Babies & cats

[lucyFTM]

I'm writing this unable to sleep after this incident has happened!
I was asleep in bed & my cat either fell/jumped from the headboard & landed on my head scratching my eyelid quite badly. It was bleeding loads so it looked worse than it is at first.
I'm 32 weeks pregnant & DH said we have to shut her out at night now because what if she hurts the baby when it's here. For context he doesn't like her very much mainly because she prefers me! But we both like it when she cuddles us in bed & is affectionate. If we shut her out she will meow & scratch at the door.
She is very sassy & will only do things on her terms i.e will go to bite you if try to stroke her somewhere she doesn't want to be touched.

Anyway the point is I know I will need to put my baby's safety first but the cat is totally part of the family for me. Has anyone got any experience with dealing with pets & a newborn?
Did you have to keep them apart?

Nope. Just kept an eye on them both and locked cat out when baby knapping. I wouldn’t get too worked up about it. Sounds like a freak accident.

I have a now 20 month old and a cat, cat was here before baby was born and personally for us the cat is amazing with the baby, we always make sure to keep an eye and watch for any warning signs but so far we have never had any problems and now my daughter is obsessed with the cat! She will pet her and hug her and the cat allows it! We never allowed the cat to be near her as a newborn when asleep but that was they only restriction, i wouldn't have had the cat sleeping with us at night in our room, we never have.

There have been stories of cats sitting on babies in their moses baskets or prams as they're warm and cats live warm things to sit on and them smothering then, please do not allow your cat to be in the room un attended where your baby will sleep. They don't need to be apart all the time just sleeping wise x

I have a 1yo and 2 cats who have always had free access to the bedroom and often sleep on the bed with us. Never had any issues and the cats never showed any interest in going near the baby (he was in a next to me cot).

Cat stayed away from baby until she was in the play pen then cat would sit next to play pen. If baby went for cat or started crying, cat would flee.

Cat likes some people e.g. me stroking her, but bites others to warn or even to hurt. She also play bites a couple of people she decides are her cat people.

Cat learnt to mimic cry of baby.

Now baby is toddler, cat allows toddler to stroke her but if toddler is too noisy flees.

Similar behaviour (except for the biting on being stroked) is seen in childminder's male cat.

In short make sure the cat has space to escape from the baby.

Should have added we have two cats and they've both been great with my daughter but just be vigilant as our cats did both at times get into the babies pram whilst it was empty for a nap as they're good places to sleep for a cat aren't they so I think they'd have done it if allowed if the baby was in there etc, but now my daughter is older she loves the cats xx

We had 4 cats and a newborn. Up until I gave birth they all slept in our room/on our bed.
When DD came home we shut the door at night - they kicked up a fuss at first but a baby waking up crying every few hours soon put them off coming near the bedroom 🤣

If they were in the House then we'd be vigilant that they didn't jump in the Moses basket etc

We found 2 cats wouldn't come near her anyway and actively avoided her until she was about 4. One was too lazy to do anything, the other was very curious about her and constantly trying to play with her toys etc and will actively seek her out and follow her from room to room but he's also the one that can be least trusted in terms of scratching or nipping when he's had enough. Again it's just vigilance. Any reaction to DD like a raised paw that looked like a swat or an attempt at a nip he was put outside - he soon learned if he wanted to stay in then he had to behave.
You also need to train your child too though. We taught DD that she needed to stand still and hold her hand out and if they wanted to be stroked they'd come to her, not to chase or put her head right in their faces and also a couple of pats/strokes and then to let them be. She's only just been allowed to pick one of them up and she's nearly 5 now

We have 2 (very spoilt) cats and a 6 month old. They just give her a wide berth if I'm honest, they will tolerate her stroking them if we're stroking them too. The never go anywhere near her cot in her own room, but in the side sleeper they would hop in once baby was out. No issues or worries from here, but we don't leave them alone together just in case

Our cat did go for our baby a few times, mainly if baby was crying. We tried to never leave them in a room alone together. Son is 2.5 years now and adores the cat, even though she has scratched him a few times that he remembers.

Cats are attracted to warm places such a Moses baskets and prams and can end up suffocating babies so I'd recommend closing the door. Our cat has been okay with my now nearly 3 year old but it was never worth the risk in my eyes x

We have one cat. He prefers me so he'll follow me from room to room, seek me out for comfort etc. When he's had enough of strokes, hell give a warning bite, where he just opens his mouth and puts his teeth on you but doesnt actually bite unless you dont move away. This is something we will need to teach baby as they get older, and as PP says above, the holding the hand out and letting the cat come to them is good. When we first brought the baby home he was just the right amount of curious. He wanted a little sniff but he didn't want to actually be near her. If he wants anytging through the night (food, litter change etc) then he'll jump on us. We have a next to me and there's only ever been once where he walked over DH, over me and landed on the next to me, although not on baby. I woke up straight away with that 'feeling' something was wrong and when he realised where he was he was probably more scared than I was. Last night he actually slept on our bed with us. It was a hard decision but we thought that if we made him leave, he would maybe sense that its because of the baby and start to resent her. Plus, It would only make him want to be here more. Quite often he'll sit in the living room woth me and baby. If I ever leave the room without baby then after a few times of me encouraging him to leave when I do, he now does it automatically. Since bringing baby home, we found it important to make sure we still gave him attention daily, lots of strokes, interactive play or if it was a really busy day just giving him some treats. At the end of the day, you know your cats temperament and freak accidents are rare.

My cat is a grumpy little madam. In the 8 months my daughter has been here, she hasn't gone within a few feet of her, and I've never seen any sign that she's been in the cot/pram (she sheds fur quite badly so can usually see where she's been). Baby is fascinated by her, cat is horrified by baby!

You don't need to shut your cat outside at night just out of the room the baby is sleeping in - although after last night it sounds like out of all bedrooms would be better. I don't let my cat in my bedroom at night as he disturbs my sleep and it makes my allergies worse. He is very gentle but when my daughter was a baby we had him and his brother (who died three years ago) and his brother was a mean cat. He never bothered my daughter untill she started bothering him when she moved and even then she only ever occasionally got a little scratch. On the whole it has been very beneficial for my daughter (who is 5 now) to grow up with pets and learning to be gentle with them or you might get hurt is a good lesson. She now knows if she gets scratched (only ever when she tries to pick the remaining cat up badly and he gets her by accident trying to get away) she needs to wash it with soap and water straight away.

Just shutting the bedroom door would be fine and just keep an eye on your cat when the baby is here. I'm 38 weeks pregnant and I've also got a cat. We both agreed to never let him be on his own with the baby (I do that with any animal, not just cats) just for safety and cause he gets the zoomies and wouldn't want him jumping over baby if she's doing tummy time! For our bedroom, we got a inovi travel cot for the first 6 months that has a dome net zipped to it, so that the cat can't jump in it. We're gonna try closing the door, so hope for the best!
More than likely, when your baby is here and starts crying in the night, your cat might just leave the bedroom for a while for peace anyways!
I'm a FTM so I couldn't really give you good advice. But you know your cat better than people on here, so I guess it's just a case of being vigilant around the cat and newborn, never leave the newborn on their own with the cat and to make sure they don't jump in the pram and cot. But still give the cat attention and treats if you can so they don't feel left out/resentment, as you say they're still family!
Good luck OP and congratulations 💐

Just on the dome top to the travel cot - it depends on your cat but we couldn't have one of those as we have one cat (the one whose curious!) who liked jumping on it when he heard noises inside ie the baby!! He also likes anything that resembles a hidey hole or tunnel so just constantly tried to get in it. It's not structural so not designed to take a cat landing on it so the cat would still land on the baby underneath.

@ivfbeenbusy ah yes I can see mine doing this too!

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences.
I will supervise & wait to see how she reacts to the baby, hopefully she will be disinterested & won't want to climb in with it.

@lucyFTM

I'd also keep on any cats which are territorial - my "curious" cat is also the leader of our pride. Whilst he wouldn't jump on the baby as a newborn he did take a liking to wee-Ing on her things as a sign of dominance. So I'd cover baby things even if the baby isn't in it

I have two cats. I kept an eye on them and didn't have serious issues. One tried to bite ds on the changing mat, but he had been crying non stop for 73 hours at that point. I shouted, she dodged away. They're now good friends, the cat grooms his face/hair every morning and comes when he calls. She also calls to him when he's in bed and she fancies a play. However, she hasn't been afraid of giving him a smack if he's too rough. It takes time for them to adjust and I never left them together where the cats could sleep on the baby or jump on them, but to be honest, they didn't try. It was the crying that bothered one that time, not the presence of the baby. Saying that, I don't really leave young children and animals unattended at all (which isn't hard as they all have a habit of following me round). I wouldn't shut her out, I think it's always a bit sad and un-needed when pet owners do that due to a new baby.

I started shutting my cat & dog out the bedroom overnight halfway through my pregnancy, so they're used to it & don't blame the baby. I'm 36 weeks now & they're used to it, the scratching etc has stopped, & we have plenty of cuddles in the day.

I have a now 3 year old and baby on the way, 2 cats that we've had for years.

Honestly they didn't give two hoots about my son when he came home 😂 they never got in the Moses basket or pram when he was in it. They didn't like his crying so kept well clear of him.

We did shut them downstairs from about half way through pregnancy so they didn't blame the baby. Also ensured they had lots of high up spaces to escape too if needed.

My son is 3 now, he adores the cats - they're still not arsed about him 😂

Has there ever been a case of a cat suffocating a baby? I know people always warn about cats, but I can't remember hearing about any such incident. Dogs, on the other hand, have severely injured and killed babies.

@eddiemairswife

I think I heard of one story once where the cat suffocated the baby or it might have been my mother trying to scare me with horror stories 🤣

I HAVE read a newspaper story though a few years ago where the baby tragically died from
Meningitis contracted from the family cat licking her baby bottles as apparently cats carry the meningitis virus in their mouths ? How they proved it was from the cat I don't know though?

My biggest cat is about 6-7kilos though and I can imagine if he decided he wanted to lie on a newborn babies chest he could injure it?

Has there ever been a case of a cat suffocating a baby?

Probably. Cat nets used to be commonly used to keep cats from sleeping on babies in prams etc.

Are they not used now?

I come from the cat-net era when babies were put outside for naps in all weathers. Never used a cat-net, and also had cats, but as I said I've never actually heard or read of a cat suffocating a baby.