cat scratches

Sara wrote:

Is there anything to worry about with these scratches? I've read about
"cat scratch fever," but anything else? (He's an indoor, healthy cat.)

My biggest worry would be a down right mauling when the cat gets sick of
it. If it were my cat, I'd protect it from maulings from baby, even if
it means using a squirt bottle to train cat to get up and leave when
baby approaches. Just because deep bites haven't happened yet, doesn't
mean they won't, nor that an eye won't be scratched. I've seen both. I'm
lucky, my cat naturally votes with its feet when baby is afoot.
blacksalt
who took the next polite moment to extract baby from an co-worker's lap
at a party when she lowered baby and let him pull a handful of hair from
a strange (sleeping) dog's tail. Boy was this party an eye-opener.
Another co-worker let her 13 month old crawl up 5 big outdoor steps (no
backing) onto a burning hot deck unsupervised (watched from at least 20
feet away). And these were NURSES!

My nine-month-old baby loves our cat. Loves to chase him, to pet him,
to try to eat him. The cat is surprisingly tolerant, but... well...
there have been incidents. We keep the cat's claws trimmed and try to
stop the violence, but even so Ollie's getting quite a few scratches.

Is there anything to worry about with these scratches? I've read about
"cat scratch fever," but anything else? (He's an indoor, healthy cat.)

--
Sara, accompanied by the baby barnacle

I check this e-mail account infrequently

"Sara" wrote in message
...
My nine-month-old baby loves our cat. Loves to chase him, to pet him,
to try to eat him. The cat is surprisingly tolerant, but... well...
there have been incidents. We keep the cat's claws trimmed and try to
stop the violence, but even so Ollie's getting quite a few scratches.

Is there anything to worry about with these scratches? I've read about
"cat scratch fever," but anything else? (He's an indoor, healthy cat.)

--
Sara, accompanied by the baby barnacle

I check this e-mail account infrequently

Is there a relative you can send the cat to for a holiday until the baby can
talk... they are a *lot* easier to teach when they can talk... also taller
so their eyes are more out of paw strike range.

silvasurfa wrote:

Is there a relative you can send the cat to for a holiday until the baby can
talk... they are a *lot* easier to teach when they can talk... also taller
so their eyes are more out of paw strike range.

Nope, the cat's here to stay.

--
Sara, accompanied by the baby barnacle

I check this e-mail account infrequently

blacksalt wrote:

My biggest worry would be a down right mauling when the cat gets sick of
it. If it were my cat, I'd protect it from maulings from baby, even if
it means using a squirt bottle to train cat to get up and leave when
baby approaches. Just because deep bites haven't happened yet, doesn't
mean they won't, nor that an eye won't be scratched.

That's what I'm most worried about -- that Ollie's eye will get
scratched.

We're trying to teach Telephone (the cat) to run away, and to take
naps up where Ollie can't reach him, but it isn't working. The cat
seems to really like Ollie -- he rubs up against him and purrs, and
likes to hang out with him. It just is every now and then when Ollie's
too rough, Telephone scratches him.

--
Sara, accompanied by the baby barnacle

I check this e-mail account infrequently

P. Tierney wrote:

I think if the child has "quite a few" scratches, then there is
something
to worry about. My 18 month old has received, maybe, three mild scratches
from a combined four clawed cats. It sounds like yours is getting more
than that from just one in half the time, so I suspect there's a
relationship problem between the two.

The thing is, they get along well and usually enjoy each other's
company -- it's not that the cat doesn't like the baby.

I'd try to gradually teach the child how to pet and treat the cat
properly.

Any advice on how to do this? We're trying to teach him "gentle," and
show him over and over how to stroke the cat. Ollie's stopped biting
him and doesn't grab his fur with both hands any more, so there's been
progress.

Until your child learns, which should take awhile considering his age,
I'd monitor their "playtime" pretty closely.

They're together all day and night, so it's pretty difficult. On the
plus side, Ollie's trying to say "cat," we think -- he makes this
coughing sound only at the cat -- so at least I get some warning when
that's who he's focusing on.

--
Sara, accompanied by the baby barnacle

I check this e-mail account infrequently

Sue wrote:

You need to begin to teach the baby to pet the cat nice and how to treat the
cat. Also, you might want to give the cat a safe place he can escape to when
h/she has had enough of the baby.

He's got a few places he can go -- he just would rather hang out with
me and the baby. Sigh.

--
Sara, accompanied by the baby barnacle

I check this e-mail account infrequently

Sara wrote:

My nine-month-old baby loves our cat. Loves to chase him, to pet him,
to try to eat him. The cat is surprisingly tolerant, but... well...
there have been incidents. We keep the cat's claws trimmed and try to
stop the violence, but even so Ollie's getting quite a few scratches.

Is there anything to worry about with these scratches? I've read about
"cat scratch fever," but anything else? (He's an indoor, healthy cat.)



Scars. My 9 yo dd has a thin scar on the side of her nose from a cat
scratch when she was a baby or toddler. I second the idea of the cat
having lots of safe places to hide, and really work on the concept of
gentle. With time and repetition, Ollie will catch on.

Lesley

You need to begin to teach the baby to pet the cat nice and how to treat the
cat. Also, you might want to give the cat a safe place he can escape to when
h/she has had enough of the baby.
--
Sue
mom to three girls

Sara wrote in message
...
My nine-month-old baby loves our cat. Loves to chase him, to pet him,
to try to eat him. The cat is surprisingly tolerant, but... well...
there have been incidents. We keep the cat's claws trimmed and try to
stop the violence, but even so Ollie's getting quite a few scratches.

Is there anything to worry about with these scratches? I've read about
"cat scratch fever," but anything else? (He's an indoor, healthy cat.)

--
Sara, accompanied by the baby barnacle

I check this e-mail account infrequently

Ollie's trying to say "cat," we think -- he makes this
coughing sound only at the cat

I'm sorry, I know this is a rather serious issue, but I can't resist...

Are you sure this coughing sound isn't a hairball?