Cat + Baby = not working

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You cat-haters are a piece of work. My cat is more mothering than I am -- when my baby cries at night and I am slow getting up to get him, she comes in and wakes me up, then sits beside me while he nurses. She could care less when he accidentially pulls her hair or tail, either. Cats can be wonderful animals.

Okay, seriously. So your cat's a better mom than you? So sad.

[Anonymous]

10:47 Huh? My cats never hissed at my baby. (Who is now 14.) Not once. If one or both had, they would have been sent to new homes. Sorry but this is extreme behavior. The cat could scratch the babies face and cause a scar. Good grief, I love cats but lets be real here!

[Anonymous]

Op: I know this is hard and we had a similar problem with our otherwise docile dog. What helped in our case was time and our baby being able to stand/walk. Our dog become territorial/aggressive toward our baby only when the he was able to crawl and could get it the dog's stuff/business. I think the dog and baby being on the same "level" was the problem, b/c the dog's behavior changed once our son was able to walk and could then look down/over our dog. Again, not saying time is the answer, but this is what happened with us. We also tried trainers and separation, but none of those worked great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You cat-haters are a piece of work. My cat is more mothering than I am -- when my baby cries at night and I am slow getting up to get him, she comes in and wakes me up, then sits beside me while he nurses. She could care less when he accidentially pulls her hair or tail, either. Cats can be wonderful animals.

Okay, seriously. So your cat's a better mom than you? So sad.

She's a WAY better mom than YOU, she would never put your kid on the interstate in a bag.

[Anonymous]

OP, I have a hard time thinking that your cat just walked over to your baby and hissed/nipped. I am guessing that your baby was crawling over to your cat and your cat was defending itself. You said it nipped (NOTE, PPs, that she didn't say BITE) - this is a 'warning' measure just like hissing. The cat is trying to tell the baby 'no' because you are not doing a good job of it.
Can you segregate the cat and baby while the baby is moving around? Like, make the basement or a spare bedroom (even your bedroom, if it's big enough) the cat's 'home base', and it's a kid-free territory. YOUR CAT SHOULD NOT BE NEAR YOUR BABY WHEN THE BABY IS CRAWLING AROUND. I cannot emphasize that enough! Cats will try to run away, but when cornered they will hiss/nip (and you don't want your child to keep threatening the cat to the point that the cat really thinks he's in danger). Put the cat food/litter box in the same room as the cat and remove it from the baby's roaming area. Our cat lives in the basement and when she is upstairs and being chased by the toddler, she meows (she is a very, very passive cat) and I send her back to the basement before she is cornered, because even the best natured cat can only put up with so much.

I am an animal lover, and we all know that this cat is likely to be put down if moved to a shelter. If you live in a house with more than 2 rooms, physical separation should not be that difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try Craigslist too.

Where are you from?

Craigslist are full of bunchers and posers, the cat would be better off at an animal shelter (and I'm an animal lover and advocate).

OP should contact her vet for advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I have a hard time thinking that your cat just walked over to your baby and hissed/nipped. I am guessing that your baby was crawling over to your cat and your cat was defending itself. You said it nipped (NOTE, PPs, that she didn't say BITE) - this is a 'warning' measure just like hissing. The cat is trying to tell the baby 'no' because you are not doing a good job of it.
Can you segregate the cat and baby while the baby is moving around? Like, make the basement or a spare bedroom (even your bedroom, if it's big enough) the cat's 'home base', and it's a kid-free territory. YOUR CAT SHOULD NOT BE NEAR YOUR BABY WHEN THE BABY IS CRAWLING AROUND. I cannot emphasize that enough! Cats will try to run away, but when cornered they will hiss/nip (and you don't want your child to keep threatening the cat to the point that the cat really thinks he's in danger). Put the cat food/litter box in the same room as the cat and remove it from the baby's roaming area. Our cat lives in the basement and when she is upstairs and being chased by the toddler, she meows (she is a very, very passive cat) and I send her back to the basement before she is cornered, because even the best natured cat can only put up with so much.

I am an animal lover, and we all know that this cat is likely to be put down if moved to a shelter. If you live in a house with more than 2 rooms, physical separation should not be that difficult.

just get rid of the cat and ignore this silly advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:10:47 Huh? My cats never hissed at my baby. (Who is now 14.) Not once. If one or both had, they would have been sent to new homes. Sorry but this is extreme behavior. The cat could scratch the babies face and cause a scar. Good grief, I love cats but lets be real here!

I think it's extreme that you seem to think a scar on a face is a fate worse than death.

[Anonymous]

I'm going to second the Feliway poster - it doesn't have to be a spray, we have some you plug into an outlet (it doesn't smell like anything to humans). We had different cat behavior, but with the Feliways, they've calmed down significantly. It's worth a try.

I'd also see if you can isolate the cat from the baby, at least temporarily, while you try to find it a new home. I know this is much easier said than done, of course.

[Anonymous]

Oh, this is a hard situation. Our cat didn't freak out until our baby started walking, at which point he started peeing and pooping in all our beds, laundry baskets, etc. That was just too much and, as hard as it was we took him to a shelter. I'm not saying it was the ideal solution, but I'm comfortable that the decision was the best for our family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Make your cat an outdoor cat. We did that. Thought it was better then sending the cat to the shelter. She still gets food and water and petting but she's not near the baby. Cat loves to roam around outside and sleep in the sun. I think she's happier actually.

It would be more responsible for her to rehome her cat.

http://web4.audubon.org/bird/cat/

[Anonymous]

PP here, cats can be so strange and so different! I adopted an adult cat from a coworker - the coworker passed away and had FIVE cats that were going to be destroyed. Mine was not used to little kids at all. But within a few weeks he totally adjusted to my kids. He is not mean to them at all.

Every cat is different. OP If you can't make it work with the cat you've got and you have to rehome her, you can get your good karma back imho by adopting another cat who will not harm your kids. Your current cat may be perfect for an adults-only home. Shelter workers seem to be able to tell the kid-friendly cats; out of the five cats my coworker left behind, they matched me with this one because of my two year old.

And don't do craigslist, I have heard of cat torturers on there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:10:47 Huh? My cats never hissed at my baby. (Who is now 14.) Not once. If one or both had, they would have been sent to new homes. Sorry but this is extreme behavior. The cat could scratch the babies face and cause a scar. Good grief, I love cats but lets be real here!

I think it's extreme that you seem to think a scar on a face is a fate worse than death.

Seriously! Who cares about subjecting your infant to life-long deformities, your cat was there first.

Wasn't PP a cat lover who claimed her cat was a better mom than she was?

[Anonymous]

cuzimawesome wrote:Wasn't there a thread a while back where an exhausted pregnant woman was thinking about re-homing a dog? And didn't everybody go nuts on her, saying she was selfish and an awful person? Not one person made a joke about killing the dog. I'm not a dog person, but I would never make a joke about killing a dog. So why would it be okay to joke about killing a cat? Seriously people. Get yr shit together.

Yes that was me, I was thinking the same thing! I got so much grief! And I was emotionally not stable at the time. My therapist advised me to stay away from this advice-a real dog lover herself, even being part of a rescue organization.
People here can be so cruel and harsh.