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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

Are cats more tolerant of children than adults?

12 replies

ElleDiamond · 18/12/2013 16:15

I have a 10 week old kitten and two children who are 4 and 2 years old.

Before getting a kitten I had a look online to see how cats generally get on with children. Most things I read said if children do something which a cat/kitten doesn't like they will almost definitely be clawed/bitten/hissed at etc.

My children are gentle, they have been brought up around animals mostly dogs.

It seems my kitten is quite gentle with my children. For example if I held him for a second longer than he wanted I would definitely be on the wrong end of those claws. If my 2 year old gives him a cuddle he will just lie there, he won't struggle or try and get away he just lets her and when she's finished he will just stroll away. My child is supervised while playing with the kitten and if she was too rough then they would be separated.

He is also more gentle while playing with her, he doesn't use his claws like he would with me.

Is it unusual for a cat to more tolerant towards a child?

OP posts:

dobedobedo · 18/12/2013 16:22

I had a cat who HATED my ds. She hadn't had a bad experience with him, she wouldn't even let him close enough for him to stroke her. As soon as he walked into a room, she walked out. She was incredibly rude

When we'd arrive home, he'd call out for her, just so he could see her streak past him and out the door and away from him!

He eventually developed an allergy to her (he got into her basket one day and broke out in hives and had an asthma attack) so I had to get rid of her.

She's now living with a lovely old lady who has a few cats, and no kids :-)

dobedobedo · 18/12/2013 16:22

gosh, "get rid" sounds like I had her offed! I rehomed her.

cozietoesie · 18/12/2013 16:24

All our family's Siamese have been extremely tolerant with youngsters - although how much of that was down to the cat and how much to the youngsters, I'm not sure.

usualsuspect · 18/12/2013 16:31

My cat hates children,he makes a quick exit when my grandchildren come round.

Doodledumdums · 18/12/2013 16:33

My cat is a PITA most of the time (I love him, but he goes out of his way to hate me!), but he is hugely tolerant of my 1yo. Likewise, my parents 3 cats (one sadly recently deceased) are all feisty, yet DS can do anything to them and they take it without even a raised whisker! I think animals are aware that babies and children need to be treated differently. My 48kg dog tiptoes around my DS and has done from day one, he is so aware that DS is a baby and is so incredibly gentle with him, it's lovely!

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 18/12/2013 16:34

My cat which was hissy and scratchy was incredibly patient with DD as a crawling baby, and then a little less patient as DD grew older

AphraBane · 18/12/2013 16:36

Don't know from personal experience, but I've been looking around on the website of our local rescue recently, and at least half the cats profiled are described as 'not suitable for homes with children/small children'.

Fluffycloudland77 · 18/12/2013 18:05

I've always thought so.

I think when they say a cats unsuitable for children it means the cat is nervous of kids not aggressive.

Lovethesea · 18/12/2013 20:06

My two are incredibly comfortable with the noise, movement and random interactions of our two, now 5 and 3 but only 1 and 3 when we got them.

We did take them to the rescue place and put them in potential cat pens to check out how bombproof they are. Even now with 3 year olds running around being dinosaurs and roaring they just sit and watch calmly. They choose to sleep on the kids beds, don't mind being petted and chase the toys offered.

They are especially fond of one of the kids friends who found the treat bags and emptied about 5 whole packs of dreamies in front of them unnoticed by the adults!

tribpot · 18/12/2013 20:19

Cats Protection wanted us to have a cat rather than a kitten when we were looking. Ds was 5. I was happy to go for the cat option even though the kittens were gorgeous, and the cat has - for a cat who basically takes no shit from anyone - been pretty tolerant of ds. She treats him like a giant kitten really, and was very protective of him when he fractured his collar bone.

Original poster

ElleDiamond · 19/12/2013 15:51

Looks like it's not all that unusual then. I was fully expecting to have to keep my youngest especially away from the kitten.

It's so cute when they curl up together on the sofa for a nap

OP posts:

lookatmybutt · 19/12/2013 20:06

Yeah, some cats are FAR more tolerant of children than adults and some aren't. It really depends on the cat. My childhood cat was very tolerant of me, though not so much when I got older. She decided when she had had enough!

A friend of mine looked after a feral monster with her neighbours. He pretty much wanted to murder death kill all adults. Her neighbours nearly called the armed response unit when their 3 year old starting walking around the garden with him, carrying him upside down, but he just looked resigned.

Unfortunately, there's not really any way of being sure in advance.

I can highly recommend Savlon spray plaster for minor cat scratches, anyway.

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