Author Topic: my girlfriend is pregnant and we have kittens...help!!  (Read 1502 times)

Offline hollycat

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Re: my girlfriend is pregnant and we have kittens...help!!
« Reply #6 on: September 12, 2014, 23:39:03 PM »
 :congrats:

Sorry can't help with babies and kittens I do not have any children.

Offline Dawn F

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Re: my girlfriend is pregnant and we have kittens...help!!
« Reply #5 on: September 12, 2014, 16:16:04 PM »
oh I've heard the sucking breath one as well - truly bizarre  :Crazy:

congrats on the baby, I'm sure you'll work it out just fine, thinking about it in advance is half the battle

Offline district venom

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Re: my girlfriend is pregnant and we have kittens...help!!
« Reply #4 on: September 12, 2014, 16:03:38 PM »
ha, im glad people finally understand, being from an indian household, and with annoying aunts who are telling me loads of horror stories about cats attacking or 'sucking a babies breath'
I ended up in an argument with a cousin because i told her id rather have the cats than have her babysit my baby when shes  born  :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Offline emmmy_lou

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Re: my girlfriend is pregnant and we have kittens...help!!
« Reply #3 on: September 12, 2014, 15:46:05 PM »
 :congrats: on your good news!

The only thing I would add is invest in some feliway and start using it a couple of weeks before the (expected) due date to relax your cats. I am sure there will be a lot of visitors to admire your new arrival when he/ she arrives so this may be a bit stressful for them too.

When I first saw the title I thought 'Oh no! They want to rehome the kittens just because they heve a baby?!' but I am so glad thats not the case!  ;D The risk of toxoplasmosis is minimal, but yes I would keep your girlfriend away from the litter trays just in case!
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Offline Sue P (Paddysmum)

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Re: my girlfriend is pregnant and we have kittens...help!!
« Reply #2 on: September 12, 2014, 15:23:35 PM »


Congratulations at your lovely news.   :)  how very sensible to begin thinking of how the cats and the baies will interact at this stage.

You can get special tapes of babies crying - actually, of all sorts of stuff - hoovers, washing machines etc, which you can play to your cats to get them used to the hubbub of life in a "full to capacity for the time being" family setting, which will help them to get used to the idea of a crying baby before the real thing arrives.    You could buy one or two extra "baby things" and leave them lying around where the cats can investigate, and when the baby arrives, you can do scent swapping, just as you would when introducing a new ktten.  the best way to do that is to have something which will smell of both Mum and Baby, or Dad and baby, so you mingle the familiar scent with the new scent.

If your cats enjoy cuddle time, when the baby comes, try to make sure that all the fuss isn't centred just around the baby, and make sure you make time for the cats too - with two cats at least they have each other for snuggling and playtime.   :)

Cats seem to have an innate instinct which steers them clear of babies generally (creatures of uncommon good sense  :evillaugh:) , but we do know of a couple of friends with cats who had children, and the cats would sleep in the cots/pushchairs, sometimes whilst the babies were still in them.  Maybe not ideal, but their children certainly didnt come to any harm over it.

I've heard it said when I was a kid that cats would suffocate babies, but I've never actually heard or read of this happening.  Some very sweet photos of cats and babies here


https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cats+sleeping+on+babies&biw=1024&bih=1201&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=RgATVIfEDYPKaP6ugcAC&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ



The "oh-oh" time for families is when the babies get to crawling and toddling stage, because that's when they have a habit of grabbing and pulling and walking over anything and everything as they expore.  That goes down less well with cats generally, but baby-gates can be had these days with small cat flaps built in, so the cats can get out of harm's way, and the baby stays put (that's the theory anyway - I havent tried one personally!).

The main thing is never to leave the baby with the cats unsupervised, same as I'd say for dogs really, but I think you probably already embrace that philosophy.


Offline district venom

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my girlfriend is pregnant and we have kittens...help!!
« Reply #1 on: September 12, 2014, 14:58:11 PM »
hey, so me and my girlfriend are expecting a baby girl in a few months and we have 2 very energetic kittens, who act like toddlers.
in the past, when children have come to our home, the kittens have behaved ok-ish, in a way that it takes a while for them to introduce themselves to the guests and once they're comfortable, they are their boisterous and crazy kitten-selves, but thats with kids over the age of 4-5
from what i know, they dont have any interaction with babies and infants, and I need to know what I need to do to help ease them through the pregnancy and then the addision of their new 'sister'
I know that my girlfriend wont be cleaning out the litter due to health risks and that all the responsibility now is all mine, and im ok with that, its just the idea of both the baby and the kittens being safe

any help would be appreciated

[btw, i know i havent been online for a while, but its great to be back]

 


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