cats

[Littlejo]

I'm expecting my first child in November and am a little bit worried about our two cats. They're about 3 years old now (neutered males - brothers) and are 'indoor' cats, mainly because we got them 2 years ago from the Cats Protection League & they were maltreated something shocking before the CPL got them. Anyway, the problem is they can be quite 'boisterous' at times, and I'm worried about them inadvertently hurting my new baby. I love them to bits but they have given me & my husband some nasty scratches when they get a bit carried away, chasing each other through the house etc. Does anyone have any advice for combining a newborn baby & crazy cats safely in the same household?

Hi there, Littlejo.
Indoor crazy cats and babies can be a bit of a difficult mixture, I've found. We had a gorgeous (crazy) cat called Louis before our twins were born. On reading your post I felt pangs of guilt- we decided to rehouse him a few months after their arrival. It wasn't so much that he did anything to the boys. In fact his nose was so out of joint that he scornfully ignored them most of the time. It was more that we were very frightened that he would pounce/scratch/bite/smother them while our backs were turned and, just as importantly, that we felt he was being neglected in favour of the babies.
I think cats and babies CAN be combined, though. You'll need your husband to be as fond of the cats as you are if it's to work. He should be cleaning their litter tray at the moment because of the (very, very, very, very slight) toxoplasmosis risk, so that is a good test of his love for them! (If you can't get him to do it wear rubber gloves) In the very early days all the cat care may fall on his shoulders while you recover from the birth.
It's very important:

1. Never to leave the baby and the cat(s) alone in the same room
2. Not to ignore the cats totally after the baby arrives (but this is more difficult than it might sound right now, since the early days of parenthood are often heady and all-encompassing!) The Cats Protection League do a good leaflet on babies and cats. Give them a ring and they'll send it to you. (Sorry I don't have the number) Hope this helps.

Thanks for your help, Scummymummy. I'll contact our local CPL about that leaflet. Thankfully hubby adores the cats (and I think they actually like him more than me!) and has been dutifully taking sole charge of the litter tray for the last six months. I have also told him the risk from litter continues while I'm nursing - not sure if it's entirely true, but I won't let him know that... ;-)

We've always had two cats, Littlejo, and never had a problem, so don't worry too much about it. Scummymummy has it spot on, esp regarding litter trays. Not the sort of chore you'll miss doing, hee hee!

Littlejo,

We have two cats and have had no real problems. When baby no. 1 arrived both cats were a bit put out and lived in the kitchen and outhouse (their choices, not mine!) for a few weeks, but quickly adapted. When baby no. 2 arrived neither cat turned a hair (although you could imagine them saying to one another "Oh God, not another one of those").
Things get a bit more tricky when the baby gets moving and tries to get hold of the cat. We found that the answer was to make sure that there were places in each room that the cat could reach but the baby couldn't, so that the cat could always escape.
One of our cats is fairly nervous and can be wild - we never left small crawlers/toddlers alone with him, but now our youngest child is nearly two she has learnt that he can scratch and (mostly!) treats him gently. Having the cats has been good for the children - they have learnt to treat animals with care and respect, as well as finding them endlessly fascinating.

I have three Burmese cats, who are daft as brushes, we did have five, one had to be put to sleep and another disappeared. The old one use to run up and down the back of the sofa when my daughter cried, I use to let her cry for a few minutes when she woke up, but he got very concerned I wasn't taking any noticeof her and used to pull my shirt, to attract my attention!

I have never had a problem with my cats, I have looked after about 30 children over the past 13 years and without exception none have been scratched or hurt by the cats. The cats are very good at learning to keep out of a crawling babies way!

In fact one of the mums of the babies I looked after was allergic to cats, over a period of several month she became desensitised to them. Whe she first use to visit, she would be reaching for her inhaler in five minutes and sneezing and nose streaming. One year later, nothing at all.

The only problem is my own daughter, she has had asttma from the age of 2, now 15, and has become allergic to one of the cats. She wouldn't possibly entertai the idea of him going to my parents. We just make sure he stays out of her bedroom.

I find most people are very keen for their children to have contact with animals. especially if they have none of their own. We also had a guide dog puppy for a year, and I had a baby too, It was no problem, I kept the puppy in the playpen!

We had two cats (2 yrs old) when our daughter was born and then tended to run away when she cried but mostly just ignored her. They gradually got used to her and are both very good with her, one cat always runs away and the other lets my daughter stroke her. I also used a cat net on the cot until I felt my daughter would be able to push off a cat although they avoid her room. I have tried to teach my daughter to be very gentle and supervise her petting and to keep saying that when the cat squeals she doesn't want to be touched. So far, it seems to have worked and my daughter loves the cats. We don't have litter in the house so that has not been a problem, I just end up with cat biscuits all over the floor or occasionally being eaten!

We had 2 cats when ds was born. The timid one used to play gaurd whenever I had to do a night feed and sit outside ds's room until I put him back to bed and then he'd wander off. The one with the claws who we worried about was (and 2 years later still is) very wary, would disappear at the slightest noise. We certainly started off with a cat net, shutting doors etc but have never had a problem. Good luck

LittleJo
Hiya.... I bet you'll have no problems. All the advice given so far is pretty much the way it is. My boy cat and I had lived on our own for 10 years before my partner and baby arrived!

My cat only liked me and everyone else got hissed and scratched at..... I was very worried. To top it all, partner is allergic and not that fond of cat. Hmmm..

When ds was born - my hero of a cat pretty much ignored him and while baby slept, me and my moggy spent 'quality time' together.

Now that my son is nearly 3, I have been petrified he'd go around pulling the cat's tail and smothering him till he got bitten. But hey, miracle! Not only does the cat not bite my son, but moreover, he actually stands still patiently while my son dribbles affectionately all over him and pats him in all the wrong places! I couldn't believe it.....

Keep us posted - I think you'll all be fine!

Thanks for all your posts, it's reassuring to hear so many of you have no problems with combined cat/baby households. Will just have to wait & see how they react to having a new small person in the house. Will definitely get a cat net though, especially as my in-laws have 4 mature cats who always find the warmest place to curl up in!