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

Original poster

How did your cats react when you had DC1?

28 replies

OTheHugeManatee · 26/01/2016 11:13

I'm in early pregnancy with DC1. We have two very demanding, devoted and also quite nervous (born feral, rescued as kittens) cats who currently run the house. Girl cat in particular is obsessed with me and follows me round constantly, chatting away, and sits on me at every opportunity.

If all goes well they will be displaced as proxy babies in a few months by an actual baby Shock I'm super excited about the baby but worried the cats' noses may be a bit out of joint.

If you had cats when DC1 was born how did they react? Were they jealous? Did they take it in their stride? I mean, at the end of the day they're pets and the baby matters more but I worry they'll be distressed. Please reassure me that adding a baby to the family isn't necessarily to lead to a Permanent Cat Sulk Hmm

OP posts:
Original poster
OTheHugeManatee · 26/01/2016 12:23

bunt Bump

OP posts:
cosytoaster · 26/01/2016 12:32

I had six cats when DS1 was born. For the most part they took him in their stride and ignored him. My oldest cat, who was also a feral rescue and the one closest to me, brought in mice and left them outside DS1s bedroom door as a sort of acceptance present....sadly that particular cat died when DS was 3 months old. I was careful never to leave them alone with him as I was paranoid about them settling down on his face for a snooze but they actually gave him a wide berth.
Both my DCs have grown to be animal lovers, like me Smile

goodnightdarthvader1 · 26/01/2016 15:12

Interested in this too, very worried about my velcro cat (also a former stray). She doesn't like changes to routine or new people. Really hope she doesn't decide to move out!

StillYummy · 26/01/2016 15:16

We played baby sounds to our cat, gradually increasing the volume. When the baby arrived he was completely not bothered by her noises. We also reduced the cats run of the house early in my pregnancy so that the cat didn't realise the baby was the reason he couldn't go in all the rooms and so there were no major changes. Good luck X

Original poster
OTheHugeManatee · 26/01/2016 19:04

Velcro cat Grin

Not sure about playing baby noises, I think that might do my head in. It's a good idea though. Keeping cats out of our bedroom is a non-starter though. I'm just going to have to pray they adapt, even if it means girl cat gives me the cold shoulder for a bit Hmm

OP posts:
TheGirlOnTheLanding · 26/01/2016 20:03

Younger LandingCat took it all in his stride and grew to be very fond of both DC. Older LandingCat however hated the baby and expressed her displeasure by peeing on anything she could - piles of clean baby clothes, the car seat, bouncy chair etc - so we had to move all the baby stuff out of rooms where cat would be if we went out of the room or house, which was a hassle and stressful. We tried for ages but once DC1 was mobile, her stress levels were such that it wasn't fair on her and LandingCat2 to keep her - she was a rescue and so we've no idea if there was a particular reason behind it, but she'd started to take it out on our other cat so we admitted defeat.

I think it's just your luck and your cats' personalities how they'll react, although things like Feliway help for some.

snowgirl1 · 26/01/2016 20:17

Our two cats generally totally ignored the baby and gave her a wide birth. Although my lap cat did occasionally try to squeeze onto my lap while I was breastfeeding, but didn't go near the baby otherwise.

Original poster
OTheHugeManatee · 26/01/2016 20:19

Feliway helped when we moved house so hopefully will again Smile

OP posts:
Sparklingbrook · 26/01/2016 20:21

My cat at the time took it in her stride. It was summer which helped and she escaped the screeching by sleeping on the bench in the garden.

She also sat on my knee while i was feeding which was a bit of a squish. Grin

mmmuffins · 26/01/2016 20:24

Dc1 is two weeks old. My two Bengal cats are completely indifferent to her presence. Couldn't have gone better really!

DorotheaHomeAlone · 26/01/2016 20:28

Cat was a bit sulky about being pushed out (totally clingy girl cat). She avoided dd and just jumped on me at any opportunity. We were forgiven after a couple of months and she'd come and sit nearby it climb in my lap during feeds.

Unfortunately the crawling came as a nastier shock. Mobile baby was much much more unpopular. Crying never seemed to bother her at all.

(Dd is 18 months now and completely obsessed. I'm still hoping they'll be friends.)

SnozzberryMincePie · 26/01/2016 20:29

We have two dc. Our cat was pretty pissed off with us when dc1 was born and went through a phase of pissing everywhere. It went on for a few months then she got over it. Dc2 she hasn't been so bothered by. The sound of a baby crying upsets her and she goes a bit bonkers. She also loves to sleep on the babys clean things eg cot, pram, car seat. Which is a bit annoying.

Toddler dd loves her though and I think the cat has taught her how to be gentle etc.

sleeplessinmybedroom · 26/01/2016 20:30

We've had our cat 4 years so he came after my eldest children but before the baby. He is completely spoilt and is very particular who he will let touch him. He will sit on my lap but no one elses. If you try and stroke him and he doesnt want you to he will swipe with claws or give a warning bite. He's trained the kids well to only stroke on his terms etc. I was so worried how he would react to the baby. At first he was terrified of her, then he just ignored her. Now she's almost 5 months and he will sit on my lap when she is sat on me too. She's interested in him now and gets excited and tries to grab him. I'm being very careful not to let her grab him but when she did and I didn't react in time he just sat there. I was surprised but I'm still going to keep a close eye on them together. I'm dreading when she can chase him around, I'm hoping he will have the sense to stay out of her way.

SnozzberryMincePie · 26/01/2016 20:30

I forgot to say, the cat was in the room when I gave birth (home birth). Now THAT confused her!

Disastronaut · 26/01/2016 20:35

We have two rescue cats who were used to being top dog in our house. They went into an epic sulk when we brought DD home and they realised she was never leaving.

Two years later one has come round a bit, but the other won't give her the time of day. He literally shows her his backside if she even looks at him. He's stubborn, I'll give him that.

Soooosie · 26/01/2016 20:35

The first time my cat saw DS his eyes nearly popped out of his head and his ears went right back. If he could have spoken he would have said something like 'flipping bloody heck!'

He was scarce a little in the early days and kept his distance with toddlers. We showed them how to stroke gently. I have 4 kids now and he adores them. They adore him too.

BikeRunSki · 26/01/2016 20:40

Ours moved into the garden for a bit. A few weeks later the weather started getting cold. Cat came back in, and largely ignored the baby.

magpie17 · 26/01/2016 20:43

I have two cats and a six month old DS. The cats paid no attention to him at all when he first came home (and they are bengals so naturally total pains in the arse very inquisitive). I was very surprised they were more interested but the only reaction they had was when he cried which they hated).

Now DS is very interested in them so tries to touch them and squeals excitedly when they come and sniff him, they don't really like him and a very wary but I think they are gradually figuring out that he means no harm. I am hoping to teach him to be patient and gentle so they can learn to trust him.

What surprised me most was how guilty I felt for neglecting the cats when DS was born. They were my total babies before he arrived but for the first few weeks I just didn't have any time or energy to do more than feed them and change the litter. That's changed now though and they are back to being spoiled rotten!

FanjoBean · 26/01/2016 20:47

Couldn't have cared less, until DD started sleeping in my bed, displacing female cat who took to sleeping on the chair opposite and aiming dirty looks at us.

Rebeccaelizabethxo · 26/01/2016 20:48

My dd is now 10 weeks old, my two moggies have adjusted well now they are used to her noises and crying and will happily sleep on my lap and cuddle up with her. My Siamese however is a different story- she is so stressed. she will attack my oh and other animals when dd is crying. She has also taken to urinating all over my house. She is missing the attention she used to get and is seemingly very unhappy, to the point where she is going to move in with my sister for a quieter life. Not an easy decision to make but I know it's the best thing for her.

FanjoBean · 26/01/2016 20:49

It was dead weird how massive my cats seemed after I had DD though! She wasn't even a small baby, 8 lb-odd, but tiny compared to them.

PickledLilly · 26/01/2016 20:53

Our lap cat took it all in her stride and has always been very patient and tolerant even now it's a toddler chasing her. The other cat stayed well away and will have nothing to do with her but that's very much her personality anyway, she hates all of us!

abbsismyhero · 26/01/2016 21:02

my eldest cat turned into a baby monitor for me waking me up when the baby woke up (i slept through her crying Blush) younger cat would snuggle her when she was asleep and did not like it when my mom took her away from the house he would sit in the bushes by the front door till she got back home then he would stalk off Grin both would be unhappy when she was ill they would ignore her most the time but if she was sick they were right by her!

on the other hand my neighbours cat moved in with me not long after she had a baby but she did push her away and didn't keep up with feeding her regularly she then got two more kittens and a puppy so ndns cat stayed put with me

the key seems to be keep as much the same as you can as far as the cat is concerned same food feeding schedule (mine were fed three small meals a day) routine helps them cope

Twine88 · 26/01/2016 21:21

We have two cats, both fairly stand-offish pre children - one very shy, the other very independent. Not lap cats (both rescued at 8 weeks) after our ds was born they suddenley became very affectionate - wanting to sit on laps, wanting lots of attention etc - nothing like a bit of healthy competition! The independent one was for a time considered ds guardian cat as he would often come running in from the garden when DS cried, he also mimicked his cry for a time. Broadly speaking (now with dd added to the mix and a third cat who adopted us) they have stayed the same, never tried to bite or scratch.

Purplehonesty · 26/01/2016 22:15

I can't remember. It must have gone well as I don't recall any hassle.

I did find the cat in the cot a few times though.

Nowadays we have a new cat who doesn't like the DC. However as soon as they are asleep she gets in their beds and snuggles right up to them!

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