Pets

[sbm78]

I'm wanting to hear opinions from parents of ASD children with regards to pets. My DS has become has a shine for a cat that keeps appearing in our garden. He's waking up earlier, going to the window to see if the cat is there, trying to get the cat's attention, talking to him etc..... He seems to have a real affection for it.

I've been wondering whether we should get a cat for him BUT my concern is how will he react to the cat when he is having a melt down? His sister and me get the brunt of this regularly.

Does anyone have experience with this? Do you think he would be different with the cat? Or do you think I should be saying NO to this idea just in case.

Any advise welcome.

Thanks

My dd2 will attack dp and me during meltdowns but not the cat, I would go ahead and get one

...also cats are pretty good at getting out of the way!!

We recently got a cat and my DS has the strongest bond with him... it is so lovely to see. The cat sleeps on his bed every night and DS seems to have a real empathy for and interest in cat behaviour. Have you seen the book "All Cats Have Aspergers"?!

Even when DS has been upset, he has been very gentle towards the cat. Our cat is a 1 year old rescue cat, and he's not too timid but would run away if there was too much noise.

A cat can look after itsself. It's a great first pet.

Different experience here, DS hasn't bonded with our cats at all, they are lovely animals but they are just not right for DS and vice versa. A Labrador would have been better I think.

You need to be really, really careful to get the right cat. We had to return our rescue cat recently because she was terrified of DS and DS was terrified of her - she was miserable, scratching & trying to bite, he was shutting himself in his room all the time.

But the cat had been a stray and was extremely nervous, and I don't think the rescue place should have rehomed her with us.

We have a dog but he was already here before ds was born.
He loves that dog so much,he's responsible for feeding him and letting him out for a wee.
Ds has the wildest meltdowns but has never once shown any aggression towards his dog(only me) and he sits with him in the chair when he needs calm.
The dogs getting old now and I'm dreading the time he goes to doggy heaven as he's ds best mate.

It must be the right cat! Our cat hates the kids, if the kids are awake he's out of the house! He turns up once they're in bed demanding dinner. He then stays in over night, has his breakfast, and then leaves for the day. He seemed a lovely friendly cat at the rescue.

Thank you all :-) :-)

We have dogs and cats. Ds has a brilliant bond with one of the cats, the others don't really like to be touched.
Ds likes the dogs when he's in the mood for them, most of the time he doesn't want them near. If he's having a meltdown he will try to lash out at them, so at the first sign we put the dogs in another room.

So my vote is for a cat. Something like a rag doll or Maine coon that has a reputation to be calm and love being with people.

We have a dog who is DS's best friend. He will sit with DS when he is gaming or watching telly or reading. We have a Cavalier King Charles and they are lap dogs, so just want to be around humans. Ours came from a rescue centre. We hadn't planned to get a Cavalier it just worked out that way. We spent about four months looking for the right dog for us and we have had him for six years. DS was 7 when we got him. Our dog has an open cage in the dining room and we have taught DS that he must leave him alone when he goes in it. We told DS that the dog needs downtime just like he does. The dog will scuttle off when DS has a meltdown but will come straight back to him when the issue has passed. DS has always been very caring and protective towards him and likes to go when we take him to the vet for injections etc. Not too sure how this will go as the dog gets older, he is nearly eight, but at 13 DS is old enough to understand the responsibility of pet ownership.