatChat .
Is your DH against all animals or just cats .

Cats are funny animals to have , they choose to co-exist with you .
I know loads of people have lovely friendly cats , loads don't .

My DH tolerated the guinea-pigs , he would buy food and look after them if DD and I were both away but truthfully he found them a bit of a waste of time .

Post piggie we have two cats .
The cats love DH and DD .
Female will slob about in DS room.

They look at me with ill disguised DISGUST .
I chose them ( y;know out of literally 100s of cats in rescue , I picked these two ) DH gave me the task of finding The Family Cats .
I love them (ungrateful little blighters )

When MaleCat saunters up to shred our (new) sofa (again) , or when FemaleCat takes offence at something and throws it on the floor , I say "The guinea pigs never did that"
The guinea pigs never did anything says DH.

They will claw or give a bite if we don't read their Get knotted body language .
They're cats .(My DC are adults though)

It depends on how much he wants to get on with them. Or if he doesn't want to make the effort .

@SoManyTshirts

Prioritise your family and rehome the cats.

You made a mistake, apologise and put things right.

I would do this. It wasn't ok to push someone into accepting pets when they didn't want to . And now that they are hurting your dd, your dh is unlikely to come around.

I love cats. If your DH doesn’t, you shouldn’t have tried to convince him - it’s just a road to constant friction.

Imagine living with a creature you don’t like for 10 plus years. You should rejoined the cat and call it a learning experience.

We got a kitten when DD was 17 months old. She's grown up with the cat and they are lovely together. There's been moments we've had to be very strict like when he was a toddler and was trying to play with her but hurting her but we've always made her understand how to be around the cat. She has been scratched before as we all have but it's never been a mistake

I suppose it feels a bit unfair, as I’ve made plenty of compromises for DH. Cats came from a rescue. Just don’t know if I can face returning

Cats are finicky fuckers but they rarely lash out for no reason (and I say this as the owner of one that does!), so it’s likely your toddler antagonised the cat in some way.

Just supervise them until DD is old enough to respect their space and boundaries. I wouldn’t rush to rehome just yet

No! Cats are never a mistake they're the best! Mine never scratched dd when she was young and they were moody old ladies when she was born lol, I just made sure I kept watch when they were together and taught her how to touch them. Never had a problem. Dd now 13 and I have 4 cats.

If your DH doesn’t, you shouldn’t have tried to convince him - it’s just a road to constant friction.

But often, professed cat-haters are quickly charmed by the little wretches, so I don't blame you for trying. My life would be greatly diminished if I didn't have cats, and my partner is quite allergic but still loves and values them.