Cats and nearly-Toddlers - Getting on great !

[Debsymiller (Rufus' mum)]

How lovely Children gain so much from learning how to interact with a care for animals and if not sensibly, it's great for the whole family. When I was a baby, our cats Ben and Mishka (Bridge babes now) slept at the end of my cot and all through my childhood, my brother and I had a really strong bond with them. When my nephew comes to stay, even though he doesn't have pets at home, we teach him to be gentle with the cats and make sure he's supervised and they play really well together. When we have children it will be exactly the same and our kids wll learn to love and respect animals.   

[fluffybunny]

That's great that your kitties get on well with your little one    I have to say it isn't always the case though - my two were given into a rescue by their previous owner because they were terribly distressed with her 14 month old.  Admittedly they were also in a high rise 1 bedroom flat so there was nowhere for the cats to 'escape' to so it was a bit different - but I do think she did the pragmatic thing in letting them go, it was for the sake of the cats not for her convenience.  The rescue said that she did love and adore them but knew they were very distressed with the baby.  When they were collected, Geoffrey was hiding under the kitchen worksurface and wouldn't come out.  Of course I'm glad she gave them up for their sake, especially because they are now my special little babies 

[sixfurballs]

I have a 2 year old daughter and a 4 year old son. I have six cats the oldest of whom is 6 and has been with us since she was 8/9 weeks old. My kids have always been used to cats and love them. They are generally very good with them.

The cats are staying indoors 24/7 at the moment whilst the 2 new cats settle in and will be for at least one or two more weeks. The children have been a little too exciteable with them at times in the last couple of weeks which the cats have had a harm time dealing with as they can't leave the house and the tension of them all meeting. My daughter has had a few scratches including one or her eyelid which was too close for comfort. However, the only person who has been chastised is my daughter. The cats are just doing what they naturally do and my daughter has to learn when to play with them and when to leave them alone. I see her learning and the last few days when they go into certain spots in the house, like under the table or fish tank, or if she hears them hissing she says cat cross - and stays away from them.

Children can't learn how to interact with animals or how to respect them unless they spend time with them. My daughter has a couple of those Osborne kitten books as well and she still enjoys going through them.

[Jennifer]

It's a real shame when people worry too much about what pets are going to do to their babies without thinking about it properly.
I'm very, very glad my parents kept their Burmese and German Shepherd when my mum got pregnant, I can't imagine my childhood without Kit and Shelley, and I feel sorry for kids who grow up without cats or dogs.

[Angeladeedah]

My best friend has a 6 month old baby and she still hadn't been round to mine so I invited her round the other week there.  She had avoided my house whilst she was pregnant as I think she thought she would catch some disease from the cat litter - you would think I made my visitors roll around in it or something.   Anyway, she declined my offer to come round because "she wasn't sure how Sophie would be with the cats" - so I tore a strip of her but in the end we had to cancel her coming round anyway.  But I just got so mad because I thought what on earth does she think they're going to do to her - if anything they will run away and hide until the baby left the house.  And trying to protect the baby from anything and everything just because your not sure how they're going to react??!! They had taken her to the zoo and she was fine there and I' pretty sure they're cats are a lot bigger than mine.

[Tiggy's Mum]

That's lovely J    I'm looking forward to becoming a first time Auntie (first baby whatsoever in our family since I was born actually!) and am worrying how the boys will react, I hope my nephew will be good friends with them 

I bought a Mamas and papas push along toy to keep here for when he comes over and my Mum said to me 'where was i going to keep it?'  I told her it looks pretty funky so he can live in the spare room even when my nephew isn't over, her reply was 'What about the cats hair?' I pointed out that I intended having my own baby one day and that I wouldn't be cling filming his/her toys or the boys themselves and while that i wouldn't encourage them to sleep on the babies toys/things I certainly wasn't worried about the odd cat hair!

[shecat]

Haaaa, it is lovely  after all reports from people "must give up cat cos Im pregnant".  My daughter in law has a beautiful long haired black and white moggie  cat called Douglas .  Now she has my even more wonderful grandson (18 months old)  Last time I went over Wills and Douglas were curled up on a mat and Wills was sucking Douglas's ear and had two jammy fingers curled up in his fur.  Douglas in the meantime was flat on his back purring, they were both being gentle with each other and apparently Douglas never lets Wills out of his sight and looks after him.  So children and pets for all. Love to your baby,J and the cats .

[clarenmax]

Its so lovely to hear that they're all getting on so well together 

I always think its crazy when people worry about having a new baby in a household with animals.  When I was born we had a dalmation, he was crazy with everyone except me, he used to sit and guard me wherever I was 

[tigerbaby]

That is lovely. Cats can be just as gentle around kids as dogs can - as long as the kids are gentle too.

I'm glad to hear they are getting on great. Must be lovely to watch them play.. 

[ems]

Aw J thats great 

Wonderful stuff, such a shame that so many people don't even give their cats a chance to get to know their babies 

On another note but in the same vein, our neighbour asked us who we had given our cats to since we got our dog because we couldn't possibly have both  I was gobsmacked

[J (Indoorcatsuk)]

Well, some of you may remember my thread some months back about how well my baby daughter was getting on with our cats.
I haven't been around on Purrs much due to being stupidly busy with her.

I just wanted to post a thread about how great they are still getting on and how my daughter, even tho she is only just turned one, seems to know how to stroke a cat. I'm so gobsmacked by how she doesn't grab but actually strokes the cat who has adopted her.
They lay together for hours, and ' her ' cat loves to sit with her and play with her toys.
If our daughter cries our cats run over to see what is wrong, and are not fearful of her at all.

I know this post doesn't contain anything jaw-droppingly interesting but I'm so chuffed that they get on so great still I just had to post about it, as when I read stories about people giving up their cats it makes me crazy. There really is no excuse unless there is some life-threatening allergy or something.

Strangely, my daughters favourite book is ' That's not my Kitten '.