Pregnant and worried about old cat

[Mumofacat]

I’m 16 weeks pregnant and I have a beautiful and affection darling cat. She’s very much integral to my family and she’s obviously getting older. Husband and I have gone through a lot of very serious health issues, which meant we not confident we’d have a baby, but amazingly, everything has been going really well. We weren’t really sure if we’d ever get the chance to be parents.

I am really very concerned that the new baby will adversely affect my little cat, and I appreciate that might seem a bit much, but I have a very strong emotional attachment to her.
she’s had two families before she came to my husband and I three years ago, and she is nervous around kids and hides. Sometimes she does pluck up the courage to socialise a little when our friends bring over their kids, so long as they’re not too loud.

Im looking for any advice on how others have been successful on supporting an older cat when a baby comes. I don’t want to be selfish and make her life hard, but as she’s getting really old now, it feels like a very cruel thing to have her start over somewhere else- and we’re so close I’m not sure I can even think about her not being with us, it’d be a major grief.

I had an elderly cat when DS was born and it was never an issue. She pretty much ignored him and didn't seem bothered by him crying. When I woke up in the night to breastfeed she'd come and sit with us, then went back to sleep when we did. She never tried to climb in the cot, which had a net on it anyway (mosquitoes). What do you think will be the problem?

This is good to hear- thanks for replying. Basically I’m not sure about my cats’ past but I’m concerned she’s afraid of children and that by having a baby, she’d be frightened and won’t cope, as she hides when small children come to the house.
I wonder if it’d be different if she sees the baby as one of her tribe…?

I had an old cat when my DD was born - no problems at all but my cat would sit on me too when I was holding the baby. Sadly the cat only lasted 11 months after my DD was born but she had a lovely life - fourteen years this year and I still miss her......have another cat now who we have had since DD was 2 and cat is now 18.....they love each other very much.

It's not as if you will be bringing a toddler into the house. You'll have a tiny baby and it won't be crawling even for 6-7 months and not walking for almost a year. Your cat will get used to your baby very gradually. Just make sure you have a cat tree or somewhere high your cat can escape to if your DC becomes too much for it. Also teach your DC to be very gentle with the cat. My cats love DS's.

Yes, exactly as caringcarer says. Your baby will just sleep and be cuddled to start with so will be no threat to the cat.

What @caringcarer said. There’s a long time where baby is not able to move about, so cat will have time to get used to them as they gradually grow. I thought my cat would be upset with the arrival of my first baby but I needn’t have worried, he was fine and loved cuddling up with me and my son.
It definitely is good to grow up with pets, my children get a lot out of having cats, and the cats enjoy their company. Cat savvy kids know how to be kind, gentle and calm, it’s very obvious when a kid comes to play if they have been taught the way of the cat, or not.
good luck with everything!