Introducing New Baby to Cats

hey T., i had cats when i had my first daughter, they didn't seem to have a problem with her, but I definately had a problem with them, after she came home I couldn't keep the cats from her bassinet, car seat, bouncer, everything that was hers they wanted to lay in. I had to but that spray stuff that repels them. Also my pedi warned me not to leave the baby alone in the same room as the cats until she was at least 3 months because cats can "steal a baby's breath" They sometimes go to sniff a baby's face and can take away a baby's breath she said... I don't know aboutthat, I never took the chance just in case... hope this helps a little....

T.,
If you havent had your baby yet great it makes it easier. You want to get a baby doll and wrap it up just like a real baby.You want to start this about about 3 week prior to the baby's arrival. Place the baby in the crib/ bassinet or what ever.Cats are very curious. They will check it out or even jump in the crib. That is when you slowly tell them no but love them. Hold the "baby" and let them on your lap again they don't want to be left out. By the time the real one comes they will know the ground rules.

If the baby is already here. The best advise is not ignore the cats, let them be curious.You know if you make them mad you will get a surprise somewhere unexpected!!!!

If you need more advise just email me..Mom of 2 girls and many cats..

When we had our daughter 6 years ago, I don't remember having a hard time with the cats. The cats were very timid at first but after about a week, they were fine. Just be careful and watchful the first few weeks and they'll learn what's ok and not.

What I did was with three dogs so I'm not sure if it will help. I had my husband bring home the newborn cap from the hospital before I got home with the baby to get the dogs used to her smell. When we got home we let one dog at a time check out the baby while one of us held her, not letting the dog get in her face though. They always seem to be find around her. One of them is protective even when strangers come to the house. I know cats don't really do that kinds of thing, but the idea might still work. Hope that helps!

Our vet had said to have baby toys around, i.e. saucer, bouncer, so that the animals ( I have two) could get used to some change in advance. Then put a blanket of the babies out after the baby has been born so that they get used to the smell. Honestly, the only thing that we did was have some stuff out; however, we didn't do the blanket thing. Both our cat and dog adjusted; they were just both a bit perplexed for the first week. Also, I didn't let the animals get too close b/c I wasn't sure what they would do. Good luck!

We tried the blanket thing, but my cat had no interest in the blanket and just ignored it. We didn't really do anything special to introduce our cat to our daughter. They just slowly discovered each other naturally. When my daughter was a newborn and I was holding her, the cat would try and sit on my lap and smell her a little. The hardest part was when my daughter discovered the cat. They want to pull, hit, etc. Our cat just had to get use to our daughter being rough with her.

Put a blanket that the baby has been wrapped in and place it on the floor where the cats can smell it, lay on it, etc. Then, introduce the baby to the cats. Let the cats smell the baby, but be RIGHT there.

We keep the door closed when the baby sleeps at night, but otherwise, our cats basically ignore our baby, and go running when he cries. Good luck!

My stepson brought my son's (used) receiving blanket home b/4 we came home to let him smell it. I actually called into a talk show with a vet and asked him how to do it. And that was his advice. We didn't have any problems.Now that my kids are 6 and 4 1/2, I think my cat has figured out that they are here to stay and just this year lets the kids brush & pet him. Too funny.

Hi T.-

I have 5 cats and a 9 week old. All 5 have very different personalities and I expected them to react to my baby in 5 different ways. I was most concerned with one of my kitties and how she would react to my baby, so I made sure she was supervised closely.

What I did to prepare my kitties was anything that came into the home for the baby was inspected by all the cats, just by sniffing. Every so often they were allowed into the babys room to inspect, but they knew it was off limits as the door would always be closed.

We used a cat net on the buggy and a mosquito net on the babys bed to detract the cats from jumping in. They never did so we have since removed it.

I also walked around the house where the baby would probably cry with my laptop and an audio clip of a baby crying so they could get used to the noise.

Here's the site to find the clip....

http://www.andycarvin.com/archives/2006/08/audio_of_babie...

Once baby was born, my hubby brought home her first hat, which was covered in the stuff from birth, for the kitties to sniff. They all had their turn sniffing, but it was no big deal to them.

All this may have been excessive, but to put my husbands mind at ease, I tried everything to prepare them. This of course went on over a series of months before she arrived, but her transition into the home was seamless.

Also, I have been in rescue for many years and have heard all the stories from people dumping their animals because of the baby or even just because they were pregnant. I wanted to make sure that my kitties were comfortable with the new arrival.

The one kitty that we were most concerned with now sits with us during feeding time and loves to sniff the babys feet. We are all happy as we can be.

One last thing, you know your kitties personalities. Work from there........

Don't hesitate to email me if you have any questions.

My cats were extremly gentle in nature so when we took our baby home from the hospital I had my husband bring her in so I could greet the cats (who had missed me)and then we set her in her car seat on the ground. The cats sniffed curiously and then ignored her. My cats really didn't care much about her until she began moving (except when she was screaming- one of my cats yowled nonstop when my daughter would cry loudly), and then they learned to get out of the way unless they wanted to be drooled on and tugged at. But then again, my cats had never ever bit or scratched anyone and they were older so I trusted them a great deal not to hurt my baby whatever she did. They never disappointed me. I still have one of those cats and she is still terrific. She just runs off when my daughter gets a bit too touchy for her.

We didn't do anything to introduce the cat and baby. Just let them discover each other on their own. It's turned out fine.

I remember reading something before I had my son. It said to bring a blanket with your child's scent to them to get used to the child. We didn't do anything like that though. My one cat was curious but didn't like his crying. She would bite me when he started crying. She was a siamese mix and very outgoing. The other was more your "typical scaredy cat" just hid from him for a few weeks. She was never been that interested in him even after 4 yrs.

Chances are, your cats will act like, well, cats. They'll probably hide for bit but will eventually get used to the baby and stop avoiding him or her. It's probably a good idea to keep them a bit seperated especially starting out at least until you get a better idea on how things are going. Frankly, I thought the harder part was when my son was mobile and wanted to grab the cat. That's another story though.

We have two cats and had no problem. At first contact, we laid the baby on the floor. The cats were acutely aware that something alive was in the room, so stayed away. When they finally worked up the nerve to come sniff him, that was about as fast as it lasted and they prety much stay away from the noisy little person. One of our cats is getting more comfortable now that he knows the new creature is not a threat, so we still watch - but that's about it. Our two cats just aren't interested. We did place aluminum foil in the crib and playpen for awhile after they were set up to keep the cats out of those.