In thinking owning a cat doesn't make you a neglectful mother?

[Dinkytinky]

Hi all!
Basically I am recently pg and last night my sister said 'well obviously you'll get rid of the cat..' so I said umm no why would I? And she spouted off that 'cat litter will deform the baby' (I don't bloody roll around in it FFS!) and 'cats suffocate babies'!!
As kids we had two cats and I don't appear to be dead.
She doesn't have dc but works with sn kids.
I was just flabbergasted, and was so upset with her implying that me not knowing this is a sign of future neglect/idiocy!
Does anyone else think this about cats and babies?

Don't worry- I wasn't planning on making cot into harem for felines and giving baby catnip etc!

Thanks!

Haha valhalla normally option 3 would be my goto choice but I am trying to emulate calm earth mother with infinite patience.. Although it'll probably just come to a head at Xmas day dinner, that's how we usually do it haha nostaligic sigh

TBH its probably more the effect of baby on cat that you need to worry about. My cat wouldn't go anywhere near the baby when we first brought him home and then developed stress incontinence as a consequence of being chased by ds1 when a toddler. Once he grew up a little and stopped chasing him around they got on fine though.

I love this thread and I miss my cat

YANBU.

But becoming a mother may make you a neglectful cat owner I never thought it would but I found it much harder to put up with my lovely mog when my babies were little. things improved thankfully.

Orm I look after my cat physically but she gets little or no attention from me I just have no energy left by the end of the day to give to anyone (even DH sometimes). I feel awfully guilty.

urine is sterile

"But becoming a mother may make you a neglectful cat owner"

Oh so true in my case. One cat a rescue cat from Singapore, the other an almost dead week old kitten found on a rubbish dump there. He grew up on tasty fish morsels (even lobster) and used to suck my ear lobe for comfort.

Still tries to get on me to do it when I'm feeding my daughter but he ges batted off

My MIL is waging a campaign for us to get rid of the cats, because the baby will inhale cat hair and suffocate.

dorisbonkers - the CMV virus can be passed on in human urine. I would not consider infected urine to be sterile.

I love my cats

I have 2 and kept them all throughout my pregnancy. Our cats go outside to the loo so litter isn't a problem but as long as you wear gloves when handling it (or get someone else to do the dirty work!) its not a problem.

They can suffocate babies - not intentionally! but they do like lying on top of them so just don't let the cat sleep with the baby.

My son is 16 months and lives quite harmoniously with our two (and the one can be quite a vicious little soul!)

Just be careful not to let the baby pull and tug at the cat when he/she gets older and everything will be fine

Cats have been known to sleep on top of babies faces i think there are a few reports of this that got in the news at one point as some babies died because of this. So it's best to make sure that the baby and cat don't sleep anywhere near each other.

what a sister!
i had a few of those comments when i was pregnant with DS and i told everyone that i would rather give the baby away than my cats ....... i was only joking of course but friends never asked again!

my DCs are 8 and 6 now and adore our cat and it is so good to see children and pets together.

Anyone who ever tried to push me to get rid of the tripod would be getting told where to go (and probably the request would be repeated by the tripod herself). She's as much a part of our family as any baby would be (no luck yet) and as such, she's a non negotiable - plus three legs and no back leg means she can't jump up onto anything that she might cause problems jumping onto! Hubby does the cat litter and stuff anyway so no problems there.

If your sister's so eager to get rid of family members - I suggest the sister as an easy one to lose :D

YANBU, I had 2 eceptionally large Cats when pregnant with DD, I took precautions with litter cleaning just incaes, but would of been amazed if I wasn't already immune............

One of my Cats by her nature was a bit of a worry, as she was very attached to me, & could be very feisty & vicious when she so chose...she saw off burglars in the past, making a real mess of one of them , & made a mess of DHs arm when we first moved in together.........though usually she was just a big soppy bear of a thing.......BUT as you can imagine, when DD was born she was watched like a hawk, but at the same time I went out of my way to make sure she didn't feel "pushed out"

Sadly the Tom died when DD was only 8 months old, & he just kept out of DDs way..........but my lovely old feisty girl turned out to be amazing with DD, loved her & watched her like her own, & if I went to the loo & baby DD started to cry she would come & get me, when DD got to toddler stage, the Cat always watched her if I left the room for minute & would howl loudly to get my attention if DD ever looked like she even might get into any trouble, climbed out of her cot without waking us etc etc....she almost became like a nanny to her, it was so sweet........when DD was older still & went through some problems with a bully at school, the Cat was her confident, & absolutely doted on DD, they were inseperable

Sadly the Cat died of very old age (20) a few days before Xmas, which was heartbreaking for all of us, but in a weird way also good for DD, in that it taught her about death & grieving

I really wouldn't worry in my experience Cats & Kids are a great combination, for all the reasons mentioned above & more besides......even when the Cat has never had to deal with kids for most of its life.......

my only advice, as above... be extra careful with cleanliness as far as the tray goes, but don't worry too much on hair etc as its been proven early exposure can boost immunity to allergies... & try not to push your Cat away in favour of baby....that might make them jealous, so slightly more of a risk....besides cats are great stress relievers for you

Aubergine - so so sorry to hear about your cat, my cat is number 2 and I still cry about the old one sometimes

I totally hear what alot of you are sayig rockinhippy- my cat is very protective of me too- when I had a fall not l ago DP was upstairs and he hooooowled and ran upstairs and bit and scratched him until he came down to see what was up.

I really want my dc to grow up with pets, and like alot of you lot, when I was little my cat was my greatest confidant and prepares me well for losing grandparents etc I think.

Good luck emptyshell too, ttc is awful and it certainly didn't happen for me straight away either x

All round I think it's safer to wrap yourself in bubblewrap for your entire pregnancy and when your baby's born never leave the house - life is just too dangerous.....

My DH's grandmother almost had a stroke when we said we were keeping our two cats.

She said "Cats suck the breath out of babies you know"

I had 8 cats when DS1 was born [mad cat woman emoticon]...and he survived, amazing isn't it?

I have 3 now and DS2 is 10 months. He hasn't been smothered, caught toxoplasmosis or been eaten by them. Although, I have to confess that I did catch one asleep in his cot last week when I went to put him down for his nap. The cat made a sharp exit due to the excited squealing and attempts at grabbing her tail though.

I have two cats and neither of my two kids have ever suffered as a result. As long as you take reasonable hygiene precautions when emptying litter then it's fine.

Cats generally don't go near babies because they're too noisy (the babies that is, not the cats).

My eldest cat used to babysit my youngest son. She would sit under his cot when he was put into at about 7pm and wait until he'd fallen asleep. When she ventured downstairs, we knew that he'd gone off and it was safe to move around the house and make a bit of noise again.

"As kids we had two cats and I don't appear to be dead."

Hilarious.

I'm more worried about our cats than the baby when he arrives. I'm sure he'll be fine, but they'll be miffed when they're no longer the centre of attention.

we got a kitten when ds was 2 we've had her a year now and its one of the best things we did our son adores her even though he chases her and wakes her up.
When he cries even if she's asleep she goes running to him and she always tries to go asleep at his feet when ds is sleeping . I definitely wouldn't get rid of the cat they are great pets for children to grow up with.

atomicsnowflake my cat does that now to us - comes upstairs, checks the human pets have settled and then potters off back downstairs for a spot of peace.

"I'm more worried about our cats than the baby when he arrives"

Agreed! We have two cats and a toddler. The cats learnt very quickly that hanging around him generally does not end well for them...!

If you want to do yourself a favour though, train them to use the loo outdoors if possible. You'll have enough poo in your life with the baby!

cats are very intuitive. Maximus, the bigger cat disappeared for 6 weeks when DS2 was born. He's back and happy now though!

funnysinthegarden 6 weeks?! Hmm, I think I'll try to lavish a bit of attention on mine then!

One has appointed himself "guard of the bump" and he insists on sitting on it every evening for hours. He will probably get a shock when it's replaced by a crying baby, but hopefully some cat treats and regular cuddles will help him over the shock.