How did your cat react to your newborn?

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My partner and I are self-confessed cat loons. We currently have an outdoor (neutered) male moggie who hunts a lot and occasionally gets hissy if he doesn't get his way. When he was a kitten he was very scratchy, although hes mellowed a lot. We sadly lost one of our cats recently and have been pining for another but with a baby due (hopefully) in January we know we should probably wait a while to see how the current cat responds and to get into a routine with our baby.

I've been surprised by the stories about owners getting rid of their cats because of how stressed the cats have become by the new arrival. I really cannot contemplate giving my cat up.

Has anyone been in a similar situation and how did you manage?

He came up for a sniff when newborn came home then had done his best to stay out of her way! She's now 15months and on they've and trying to chase after him, again he runs off! The only issue we had was the cat trinf to sleep in her rocking chair and buggy

None of my cats have ever shown the slightest interest in babies. Babies puke and cry, cats have no time for them.

My black cat was a feral kitten and is nervy around small children, so she just avoids them. She just about tolerates dgs now he's four, and even then he can be a bit loud for her.

We have 2 cats, and a similar experience to purple.
Sniffing about and generally staying away. Never left baby alone with the cats and started shutting our bedroom door at night, previously the cats would lie on our bed.
Now DS is 13 months, in his own room with the door closed when sleeping. The cats are happy now they are back in our bed, but not so happy they are more likely to get their tail pulled these days.
Your cats will soon respect new boundaries as long as you are consistent.
I never understand why people think they have to get rid of cats because they are having a baby.

I have male house-cat who usually gets a lot of attention and play time. We now have a 3 week old baby and the cat is fine. He comes up for a sniff of the baby's head every now and then but is otherwise disinterested. We just have to make sure we dedicate a little play time to him each day to keep him sweet.

Our cats came up for a look/sniff when the DCs were born....and then stayed as far away as possible!

Same as Purple and Poppy, the children love him, he really doesn't like them and only appears downstairs once they have gone to bed.

I have to say I'm glad you posted this OP! I'm feeling a bit relieved. I'm 33 weeks with my first and I have been worrying about how our cat with deal with things.
He has been being bullied recently by a new cat (we're calling it Joffery) and he's used our bed as a toilet a couple of times as a result.(obviously once the baby comes he won't be allowed in our room!) We've taken some steps to correct this behaviour on vets advice which have worked but it has had me worried as to how he will deal with our little baby once she shows up. Its very reassuring to see so many positive posts on how other peoples cats have coped!

Another one with a cat that likes to keep her distance. We have a female house cat, and because she refuses to go out we always make sure to give her lots of fuss.

DS was born in march and started to 'notice' the cat about a month ago. He absolutely loves her, holds his hands out to touch her and smiles like a loon when he sees her, but she's generally on her guard. A quick sniff when he was brand new was enough for her to realise that she shouldn't go near. We also keep the bedroom doors closed at night as she's rather fond of the cot.

We really worried about it but its been fine really.

Ours was scared of dts for a while, she tried to redeem her status as top baby in the house by bringing in a silly amount of dead birds, mice and rats. After that she begrudgingly got used to the idea. Avoiding them at all costs.
Dts love her, her name was dt2s first word and dt1s second word. She just tolerates them but has stopped the death glare and even lets them stroke her without biting them.

Congratulations.

Came and had a sniff I think and then stayed well away for weeks if not months. It was some time before the cat came back into the living room!
The cat just couldn't be less interested.
Now it might come and rub against them if she is hungry but again once they could grab/chase her she gives them a pretty wide berth.

He went 'meh' and went and sat on the windowsill.

When we first brought DS home, he was asleep in his car seat so we put the seat down on the sitting room floor. Our grumpy old cat Fluffy stalked in, took one look, looked at us, turned round and made that "huff! TAILS to you!" gesture with his tail and stalked out again. He really wasn't interested, and he never tried to get into the Moses basket or the cot.
However, when DS got old enough to grab his fur and poke him, ol' Fluffy was very tolerant of him - if an adult had tried anything so disrespectful, he'd have had their arm off, but he just used to move away.

Also don't understand why people get rid of the cat when there's a baby on the way.

We have a house cat, a ten year old tabby, who lives with us in our one bedroom flat. She tended to be as far from the baby as she could be in the first couple of months and was a bit depressed I think (mainly due to a lack of attention from me...).

Recently she's perked up (DS is now 5 months) as he's been taking an interest in her and I've spent the last month lavishing her with attention.

Think cats need to have their own haughty place in the household and once they're used to a new addition they're fine. Our cat did love to sleep anywhere the baby had been though (territorial perhaps?) and so we've ended up with a cot net and a folding bouncy chair!

Prior to having ds, our cat was petrified of children, she would hide behind the sofa & shake if any of my nieces/nephews came round. We were really worried about how she'd cope with the arrival of ds, but the day we brought him home she jumped straight up onto the chair next to me & had a good look at him & it was like she knew he was part of the family. She never batted an eyelid when he cried & would just flop on the floor infront of him.

We found once ds came along that poor old moggy had to take a bit of a back seat - its sad but its very hard to give them quite the same attention as they had before. Our cat would often bite our hands to remind us she was there, but she never once bit/scratched ds.

Thanks everyone - I've loved reading your stories! Fingers crossed our cat will be just the same i.e. the 'sniff' test and then flounce off. Maybe I'll find him an alluring cardboard box or something as a treat for him to play in when/if the baby turns up [he loves them].

My 2 keep well away. We used Feliway at the beginning to keep them calm. I sometimes feel bad as they don't get the attention they used to but it can't be helped.

Ours was the perfect furry uncle. He was interested, but not intrusive.

One of DP's sweetest memories of DC's early days was during a really bad night (we had two nights and a day in between of DC not stopping crying) - by the second night, DP put me in the bedroom and kept DC out in the livingroom. DFU was walking around on the back of the sofa, saying "meeooow!" and occasionally patting DP's shoulder, as if to say "hey, that baby is crying, what's wrong?!?".

Mine couldn't have been less interested until DS started to move independently, at which time the cat decided to make himself scarce until DS was in bed. Now DS is 2.8 and the cat will just about tolerate him being the same room, although he still bolts when DS starts showing interest in him (which DS finds hilarious).

Ours has scratched DS twice, both times after being cornered by DS as a result of us not supervising him closely enough. Imo cats and babies will usually mix fine, just make sure the cat's boundaries are maintained (although some actually love children and will be affectionate to them).

If yours finds it stressful having a new baby around, try Feliway, which is meant to help relax them.

My two cats did not have the same reaction: the male just kept his distance with the DCs (and still does, mainly because DD's favourite game is to try catching his tail) but the female seems to have taken the kids under her wing. She has come to our room several time, jumping on the bed and meowing when the DCs cry at night. All night feeds are done with her either next to me or guarding the bedroom door. She really is sweet.

I was really really worried about how my 2 scaredy cats would react to our newborn. They are very timid and one has a tendency to scratch and hiss if really frightened.

The scratchy one came and had a sniff then followed us around everywhere but in a very sweet way. She really wanted to get involved and be a part of things. Now, 20 months on, I do have to keep an eye that she doesn't get too harassed as she may scratch but its a by small risk and I keep a close eye on things. She hasn't scratched him yet but has warned him a couple of times. The other puss sniffed and kept her distance initially. Even now she tends to keep her distance but occasionally approached our DS, throws herself on the ground for attention and a wriggle then goes off and carries on with her business. Its adorable!

Good luck with it! Just try and keep things as normal as possible with your cats routine and be sure to give him lots of attention. If he doesn't feel too put out I don't think you'll have any problems.

Having just read Lilly's post I wanted to add that both my cats are female and they both have come running and fussing about my DS whenever he has got really upset. It's very very sweet!

Our cat (male, neutered and previously pampered like a prince) pretty much like most here, just walked off. That is he sum of most of his reactions to DS, just walking off. He sulked for a few weeks, then would just stay clear during DS waking hours only to reappear like my cuddly limb as soon as baby was down for the night. Strangely they have now built up an odd love/hate relationship. The poor cat is often chased and bossed about by my now toddler and just slinks off, however when DS is poorly or sad the cat can often be found sleeping outside his room at night or curled up on the sofa with him.

If it's not too much of a thread-hijack, I'm wondering how to approach this the other way round? DD is 17mths and DC2 (touch wood, all being well etc, very early days!) is due in April. We'd love to get a cat at some stage, not least because DD adores them, but not sure how old we should wait for the children to be? Introducing a new cat to the household while we have tiny ones might not be wise?

Cat (female, quite old) liked DD straight away although she used to be when there was a lot of wailing. DD is now 8 months and spends much of her time marvelling at 'wondercat', who is really enjoying the attention and showing off dreadfully. Cat respects the baby's 'territory', although it was hard keeping her off the baby gym - crackly paper! Dangling prey!

Minty, I'd wait till dc2 is about 2yo, maybe even 3. I've had kittens and a crawling baby in the past, no-one got broken but there's a level of supervision needed, which would be otherwise unnecessary.