Tips for happy cats and newborns

[RMarieClaire]

For past two years our family has been me, DH and our two lovely cats. But now our first baby is due in 4 weeks. We can't wait but I am a bit worried about our cats. I've heard it can be awful for them and that they sometimes leave home  They go out in the day and stay in at night, but they're also very sociable - the boy in particular and love to spend the evening with us.

I know our priorities are going to change but we really love them so much I want to do all we can to make sure they're as happy as possible. Any tips from other cat mums out there?

My very shy and timid cats adapted very well when our first was born. They were always comfortable around us but generally scared of strangers. The cuddlier of the two often used to come and snuggle on the other side if I had the baby sleeping on me. It was only when she got older and started to harass them they seemed to bother, and even then, cuddly one couldn't have minded too much as he often didn't move out the way. Even now less cuddly cat has turned into a massive softy albeit still timid and he is quite happy for her to stroke him (she's 4). I'm sure they'll adapt fine. Once baby is mobile make sure they still have their own safe space though.

Hi i also have 2 cats,they cope well .my cats dont bother with my children im pregnant now and all im going to do when my baby comes is make sure my cats are not alone with my baby so its just about safety,cats are easy with babies so im sure it will be fine.none of my cats left and i did give them less attention,dont worry x

Our girl (now sadly departed) was most put out when we started to shut her out the bedroom at night in preparation for baby's arrival which I felt awful about.
When we brought DD home we put the car seat down, DCat sniffed her, looked at us then went and hid under the bed for a couple of hours.
She was fine after that and we just made sure we gave her fuss. She adapted pretty well but was quite a laid back and calm natured cat. She would come and sit with me for a cuddle when I was breastfeeding DD-quite a nice bonding time for all of us.
One thing for when baby is on the move make sure there is somewhere the cats can escape to!

Our cat adapted really well and only once tried to climb in the pram with the baby and she really picked her moment because a cat hating relative was visiting!
She had a good sniff when he first came home and she does like to sit in his cot/pushchair when they’re empty

So I cover them with a cat net
She wasn’t keen on the crawling stage but now they play chase, ds chases her giggling and then she waits where he can find her so he chases her again. The cat has plenty of escape routes and out of the way places to go. She is a scratchy bitey cat and she’s never done either to ds.

Lots of dreamies and hunting games with them be vigilant about the pram cats love a bed as long as it's not a cat bed my cat got in the basket of the pram and I nearly took him for a walk with the baby (he was an indoors cat)

I was really worried about this before our DS was born. It's actually been fine. I felt really guilty during the early months as I didn't think I was spending enough time with them, but they coped. They're still just as cuddly and content and they actually like the baby. The thing they were most annoyed about was not being able to sleep in our bed overnight, but they've adapted!

I work for an animal shelter, and quite a few of the cats that come in for rehoming are there because their owners thought they couldn't have a cat and a newborn living together. Really sad.

I have 4 cats - all baby substitutes before the actual baby came along! Whereas before they used to sleep on our bed once baby came home we kept our door shut at night for 6 months until DC moved into own room - other than that we made no real adjustments - 2 were curious about the new arrival the other 2 couldn't have cared less and 3 years later will only now allow DC to stroke them

Take your cue from each individual cat and don't force a relationship or similarly go out of your way to keep them apart - one is particularly friendly and curious and liked to be around the baby to play with the toys so we have to keep an eye on him more as he gets a bit boisterous but we've allowed the others to get used to DC at their own pace and the other 3 will happily be stroked and petted now

Keep baby bottles out of range of cats - some can carry meningitis bacteria in their mouths. For first few weeks I had a lot of those little bottles of hand sanitizers around the house when going from handling cat to baby

We ve always been very clear with DC about being gentle, not pulling tails, no fingers in eyes, holding a hand out and waiting for the cat to bump it, no chasing etc - we've probably been stricter with DC than with the cats! 🤣

There is a picture somewhere of me on my first day home with pfb the cat ignored the baby launched himself at me and spent a desperate amount of time snuggling drooling paddling at me until he calmed down there are numerous photos of my dd being fed on my lap legs up on one cat head resting on another she was purred to sleep watched over when she was sick played with (fat cat played with her toys while she watched and giggled) all in all they were good for her

You read my mind op! I have 3 very friendly indoor cats. One thinks he is a baby and likes to be carried about cradled in my arms, doling out kisses left right and centre.

So i shall be looking here for archive too. I don't want them to feel rejected. Especially my boy-baby.

Advice not archive.

Thank you for this thread, I'm 33 weeks and am a bit worried about how our cats will react to a newborn. One of them sleeps on the sofa and goes out a lot so I think he'll be fine. The other sleeps on our bed and always wants cuddles, and cuddles with my bump a lot. I think he will love DD but worried he'll get into the cot with her! I know its very unlikely he'll get close enough to her face to cause any harm, but he'll probably disturb her. So we're thinking of barricading the door (he knows how to open it) but worried he'll get upset. Maybe we can make him a really nice place to sleep in another room. We've put up all the baby stuff with plastic and double sided tape on it to put them off sitting on it, but this may have limited success as we tried it on the dining table and it worked great until we took the tape off- they worked it out!

Three very spoiled indoor cats when we brought DD1 home, they weren’t that bothered. Their routine was always to sleep all day then wake at night for attention. We had baby gates on the doors so the cats could escape if they wanted to but I never once remember there being any issues. DC were taught to treat the cats properly when they were older.

Oldest boy died age 17 last year kids were devastated but we now have two kittens and it’s amazing to see the DC with them. They are definitely all cat people (my work is done).

@Triskaidekaphilia or boy can open doors. Not so much in our current house as doors are rubbish. But in our old one we had to turn the hackers upsidedown!

I remember my MIL visiting when I was about 35 weeks pregnant and asking when we were going to be getting rid of the cat...

We brought home DD from hospital, he sniffed around the car seat, then jumped onto the windowsill to oversee proceedings. I don't remember him being upset in the slightest by her arrival. As long as he was fed, he was pretty happy. He was a genuinely grumpy cat (I've got a couple of scars on my arm from him), but never with the children, never ever in 15 years.

Never had an issue of him wanting to lie in the cot or the pram, and he continued sleeping at my feet on the bed every night. Rather like DH, he became adept at sleeping through the 2am feeds

I never shut him out of any rooms, he was allowed to explore the nursery. His favourite spot was under the radiator in that room, and DD took a photo of him in his favourite spot the day before he died last year at the grand age of 18.

Depends on the cat, depends on the baby... depends on you...

Our cat, a large male of around 8 years old, was completely unphased by the baby and not at all concerned by crying etc. He's not scared of anything though so I wasn't surprised about this. I literally have to hoover around him for example.

He's a very affectionate lap cat and I found this difficult to cope with after birth. I was shattered, I had a baby who would rarely be put down and was majorly touched out by the end of the day and could not cope with the cat then wanting to sit on my lap wanting fuss. He got pushed off and onto my DH's lap more often than not. I hate to admit it but I really resented having a cat in those first few months.

Now I'm not breastfeeding I'm a lot more accepting of his advances and life is pretty much back to normal but I'm pregnant again do it'll be short-lived!

I expected the cats reaction to the baby...what I wasn't really expecting was my own.

My cat wasn't bothered at all by the baby stage. She would sometimes have a little sniff / look at DS but mostly ignored him. She is not loving the toddler stage, however, and is a little skittish around DS so I make sure never to turn my back for too long in case she lashes out (fairly sure she wouldn't but DS can be noisy and grabby so she may). Everyone in my (cat-hating) family went on and on about how we'd have to get rid of her when we had a baby but it's actually been completely fine.

We have 3 cats. All 3 of them are quite timid. Whenever ever nieces or nephews have been round (all young children) they seem to stay around for about 5 minutes then disappear upstairs away from the kids. They sometimes will come down and socialise with them but only for a quick pet then go back. They will adjust :)

Had no problem with my two and a baby . I never shut doors and only ever caught one cat in the Moses basket twice - once when it was unoccupied and second by DD feet .

We have 2 boy cats, they're indoor cats they've just turned 3 and are both affectionate, one in particular is obsessed with my husband and regularly climbs on to his chest for cuddles. Our first baby is due next week and I've been a bit worried about how they'll react. I don't think they'd ever scratch the baby, they're not scratchy or bitey but they are very attached to us. Both usually start the night in our bed for cuddles then disappear into the spare room or their own beds at the bottom of our bed so we're not going to change that.

We've been playing newborn baby crying noises on our phones around them, at first they were terrified but don't really react anymore. We've let them sniff around the baby stuff, car seat, pram, crib etc so they're used to the stuff as they can be quite skittish over big objects being moved around. Our crib is an Innovi Cocoon which has a framed arch net attached that can be zipped up to keep pets out just incase they're tempted to jump in but they won't be left alone with the baby while he's in his crib. We also bought a pram net to keep them out of there. Other than that I'm going to send a blanket with baby's scent home from hospital with my husband before the baby comes home so they know the scent and we'll make sure they still get plenty of attention and cuddles so don't feel too put out and hopefully that will be enough. The last thing I want is to stress them out.

Ive had the same thoughts, we have two indoor girls. Our oldest we got when our boy was 2 and the youngest last year. Hes 5 now and those girls absolutely adore him with ever fibre but neither have been around a baby. Theyre. Both VERY affectionate and loving, to us and people that come round and both sleep on the end of the bed with us. My bigger girl is on my lap constantly. Im worried how theyll be with a baby crying and itll stress them out and because theyre indoor, wont be able to escape if they dont like it. I have ZERO worries theyd ever scratch or hurt the baby. I think were going to set the moses basket up a few months before to make sure they know theyre not allowed in it

Hmm d idea on playing baby noises. I might try that.

My boy is actually terrified of babies. He hasn't met a new born but he's met an almost one year old and was mortified. The boy was crawling around and fear just radiated from his face. He's run away and came sneaking back downstairs to see the baby going near his food maze. He ran away again.

If he hears a baby cry he picks his ears up and looks worried. As in "I hope that isn't coming near me".

So who knows what I'll do about him.

I daren't get a moses basket, never been able to teach my lot to not get in or go places. In fact the more you say no, the more they want to do it. That always have their noses into whatever it is you're doing.

@fonxey this is the Innovi Cocoon crib we got, I'd have loved a cute Moses basket or Next to Me but just not worth the risk of the cats climbing in and cuddling up to the baby. As long as it's zipped up there's no way in, although I hope they don't decide to try jumping on netting!

Maybe your boy will be better with a newborn who won't be able to reach for him or move towards him, might give him more time to get used to the baby.

@WeeBean a good idea! Will look into that one. Although i wouldn't put it past my cats to try jumping on netting, or pulling it over if that is possible. One of my girls loves to lick that netting stuff.

Hopefully they'll be so terrified of the baby they'll keep away. I've known them to knock over or heavy Oak dining chairs and the oak breathing tables have gone flying due to their antics.

I have 3 very naughty cats. The