Tell me the truth about cats and newborns - Page 3

[_betsy_]

3 cats, a 2.5 year old and an infant. No problems.

The cats were interested in baby's stuff before the first one was born, but as soon as she came home they stopped wanted to sleep on the changing table.

Babies are pretty scary to cats. They move wildly, relatively uncontrollably and completely unpredictibly (to the cat anyway). The baby is something the adults seem to place a huge value/importance on, and the baby is noisy, smelly and moves on it's own. To a cat, this all says "Steer clear."

[ramama]

Originally Posted by Uxor

My cat liked to sleep and purr on my belly when I was pregnant. After ds1 was born she started climbing up into my lap ontop of ds1 while i was nursing. Ds1 never cared that he had a purring ball of fuzz on top of him during his meals. With ds2 she alway sat next to me during the feedings. She always left the crib and carseat alone though.

We had a cat that did this too. Like, where's the belly and what's this new thing here instead? We were concerned at first because one of our cats liked to sleep in the bassinet before DD was born, but she did stay away once DD was born. Sometimes they liked to lay in my warm spot next to DD when I got up from nursing her to sleep, but really weren't that interested in DD herself.

[mouso]

Like others, one of my cats sat (and sits) on my big belly while pg.
When DD was born he would snuggle up on the Boppy and hang out. When she started moving around and got interested in him he took off.
He is starting to tolerate her now since she has stopped pulling his tail.

Both cats steered clear of DD when very small. I have a cat like yours that won't budge and will bite you while she's purring too. We've had to teach Dd not to bother her and that has ended in tears a few times but now is fine.
They get along and DD knows that Ruby doesn't like to be touched a lot- but they do run around the house together.

[NaturallyKait]

According to my mother I was attacked by her cat as a baby. I was having belly time on the floor and the jealous kitty lunged onto me and started digging her teeth into my neck. Obviously since I was only a few months old I can't verify lol. She was just careful to keep that cat in other parts of the house.

[Ldavis24]

DH and I are preparing for our kitty Loki to deal with our first baby coming in May and one thing we have realized is that if your cats aren't fixed get them fixed!
I tend to have strong feelings about neutering/spaying pets that aren't always in line with shelter's etc. I find the idea to be akin to castrating your animal and you wouldn't do that to yourself or another human right? Unfortunately Loki has gotten into spraying anything that comes into the house not smelling like us already so he had to have it done.

Also while we won't have DD sleeping in bed with us (DH is terrified of that) she will be in a bassinet next to the bed and Loki tends to lay on our chests at night, I have woken up with him on my chest. So he will be shut out of the room when we and DD are sleeping at night...

If your kitty is needy like our little boy is I would HiGHLY suggest starting the not sleeping in your room regime before baby arrives. We have started shutting him out at night because he yowls at the door all night and claws at the door. Literally ALL NIGHT. Its crazy, you'd think he'd get tired but oh no. We also do this because we do not want the first night he is shut out of our room to be when the baby is here and associate being shut out of the room with the baby. No negative association.

I don't have any other suggestions beyond that, but definitely we are trying to get kitty used to not being in our bedroom at not. So far 3 sleepless night of cat crying outside the door!

[newyoungmum]

im so relieved to read all this.i have two cats and i love them so dearly and i also have a baby on the way.i was told my fluufy cuddly girl will smother my new baby and that if i keep the cats social services will come take my child..not a very nice thing to hear for a first time mom to be,or any mother id imagine.so im so glad i found this forum!<3

[Tigerchild]

Old thread, but I had to brag about my feral born cat...

He loved our babies.  (He will still come running when he hears toddler/kid voices in the house--while he slinks away and hides if he hears adults!)  He used to help put them to sleep (lay down on my restless boys' legs and purr so loudly and make cute 'mama cat' chirping noises at them if they squirmed--until they had to hold still for a couple of minutes and would then crash).  He played with them and their baby toys and the dollhouses and Rescue Heros and still plays with their legos (with and without the kids).  When they transitioned out of the family bed and into their own, he was always there to cuddle whoever needed him to sleep.  He let 3 babies/toddlers pull at his ears/tail, gnaw on him while teething, grab handfuls of hair--and whenever I rescued him and picked him up and moved him he'd struggle to get out of my arms so he could be right back with "his kittens".  Even now he cries at night if someone is missing because of a sleepover, and cries during the day the first 2 weeks that the kids go back to school.  If the kids are watching TV or playing games, he is cuddled up with them.  I already get teary eyed just thinking about what a huge loss it's going to be for all of us when he dies eventually (he's 11 now but I'm hoping he's going to be one of those 20 year old cats)!  He's been the star of many preschool drawings and elementary school writing projects.  He's been stuffed into doll clothes, worn costume jewelry, has had glitter glue and paint spilled on him, has "played" pokemon and scrabble with the kids, been a sidekick and a superhero (complete with paper/fabric costumes).  He has dried almost as many tears as I have over the years (my oldest is 10).

I do think that Oliver is a very usual cat, but when you have a cat that loves your kids and kids that absolutely adore your cat, it is a beautiful, unbeatable thing.  :)  See, I am getting teary eyed just writing this (with Oliver purring away in my lap!)

[mrsteapot]

We had a cat when ds1 was born. Before he was born she would lay in my lap and on the belly and purr, afterwards she would lay under him on my lap while he nursed and purr. She was always sweet to him, but pretty much left him alone. My mom always thought that the reason for the "breath stealing" myth was that they liked the smell of the milk on the babies breath. 

[MrsGregory]

I have one daughter, nearly 4 months now, and two cats - one is under 2 years old and one is over 11 years old.  We call the young female "Sh*tsack" and the old one "Mean Old Kitty".  (Not their real names.  But they should be!)  So, I have also heard the superstition about cats stealing a baby's breath, but we (my family) doesn't hold that one.  We actually believe that a cat brings good luck, and pregnant women should have a female cat with them.  We also think your cats should come to you, so we don't buy cats.  (We do make the "donation" the shelter requires, hah.)  My female cat, she chose me at the shelter by screaming at me through the cage until I let her out and said I'd keep her.  She is aptly named due to her destructive tendencies, but I wanted a female cat for my pregnancy, and to have her choose me was very good luck I thought.  She is very, very, very jealous of my daughter, but would never hurt her - she likes to snuggle up next to her on my lap.  Mean Old Kitty was in "guard" mode at the last days of my pregnancy and for many weeks after daughter was born.  He would station himself near me and just stay there.  Now he is just annoyed that he doesn't get as much attention - but again, he is nothing but gentle with my sweet little girl.

The only concession I made was I let my husband go ahead and clean their boxes while I was pregnant.  I've been told since my cats live indoors only it wasn't needed - but I forgot to remember that and let hubby keep dealing with the boxes for 10 months. 

When daughter crawls I will be on alert;  I don't want her to grab a kitty and get a claw in the eye for it.  If they seem inclined to hurt her, I will lock the cats away from her while she crawls about.  I cannot see getting rid of them.  I think it would be very poor luck to put the cat out, and superstition aside, they were here first.  Heh.

[octolars]

Originally Posted by Limabean1975 

Cosleeping is always the answer to such questions! That way you'll be there and know the cat won't accidentally smother the baby. Of course, it's probably a total myth, but I must say, one of our cats - the largest one - looooved to sleep curled around DS's head when he was a baby. Warm & cozy! He did sometimes shift around and flop his large butt over DS's face in a way I was not comfortable with...but I was right there. I did take the cat out of the room with me if I was stepping out.

Just for fun, a picture! Yellow baby, 2 days old. Orange cat, about 5 years old.

what an adorable picture! that looks just like my sweet orange cat, Anakin!!!!!  We are planning on having the baby in a cosleeper or bassinet right next to the bed.  I have been worried about Anakin sleeping on Charlotte's face and smothering her, but my husband says that is just a mother's paranoia.  It's not that far fetched though, he sleeps on my head sometimes.  but then again, he will want to be closest to me... unless he thinks the bassniet is really for him... now im rambling.  I want everyone in the same room together.  I mean, my cats are part of the family too.,  I have them both for 10 years, and I love them like my children.  knowing that other people have done this with no problems makes me feel better.

At least I'm pretty sure they he won't mistake her for a loaf of bread and drag her off somewhere  

[octolars]

I really loved reading this.  How beautiful!!!!!

Originally Posted by Tigerchild 

Old thread, but I had to brag about my feral born cat...

He loved our babies.  (He will still come running when he hears toddler/kid voices in the house--while he slinks away and hides if he hears adults!)  He used to help put them to sleep (lay down on my restless boys' legs and purr so loudly and make cute 'mama cat' chirping noises at them if they squirmed--until they had to hold still for a couple of minutes and would then crash).  He played with them and their baby toys and the dollhouses and Rescue Heros and still plays with their legos (with and without the kids).  When they transitioned out of the family bed and into their own, he was always there to cuddle whoever needed him to sleep.  He let 3 babies/toddlers pull at his ears/tail, gnaw on him while teething, grab handfuls of hair--and whenever I rescued him and picked him up and moved him he'd struggle to get out of my arms so he could be right back with "his kittens".  Even now he cries at night if someone is missing because of a sleepover, and cries during the day the first 2 weeks that the kids go back to school.  If the kids are watching TV or playing games, he is cuddled up with them.  I already get teary eyed just thinking about what a huge loss it's going to be for all of us when he dies eventually (he's 11 now but I'm hoping he's going to be one of those 20 year old cats)!  He's been the star of many preschool drawings and elementary school writing projects.  He's been stuffed into doll clothes, worn costume jewelry, has had glitter glue and paint spilled on him, has "played" pokemon and scrabble with the kids, been a sidekick and a superhero (complete with paper/fabric costumes).  He has dried almost as many tears as I have over the years (my oldest is 10).

I do think that Oliver is a very usual cat, but when you have a cat that loves your kids and kids that absolutely adore your cat, it is a beautiful, unbeatable thing.  :)  See, I am getting teary eyed just writing this (with Oliver purring away in my lap!)

[MrsGregory]

Speaking of -

When we wake up now, all breathing beings in the house are usually in the bed.  Old Man Kitty stakes our the corner as far as possible from the new human.  Sh*tsack likes to sleep wherever it is most inconvenient for me.  Baby Human sleeps in between the two Old Tired Humans.  Sometimes, when I wake and am the first to do so, I just stay still and enjoy the dark dawn hours, all of us resting, until the birds start to chirp and draw the cats away to the window.

So, Sh*tsack the cat will allow Baby Human to molest her in such horrible ways, and keeps coming back for more, and has not so much as turned hard on my child.  That cat has gained a great deal of my affection for that.  Old Man Kitty got too close once and lost some fur.  He backed up, and has a better idea of how long daughter's arms are now.  He stays at an arm's length plus a foot at all times.  Heh.

[fruitfulmomma]

Our experience with 5 babies and multiple cats is that the cats are very intuitive and very protective of them. I agree with what one of the older pps said about cats being found near babies who had died. I don't think the cats suffocated them, I think the cat knew something was very wrong and went to the child, either in attempt to help them and/or alert the parents of what had already occured. One of my absolute favorite children's books is Katje, the Windmill Cat, based on a true story, about a cat who saved a baby from drowning during a flood in Holland.

That said, sometimes they do get a little too close for my comfort at night, which is another good reason for bedsharing.

[Super~Single~Mama]

Originally Posted by Ldavis24 

DH and I are preparing for our kitty Loki to deal with our first baby coming in May and one thing we have realized is that if your cats aren't fixed get them fixed!
I tend to have strong feelings about neutering/spaying pets that aren't always in line with shelter's etc. I find the idea to be akin to castrating your animal and you wouldn't do that to yourself or another human right? Unfortunately Loki has gotten into spraying anything that comes into the house not smelling like us already so he had to have it done.

Also while we won't have DD sleeping in bed with us (DH is terrified of that) she will be in a bassinet next to the bed and Loki tends to lay on our chests at night,

My moms cat is named Loki, and he sleeps on her chest too!! How funny! He's a flame point Siamese too, my dad found him in a park and brought him home.

[Heavens]

Social services would never take your baby because you have cats.  Absolutely ridiculous (not you, but the person that told you that).  Cats can be a great benefit to children.  You should absolutely keep them and teach your child how to behave around them.  Ignore anyone who tells you otherwise...they may be well-meaning, but they are completely ignorant of the facts.

[Heavens]

Originally Posted by Ldavis24 

DH and I are preparing for our kitty Loki to deal with our first baby coming in May and one thing we have realized is that if your cats aren't fixed get them fixed!
I tend to have strong feelings about neutering/spaying pets that aren't always in line with shelter's etc. I find the idea to be akin to castrating your animal and you wouldn't do that to yourself or another human right? Unfortunately Loki has gotten into spraying anything that comes into the house not smelling like us already so he had to have it done.

Also while we won't have DD sleeping in bed with us (DH is terrified of that) she will be in a bassinet next to the bed and Loki tends to lay on our chests at night, I have woken up with him on my chest. So he will be shut out of the room when we and DD are sleeping at night...

If your kitty is needy like our little boy is I would HiGHLY suggest starting the not sleeping in your room regime before baby arrives. We have started shutting him out at night because he yowls at the door all night and claws at the door. Literally ALL NIGHT. Its crazy, you'd think he'd get tired but oh no. We also do this because we do not want the first night he is shut out of our room to be when the baby is here and associate being shut out of the room with the baby. No negative association.

I don't have any other suggestions beyond that, but definitely we are trying to get kitty used to not being in our bedroom at not. So far 3 sleepless night of cat crying outside the door!

No, we wouldn't castrate ourselves or another human being.....but we have self control and birth control and unspayed/unneutered cats do not.  Unfortunately, we have placed our pets in all sorts of artificial circumstances and they are no longer wild.  With those circumstances comes responsibility for keeping them healthy, feeding them, etc....and I would say that part of that responsibility is to relieve suffering where possible.  When pets are not spayed/neutered and allowed to breed, although you may find homes for your pet's offspring, all it really means is that there are more pets looking for homes.  For every pet someone adopts from you, there's one they didn't adopt from a shelter that most likely was euthanized.  The shelters advocate spaying/neutering for a good reason:  they see every day kittens and healthy adult cats being euthanized because there are no homes for them.  When you've seen an entire litter of beautiful healthy kittens being put down because there were no homes for them and the shelter is full, it really makes you think that spaying/neutering their parents would have been well worth it.

[sassyfirechick]

I grew up with a 25lb cat (yes, he was a fat boy), and as big as he was, he managed to jump into my crib and sleep with me every night.  My mother wasn't sure what to do, but I'm still here today ;-)  my cats are smaller (9 and 12lbs) and they did snuggle with DD in her co-sleeper bed when I'd put it in the living room for naps.  DH is mildly allergic (although has never reacted to our cats) so I have an Invisible Fence wired to the basement ceiling to block off the bedrooms from the cats.  I got them at a yr old and after being in a foster situation prior ot that they were def skittish and I wasn't sure how they'd react to baby....omg they love her.  The male runs when she squeels at him and throws himself on the ground for her to drag him by the collar - he's a freak!  The female likes the attention, not so much the tail pulling so she sit's just out of reach.

[tonttu]

I had a siamese mix , that my hb rescued from a very abusie home when she was about 5 months old .

When I got pregnant with my first baby , I was a bit worried at first , because the abuse was carried out mostly by the former family´s little son ( or rather the parents let him get away with it ) , but once he was born , I realized quickly , that I had worried for no reason .

She LOVED him , slept next to him from the start and actually saved his life once , when I accidentally had locked her out of his bedroom and she started pawing and scratching at the door and meowing  .

At first , I told her to stpo , because I thought , she just wanted to get in there to lay with him , but she became hysterical , so I went to check and when I walked in the room , he was laying there , not breathing and lips all bluish already . So , if it wasn´t for her , he wouldn´t be here today !

Needless to say , I never stopped a cat from laying with one of my babies after that .

[tonttu]

Originally Posted by Heavens 

No, we wouldn't castrate ourselves or another human being.....but we have self control and birth control and unspayed/unneutered cats do not.  Unfortunately, we have placed our pets in all sorts of artificial circumstances and they are no longer wild.  With those circumstances comes responsibility for keeping them healthy, feeding them, etc....and I would say that part of that responsibility is to relieve suffering where possible.  When pets are not spayed/neutered and allowed to breed, although you may find homes for your pet's offspring, all it really means is that there are more pets looking for homes.  For every pet someone adopts from you, there's one they didn't adopt from a shelter that most likely was euthanized.  The shelters advocate spaying/neutering for a good reason:  they see every day kittens and healthy adult cats being euthanized because there are no homes for them.  When you've seen an entire litter of beautiful healthy kittens being put down because there were no homes for them and the shelter is full, it really makes you think that spaying/neutering their parents would have been well worth it.

Totally agree !

[inkandpaper]

Originally Posted by JD5351 

I remember my aunt saying that cats will drag a baby down to the basement thinking they were a loaf of bread.

Just had to respond because my food-snatching cat would totally do this!    Steal the bread, not the baby.  Yesterday he pulled a spaghetti noodle out of my bowl and high-tailed it out of the kitchen.

He's fine with the baby.  Leaves the room when she cries.