Has your child learned valuable life lessons from your cat?

[Feelingfifty]

We're a cat welfare charity and recently found that 95% of cat owners believe their cats help children develop empathy, respect for others, and an understanding of personal boundaries.

Because cats communicate in subtle ways and are often very clear when they do or don't want interaction, we believe they can help children learn important lessons about consent and respecting another living being's wishes.

We're looking to speak to a parent of a son who feels that growing up with a cat has helped him understand that "no means no" and that boundaries should be respected.

We're hoping to feature a parent and child in a media campaign to raise awareness of the positive role cats can play in children's emotional development. This would involve sharing your experience in a press release and potentially taking part in media interviews, with full support from our team throughout.

As a charity, we're unable to offer payment, but we'd love to help share your story and highlight the benefits that cats can bring to family life.
If this sounds like your family, we'd be delighted to hear from you. Please get in touch at [email protected]

Not at all what you are asking for, but our cat was literally my autistic son's best friend for about three years when he struggled socially in secondary school.
He would come home and fugue (go into an almost trance like state, which some autistic people do instead of having meltdowns) for an hour every day after school.

The cat would sit on his lap for that hour. Then jump off, in a 'Time's up, back to normal, mate' way once an hour was up, and my son would come out of the fugue and come into the kitchen and ask for a snack or chat about his day. It really seemed as if the cat thought this was part of his job spec as a pet - to soothe a tired and over stimulated child. He never missed a day.

When the children were younger he also used to walk half way through the village and wait by the main road every day to welcome them back from school.

I miss him so much. He was the most loving cat imaginable.

Oh my kids adored our cat.
Patience
Empathy
Where to touch cats so they like you and where not.
Never ever pick it up.

Do headbutt purr cuddles
How to feed, pet, drink , clean up after cat.
Never ever chase a cat
Always provide space for them in every room
Cat takes the sofa space first. Never ever move them.
Chat chat chat - both kids first word was cat and they talked to the cat before they talked to us.
Don't take it personally if you get a swipe, it's the same as a human shouting no. (Out cat didn't but others do)

Unfortunately he died a few years ago. We are currently moving house and they go onto cat rescue every few weeks to see which ones might be available.
One caveat - lots say no kids under 8. This stops us having alot of rescues. While I don't mean to boast of my kids they are good with lots of cats and I think this stops a good match.

Thanks for this, your kids sound brilliant! Would you be willing to talk publicly about what they learnt?

We used to tell our dd not to “hassle the cat”. One day she came to me crying with a scratch on her hand. When I asked what had happened, she said, through tears, “Me ‘assle ‘im!” Which was a learning moment for her!

You are looking for parents of a boy whose cat helped them learn that ‘no means no’? Seriously?!?

I really respect Cats Protection and all you do, but what on earth are you thinking by singling out boys here?! An overall campaign about what children have learnt through cats is wonderful. Looking for stories about how little David didn’t grow up to be a rapist because a cat swiped him is fucking mental.

My daughter has learnt that our cats do what they want, when they want & don’t listen to instruction whereas she has to follow the rules 🤣