hi. i usually post on the pregnancy board, but i think this board is a more appropriate choice for this topic. im expecting a baby june 27 and concerned about how my 2 cats will be around the baby. they are good, affectionate, passive cats, and they've spent their whole lives indoors, but they have never been around a baby before. i have heard alot about people introducing their newborn to the pet dog, but nothing about cats. does anyone have a cat and a baby, and if so how did the cat react to the baby? anyone with any knowledge on the subject would be of much help.

hi
my ds is 9 weeks and i have 2 lovely cats they are fine. they are even allowed in ds room as they have been taught not to go in the cot it has been in his room for the catsd to see and learn to stay away from for 3 months before ds was born. i did kick them out of the moses basket twice when ds was not in it in the beginning but they learnt not to. they come and sit next to me on the sofa when i am feeding ds. mostly they look in wonderment at ds. i make sure i fuss them regularly and all is well.

we have two cats, my son is 7 months, the cats have been fine, we actually just got rid of one(we had 3) because he would eat the bottle nipples, binkys, medicine bottles and take his clothes and shred them...I didnt want to deal with it no more, but the two older cats are fine, he chases after them now and they run :wave:

I have two nice cats. One loves both of the kids and one won't have anything to do with either and runs when they move. Both cats have liked to lay in cribs, car seats, high chairs, etc...but never when the baby was there. They always wait until the area is vacant. Cats are curious and will probably explore the new baby when youare holding it. They'll most likely decide right then what they think about the baby.

thanks to all for the reassurance.

one more thing... what about cat hair? my cats shed alot, and although i try and brush them and keep it all cleaned up, they still leave quite a bit of hair behind. i keep envisioning my baby all covered in cat hair, especially getting it on his hands and then putting his hands in his mouth and choking on it... has anyone had problems with this?

You and your baby will learn to live with the cat hairs! We always vacuumed the floor before giving floor time/tummy time and we always put a blanket that the cats never touch on the floor.
I have two cats, one long hair and one short hair. They are both perfectly fine with both my boys and took to him nicely. Toby, the long hair cat loves to be hugged by my toddler while the short hair one, Shauby, runs the other direction!
We don't let them in the baby's room when he's sleeping in there but we let them go in otherwise. They usually just curl up on the rocking chair. No big deal! :D

We also have 2 cats. I kitty doesn't want anything to do with the baby...but we already knew she (the kitty) would be like that.

The other kitty is very friendly & seeks affection constantly. It took him (the kitty) about 6 months before he would hang around the baby more than just for quick smells. Now, at 8 months, DD is reaching out to the kitty, pulling his fur, etc. Kitty hates getting his fur pulled & kind of swipes at DD (he's declawed)...but kitty always comes back for more despite how irritated he might seem.

Also, same as the above posts...kitties love to hang out in DD's crib & her room...but when DD is sleeping in the crib, the kitties don't bother her.

My son is 2 months old and even before he was born I put up his pak-n-play (which he slept in until last week) and whenever my cats got in it, I sprayed them with water..it only took twice before they decided it wasn't such a good idea. But my cats NEVER got in his crib. When I brought him home, they loved him to death! They give him kisses on his cheek (lol it's funny to see his face bc of the rough tounge) and my one girl cat, dylan (who use to bite ppl when she was ignored) totally changed and is very protective over my ds! It's amazing she's gone two months without biting someone -- a record for her! lol.

Our cat Haylee acts the same as she did before. She does like to curl up in her bouncers once in a great while, but it is okay. She never bothers our daughter, Alexa. The hair doesn't seem to be a bi problem in our house. I am a neat, clean freak....I enjoy cleaning so I am on top of the hair. I also went to Costco or you can go to Sam's Club and purchase a six pack of those sticky rollers. I have a roller in every room to quick clean off anything that might have hair sticking to it. There are also undercoat brushes for cats, I saw them at Bed, Bath and Beyond but I don't know how well they work.

My mom who watches DS for me, has 4 cats. 3 of them run the other way when DS is coming but the one will stick around. The other day DS (11 months) was pulling that one by the tail. When DS was a baby they would never go by him but would curl up in his stuff when he was out of it. And spraying them with water works wonders. DS is more active now and is able to catch them when they are unaware. 2 of them can get nasty and will bite if they are not happy with you but they have never gone after DS. They will try to get away but never go to bite. They are not declawed and the one time DS was pulling the one cats fur and all the cat did was put his paw over DS's hand but never put out his claws. I think cats are smart enough that they figure out their limits very qucikly when a baby comes around.