Help, baby/cat problem

[CathyandHeathcliff]

Earlier today my 9 week old baby was just crying and screaming, wouldn’t take the boob or anything. I laid him on the sofa so I could try and feed him in a different position , my cat jumped off her spot on the armchair and jumped on his head like she was biting him. I threw her off and checked him over, so mark that I can see and no blood/scratch mark, he didn’t scream out either (although he was already screaming)
What the hell do I do? I’ve put the cat outside, I was shaking. She’s the loveliest cat you could meet, I don’t know why she did it! Thankfully I managed to intervene in time, but I dread to think if I hadn’t!
Any advice? 😢

Ok. Scary situation. Cat possibly feels a bit jealous. A crying baby to a cat can be a lot of stimulation. A domesticated cat wouldn't hurt a baby. I think for now keep them apart obviously do all the stuff you need to with baby but make sure cat has some time for fuss etc. All will be ok.

If she’d wanted to bite him she would have just done it. Cats dont hang about.

I would put the cat upstairs to sleep during the day.

Maybe she was trying to comfort him?

@Fluffycloudland77 unfortunately we don’t have any doors that properly shut in this house. We’re getting them sorted ASAP. The only one that does is the bathroom and attic bedroom.
The cat does come in and out during the day (she’s not a house cat),
I’m just not sure whether she needs to be rehomed before something bad happens. I feel like I’m on edge now.

I thought if she wanted to bite or scratch him she would have just done it. I wonder what she was doing. It certainly looked like she was biting him on the ear/neck but there’s no mark and he didn’t cry out in pain.

@Toddlerteaplease possibly, I wonder what she was doing though.

Wonder if she was licking/grooming him like she would do to a kitten.

Might the cat have been smelling your baby? Our cat used to like to have a good smell of our eldest.

It’s just the way one minute she was on the chair and the next she was on his head!

Our cat was jealous of our first. He tried to jump on her prom and scratched her a couple of times so he went.

I don’t want to re home her unnecessarily but I don’t want to leave it & risk something else happening

The rule is to never leave babies and animals alone together anyway.

I think she was trying to comfort him, if they want to bite they’re like lightening.

@Fluffycloudland77 I was in the room, literally a second away from them. I wouldn’t leave them alone, especially not now.

I wouldn't rush to re-home the cat, observe and keep an eye on her for a while. If she's a gentle cat usually and there was no indication the baby was upset she was probably just inquisitive about the noise.

One of my cats nuzzles into my face almost like she's suckling.

I think you are exaggerating the whole thing. You are considering reforming your cat because she jumped on your baby and caused him no harm whatsoever?! If she had wanted to search or bite him she would have managed to do so.