Cat keeps scratching my baby! HELP!

[filiadeluna]

I have had my cat, Annie, for over 3 years. I adopted her from a shelter when she was about 6 months old. She has always the most gentle, affectionate cat I've met. She loves to lay on blankets on your lap or chest and "make biscuits", and lick the blanket. She never once hissed, scratched (on purpose), bit, etc, until Baby came along.

The day we brought Isobel home from the hospital, Annie hissed at her, so I shooed her away. She remained pretty pissed off at me for a few days. Then Annie warmed up to me again, but she was wary of the baby.

Now Isobel is 14 months old, and very active. Annie will sometimes come up to her and rub against her, but if Isobel tries to pet her or even looks at her funny she will scratch the CRAP out of her. Seriously - Isobel's arms have several scratches of varying sizes and the cat has even clawed at her head before.

I love my cat, but my baby comes first, and I get PISSED when the cat hurts her. All I can think to do is lock the cat in a bedroom for awhile to keep her away. I trim the cats nails, but she is still able to hurt her. I will NOT get her declawed. I have read about those Soft Paw things, but I already know my cat won't hold still long enough to put any kind of glued-on stuff on her nails. She barely holds still for me to brush her fur or trim her nails as it is.

HELP! What can I do? I can't keep letting the cat get away with scratching my baby, but I don't know of any way to train her not to - she scratches our furniture too!

[sosurreal09]

im sorry but that cat needs to go your baby could get seriously ill from the bacteria under the cats nails....

[Jaesun's Dad]

I don't have any easy answers I hope it works out for all of you. My cat was my best friend but she was very jealous. She was jealous of women especially, and when I started dating my partner and she slept over my cat would demonstrate what she thought of that in every corner of the room. When we learned we were going to become parents I gave my cat away to friends. It was very hard to do, and I desperately wanted to look at alternatives, but the bottom line was no matter how much I loved my cat I couldn't trust her to be around a baby. Especially a baby that was taking so much of her time with me away from her.

It sounds like you probably need to keep them separate, especially any time when you aren't around to make sure the cat doesn't get too near.

As you said though, the baby does come first. I had to make a painful decision but I am glad that I did so. I used to cuddle and sleep with her every night, she would follow me around the house like a lost puppy when I got home from work. I truly loved her, but I am blessed with a wonderful son now and for what I had to part ways with I've gotten back ten times.

Sorry not to have anything happier to say, I hope you find a solution less drastic than mine. I really do. Cats aren't so keen on training but maybe there is a way ... I hope you find one.

[greenmagick]

Does the cat seem scared of her at all?

I think I would try making the baby being around the best thing ever for the cat. Lots of treats and praise and games whenever baby is around.

I would also look around for a behaviorist to help....not as easy to find one dealing with cats probably but I think it would be a big help

oh and want to add.....cats definitely are trainable! They respond really well to clicker training.

[Pepper44]

Maybe make her an inside/outside cat if you can? That way when you need space you can put her outside.

The only other thing I can think of is to make her dislike the baby by squirting her whenever she goes near your DD...

[Romana]

In my opinion, you need to keep them separated. The cat is an animal, and for whatever reason she is hostile towards the baby. For the good of both of them, you have to keep them separated.

I've encountered similar issues with pets and always managed to work it out. Working it out generally means inconveniencing myself in some way to create a safe and hospitable living environment for all creatures in the home. I don't feel it's right to get rid of an animal over a problem like this - I believe I have an ongoing responsibility to the pet animal as well as the child. But as I said, I also feel I owe it to them both to create a safe and hospitable living environment.

I would keep them separated.

[filiadeluna]

I have never allowed my cat outside for a few reasons. I am afraid she may bring in fleas, be catnapped (she is a gorgeous, unique-looking kitty and would probably go up to anyone who would give her food), be hurt by another animal (lots of dogs in the neighborhood), or hit by a car. I just don't want to risk it. We don't have a fence, and even if we did she might find a way out.

Keeping them separated is not an option in my small house. We don't have a garage or basement, nor a full-size laundry or storage room. I don't have any space I could keep her where she would have constant access to the litter box, food, and water without Isobel being able to get to her and vice versa.

We keep all of that in the kitchen behind the table so Isobel can't get to it for now, but she has figured out how to move the kitchen chairs - she's strong! Where to eventually move the litter box and cat food is an entirely different issue we'll have to deal with. We used to have a baby gate blocking off the kitchen (expensive), but it broke, and Annie would always jump over it to leave the kitchen anyhow.

*sigh*

[kittywitty]

Originally Posted by anielasmommy09

im sorry but that cat needs to go your baby could get seriously ill from the bacteria under the cats nails....

I completely disagree. Cats are not disposable.

First of all, cut the cat's nails. It will get better as your dd gets older. I have one cat that really dislikes the little ones but is a big ball of love when they get older. Keeping the nails trimmed helps.

[filiadeluna]

Originally Posted by kittywitty

I completely disagree. Cats are not disposable.

First of all, cut the cat's nails. It will get better as your dd gets older. I have one cat that really dislikes the little ones but is a big ball of love when they get older. Keeping the nails trimmed helps.

I do trim her nails, but they still hurt (she scratches me accidentally when jumping off my lap sometimes). Granted, she wiggles like a ferret when I am trimming them so I may not do the best job.

Should I try having them professionally trimmed? Might be pricey, but worth saving my baby's delicate skin.

[kittywitty]

Originally Posted by filiadeluna

I do trim her nails, but they still hurt (she scratches me accidentally when jumping off my lap sometimes). Granted, she wiggles like a ferret when I am trimming them so I may not do the best job.

Should I try having them professionally trimmed? Might be pricey, but worth saving my baby's delicate skin.

I think my vet did it the first time for free to show me the best way. One of my cats is EVIL if you have to do anything to her, so I wrap her in a towel so I don't get mauled. I think it was only like $5-8 to get them trimmed otherwise. Definitely worth it! I say if it still hurts, they aren't cut enough. I wasn't trimming my cats nearly short enough until the vet showed me. Now they don't hurt at all...when I remember to cut them!

[Theia]

It would probably be well worth it to have your vet show you how to trim your kitty's nails. You don't want to get into the pink area (the quick) but on some cats that can be quite a bit of nail. There is also something called styptic powder you might keep on hand because if you do cut to the quick and it bleeds, the powder helps with clotting and stopping the bleed.

You could also start working with your DD about giving the kitty space. My Mom has a house cat that only tolerates everyone aside from Mom. The cat was feral as a kitten when my Mom rescued it because the momma kitty had disappeared. Anyway, my DD is learning that she has to give the kitty space and that when the kitty hisses or swats, that means the kitty is all done and we go play with something else. My DD is a year older than yours, so I realize it's a big difference. But at your DD's age we were already working on this during visits.

When the cat scratches, who is approaching who? Is DD initiating contact and not understanding the cat's warning signs? Or is DD walking along not paying attention and the cat jumps out and attacks? From you description it sounds like the former, and if that is the case, I would work with DD on teaching her that the kitty doesn't want to play. You can train your DD and your kitty both to stay away from each other.

Good luck. I completely understand not wanting to let your kitty outside and to keep her as part of your family.

[rhiOrion]

your vet might be able to put soft paws on for you

[beckyand3littlemonsters]

Originally Posted by kittywitty

I completely disagree. Cats are not disposable.

First of all, cut the cat's nails. It will get better as your dd gets older. I have one cat that really dislikes the little ones but is a big ball of love when they get older. Keeping the nails trimmed helps.

I did once give up a kitten but that was because my little boy cameron was just way too rough with him and i thought he would be better with someone else it broke my heart giving him away though in one month i had a mc, lost my grandma, my dad had a heart attack and then i had to give away my little charlie so cameron didn't seriously injure him as he had already broken one of his legs by throwing him poor little thing
sorry for hijacking your thread op i don't know what came over me

[celerydunk]

If the cat is willing to let you trim her nails, she will probably let you put the soft paws on her. You may not get all of them on at the first try, but you work up to it.

It does sound like most interactions have been negative in the cats mind, since she has been punished. (no criticism to you because I think you are trying - having a new baby in the house is exhausting as it is). Cats are very trainable. I do think they are smarter than dogs in that they will figure out what you want them to do almost immediately, but it just takes longer to convince them they actually want to do whatever behavoir.

[SleeplessMommy]

The vet could probably apply the softpaws for you... might be worth a try.

We did re-home a cat for biting our son when he was a toddler (long story!) That cat would have been fine with an older-child family, we found a child-free individual for her to live with. She came into our home as a temp/rescue cat and we have no regrets about rehoming.

[kittywitty]

I almost forgot about softpaws! I used them for a couple years when my cats were really stressed and scratching furniture a lot and they helped. Just make sure the nails are trimmed before you apply them. THey are pretty cute, too.

[Ola_]

Have you tried a Feliway diffuser and maybe some Rescue Remedy? You can put the RR directly in her mouth if she'll let you, or add to her drinking water. It may help her feel less stressed and thus react less.

[WaitingForKiddos]

Amother vote for soft paws!!! They are AMAZING!! Dh and Franklin, the cat, like to play rough and I swear Dh would be scratched to hell if Frank wasn't safe.

Have you restrained your cat with help when cutting her nails? Get a friend and a towel. Tightly papoose the cat, possibly having friend place a washrag or the tail of the towel over cat's face. Then release one foot at a time and get a nice short cut off the nail/ apply softpaw. A softpaw, also called softclaws, will last a few weeks-months depending on nail growth. I knew a vet that sold them and charged 10 bucks to put them on. Same vet charged under 10 to cut nails. Groomets do a nail cutting too.

If she's scratching and cutting skin her nails need to be much shorter than you're cutting them.